Diakonie de La Tour

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Diakonie de La Tour
logo
legal form Not for profit society
founding 1873
founder Ernst Schwarz , Elvine de La Tour
Seat Klagenfurt am Wörthersee
motto Respectful to each other.
main emphasis Social work , humanitarian aid , social policy
people Hubert Stotter (managing director), Walter Pansi (authorized signatory), Susanne Prentner-Vitek (authorized signatory)
owner Evangelical Foundation of Countess Elvine de La Tour (partner), Diakonie Waiern (partner)
Employees 1400
Website www.diakonie-delatour.at

The Diakonie de La Tour (until 2011 Diakonie Kärnten) is a social work of the Evangelical Church in Austria , created in 2004 from the Foundation de La Tour and the Diakonie Waiern. Its activities mainly cover the areas of the Austrian federal states of Carinthia and Styria . The organization is a member of Diakonie Österreich .

history

In the 1870s and 1880s, the foundations for evangelical social work in Carinthia were laid within a relatively short period of time, the impact and impact of which should go far beyond the boundaries of the church.

Diakonie in Waiern until 1938

The Evangelical Parish of Waiern near Feldkirchen, which was established in 1851, elected Ernst Schwarz as its new pastor in 1871 ; at the beginning of his term in office he proved to be contentious and strong-willed. In 1873 Schwarz began to take in unserved and neglected boys in the rectory. The visits to his parish, during which he had experienced the widespread misery of the population, gave him the impetus. In 1881 this child welfare was brought into organizational form. Schwarz wrote a statute for the “Christian Poor Children's Institution in Waiern near Feldkirchen” and on October 30, 1881 the work was formally founded. In the statutes drawn up by Ernst Schwarz, the religious background of the project was also formulated: “The purpose of education is to direct the children to Jesus, the Savior of the world, so that they can become blessed members of the kingdom of God. - Furthermore, they should be educated to do everything good for soul and body, to live in this world with love and earnestness, so that they can become capable professionals, willing citizens and loving family members. "

In 1886 the road to a home of their own was taken: two chaste chaste with the property belonging to it in the immediate vicinity of the parish were acquired, and two more plots of land were added by the parish itself. On November 14, 1888, the Waiern Children's Rescue Home (now Ernst-Schwarz-Haus), designed for 84 children, was inaugurated, but demand was so strong that a second house could have been filled just a year after it was completed. The care took place according to the house-parent model (whereby Pastor Schwarz had taken over this office first with a maid, then with his wife Pauline). From 1881 to 1902 a total of 338 children were admitted to the children's home in Waiern, by 1907 the total number rose to 464. In addition to material welfare, the care was also geared towards professional qualifications. For the girls, the focus was on home economics education.

In 1911 a second home for small children was built (today Meta-Diestel-Haus), for which considerable donations, especially from Germany, had been received as early as 1908/09. In 1946 a kindergarten was set up in this second toddler home.

Pastor Ernst Schwarz 1921

Establishing a hospital planned for 1891/92 was completed in 1894. In the first ten years of the portfolio, around 1,400 patients were cared for at the Wairer hospital, most of them over a longer period of time. Here, too, the demand could hardly be satisfied due to insufficient capacities.

A branch of the Wairer Anstalten in the state capital Klagenfurt : the evangelical alumni on the Lend Canal was opened in 1892, initially in an apartment, later in Zigguln Castle, a little outside the city . In 1895 a house was acquired on the Lend Canal , right next to the Protestant church, which also included a garden and a field. The number of admitted (by no means only Protestant) pupils in the school year 1897/98 was 20, in 1899 there were 29. The financing of the student home was largely through financial contributions from the families who sent their children there. The existence of the student home in Klagenfurt ended in the course of the First World War , when the building was requisitioned by the authorities to accommodate the needy.

Until around 1900 the institutions in Waiern were organizationally and legally oriented towards the founder Ernst Schwarz. At the end of 1900 a committee met to discuss the statutes of the association and in January 1901 the "Evangelical Church Aid Association in Carinthia" with its seat in Waiern, which was to be responsible for the institutions in the future, was founded. That the company continued to focus on the founder is proven by the fact that the management of the association was transferred to Ernst Schwarz for life. In the years that followed, this association created links to other evangelical social institutions, primarily through the involvement of certain personalities in the board, such as Countess Elvine de La Tour , founder of the diaconal institutions in Treffen .

Around 1900, based on the diaconal work in Waiern, a bitter conflict broke out in the context of the “Lot of Rome” movement . The Catholic chaplain Paul Kayser had been active in Feldkirchen since the 1900s, and he saw the work in Waiern as an attempt to bring Catholic children to the Protestant faith. To counteract this, Kayser founded a Catholic orphanage in Feldkirchen in 1902. The economic ventures that resulted from this foundation grew enormously in the following years; they soon included farms, a brewery, a timber trading company and a coal mine. In addition, he founded a Catholic institution in Treffen as a counterpoint to the local diaconal institutions. After a few years, Kayser's business collapsed financially and in 1911 he was sentenced to two years in prison.

As in Treffen, the death of the founder made a reorientation and reorganization necessary in Waiern. After more than 50 years as pastor of Waiern and more than 40 years of leading the diaconal works, Ernst Schwarz died on July 22nd, 1925. In the course of preparing for the election of the pastor, the parish decided to separate the functions of the parish pastor and the management of the diaconal Works. The board of directors of the Evangelical Church Aid Association appointed Johannes Hermann as inspector of the institutions in 1926. After ten years of work, he was followed by Karl Eberspächer in 1936.

The creation of the Foundation de La Tour

In a meeting near Villach , it was Countess Elvine de La Tour, from what is now northern Italy, near Gorizia , who began a social work motivated by pietism . She had already done social work in Gorizia or at her castle in Russiz , where an orphan welfare association was established in 1873. As a result, the social work of Elvine de La Tour moved to her private residence in Russiz: the 15 girls were accepted at Russiz Castle after the orphan's welfare association was dissolved.

A turning point for the further activities of Elvine de La Tour - also later in Carinthia - was the death of her father in 1878. For decades, his declining fortune became the material backbone of the Countess's diaconal work. She had a new shelter built. In the following years the institution was expanded and rebuilt again and again. In 1885, Count Theodor de La Tour, Elvine's husband, acquired the Treffen castle estate near Villach, along with a substantial property belonging to it. In the summer of the same year, the countess began a Christian-motivated educational work: She began by collecting poor children from the area in a Sunday school. She also noticed the misery and neglect of numerous people, which was an essential impetus to do social work in Carinthia.

In November 1891 a Protestant private school was opened in Treffen, which was initially housed in an outbuilding of the castle. At the beginning the school had 37 students (25 boys, 12 girls). Due to the increasing number of schoolchildren, a new building was started in 1894, for the financing of which primarily the sales proceeds from the Countess's private jewelry were used. The two school classes housed in the new school house now comprised 144 children. In 1897 Elvine de La Tour applied for public rights for the school, which she was granted in 1903.

Elvine de La Tour around 1916

Another focus of the work in Treffen was evangelism from the 1890s onwards. This “community work” aimed at the diaspora situation in Carinthia had the task of preaching the Gospel and spreading scriptures among the population. One was dependent on the cooperation of the relevant parish, which was not always free of conflict. From 1920 the community work initiated by Elvine de La Tour continued its activity in the form of a separate association, the “ Christian Missions Association for Austria ”. From the annual get-togethers within the framework of the community work, the “ parishioning times ” arose and finally the “parish prayer brotherhood ” (PGB), which still exists today .

As part of evangelism work, the fight against alcoholism emerged from 1912 . The framework for this was formed by the “ Blue Cross Association ”, which was founded in Switzerland in 1877 and whose meeting branch was founded in 1913. In 1923, the Blue Cross Association for Carinthia became the still existing association “ Blue Cross Austria”, which is still in close cooperation with the addicts care team.

In addition to the children, the elderly were also affected by poverty and misery in the late 19th century; The Countess de La Tour took on the so-called depositors in particular. In 1902 a house of their own was acquired for this purpose, in which a depository asylum was set up under the name "Herrnhilf". The establishment of this home went differently than planned: before the first depositors were accommodated, the Countess de La Tour took two half-orphans into the house at the request of the Villach pastor Heinzelmann in 1903. Another facility was created spontaneously. Organizationally, these facilities - like those in Waiern - were based on the model of house parents. In 1908, the Gienger couple were won over to Herrnhilf as house parents - a family that would shape the Treffener Anstalten in the following decades.

The period of the First World War marked a dramatic turning point for diaconal work in Treffen. This initially concerned the loss of the possessions - and thus the social works - in Russiz in 1915 caused by the Italian war profits. On the other hand, Elvine de La Tour only survived this loss for a short time and died on October 7, 1916. Only after a few years was the Countess's will, expressed in her will, to set up a foundation for the works in meetings , implemented. In order to meet the Countess's request, the Central Association for Inner Mission in Vienna was approached , which, as an umbrella organization , was able to secure the establishment of a board of trustees and the formation of the "Evangelical Foundation of Countess Elvine de La Tour". Richard Roth was appointed as the first rector in Treffen, until then pastor in Fürstenfeld. The letter of foundation and the board of trustees were approved by the Carinthian provincial government in 1931.

Regarding the loss of Russiz, a contractual agreement could not be reached with the Italian government until 1926. The agreement stipulated that the Russiz possessions would become the property of the Kingdom of Italy and that the newly created foundation would receive compensation of 625,000 lire in return. The economic hardship of the 1920s also affected the diaconal institutions, including the Foundation de La Tour in Treffen; In order to cover their financial needs, the plants were at least 25% dependent on donations, mainly from Germany and Switzerland, which was all the more difficult in those years. The political conflicts between Germany and Austria in the 1930s represented an additional hurdle, particularly due to the foreign exchange freeze imposed by the German Reich. Rector Roth died in 1936 and housefather Gienger was provisionally appointed as his successor.

The diaconal works in the Nazi era (1938–1945)

The years of Nazi rule from 1938 to 1945 marked a deep and painful turning point for the two diaconal organizations in Treffen and Waiern. Soon after the “ Anschluss ” in March 1938, it became apparent that the works would be taken over to a greater or lesser extent by the NS- Volkswohlfahrt . Around half of the work was confiscated in meetings and, by decision of June 30, 1939, the de La Tour Foundation was deprived of all child and youth work. What was left was the care for the old and the sick and the drinking sanctuary. With regard to the remaining work areas of the foundation, it is noteworthy that there were no victims of Nazi "euthanasia" and that Jewish people were also saved during the Nazi regime.

The Protestant school in Waiern was closed. In the early summer of 1939 the institutions were confiscated - as in meetings. In public, efforts were made to legitimize the expropriation through various allegations against the supposedly poor conditions in the institutions. Inspector Eberspächer was arrested and subsequently banned from the district. On April 19, 1940, the formal expropriation of the Wairer institutes also took place by decision, which was even more extensive than in Treffen.

From 1945 until the merger to form Diakonie Kärnten

Just as the plants in Waiern and Treffen shared the fate of the confiscation, a long effort began for both of them in 1945 to restore the confiscated facilities. In 1947, the Herrnhilf house and the associated agricultural grounds were put aside in Treffen; this was only confirmed in the land register two years later. In many areas, work had to be started again almost from scratch, a task that the new rector (from 1947) Friedrich Gienger jun. fell. The process was similar in Waiern. Requests for restitution of the confiscated property filed in May 1945 were granted towards the end of 1947. In 1946 the Diakonie in Waiern was given a new organizational footing with the establishment of the Evangelical Association for Inner Mission .

After a consolidation phase, which followed the restitution after 1945, the areas of activity in the diaconal institutions in Waiern were expanded. At the beginning of the 1950s, the first expansion of the hospital took place, which was to become a real hospital. This first conversion was completed in 1954. A second expansion phase took place as early as 1959/60. A third construction phase followed in 1964, during which, among other things, a third floor was built; This meant that - at least as far as the exterior was concerned - the renovation and expansion work at Wairer Hospital was completed for a long time. In 1956, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees approached the administration of Diakonie Waiern with the request whether they could make room for older refugees. The old schoolhouse was identified as the space for this. The "Haus Abendruh", an old people's home, emerged from the subsequent conversion and expansion of the former schoolhouse.

In 1958 a Protestant housekeeping school started operations. In 1966 the Evangelical Association for Inner Mission took over a training workshop set up by the World Council of Churches in Geneva, which was also expanded or converted into a household school. In the following years there was finally a diaconal course and, from the early 1980s, a diaconal school, a course for handicapped work and a school for social professions (which still exists today). In 1976, the Wairer Diakonie began working with the disabled, initially in Spittal an der Drau . From 1977 this work was also introduced in Waiern itself, first in the Meta-Diestel-Haus, a few years later on the premises of the Köraushof.

In the period after 1950 the areas of work were also expanded in meetings. These included, among other things, refugee work (especially after 1956), the establishment of a boarding school in Villach or the establishment of a special hospital in place of the former “Friedensheim” drinking sanctuary in 1983. The school, which was confiscated in 1939, was not reactivated. It was not until the 1970s that the building was again available to the diaconal institution, when the former school was named "Lindenschlössl" and became a care facility for mentally handicapped women. A corresponding home for men was set up in the "Meierei". The “Outlook” house was built as a new building, a training facility for young people with difficult integration opportunities in the labor market.

In 1962 a recreational home was opened near "Herrnhilf", which was primarily intended to serve the "Friends of the Foundation" for conferences and other meetings.

Harbach Castle in 2016 - the seat of the Diakonie de La Tour

In 2002, the merger of the two diaconal organizations in Waiern and Treffen was finally initiated; In addition to his post as rector of the de La Tour Foundation, Hubert Stotter also took over as head of the Waiern Diakonie. This was followed two years later by the merger under the new umbrella company "Diakonie Kärnten". In Klagenfurt, a new location was set up in the former Harbach monastery (acquired by the De La Tour Foundation in 2002), which in particular housed the Rectorate of the Carinthian Diakonia. In 2011, the name was finally changed to “Diakonie de La Tour”.

working area

1400 employees work under the umbrella of Diakonie de la Tour in the following seven areas of activity:

  • Health (hospital Waiern, hospital de La Tour in Treffen, ambulances)
  • People with disabilities (residential groups, partially assisted living, employment workshops)
  • People in old age (residential and care facilities, hospice work)
  • Education (kindergartens, schools, after-school care centers, adult education, educational offers for people with disabilities)
  • Child, youth & family (shared apartments for children and young people in difficult life situations)
  • Service & professional integration (professional training for people with individual needs)
  • Refugees (accommodation, care, advice, support)

literature

  • Rolf G. Hülser: 110 Years of Evang. Diakoniewerk Waiern. Evangel. Diakoniewerk Waiern des Evangel. Association f. Inner mission in Carinthia. Feldkirchen 1983.
  • Friedrich Gienger, Dorothea Gienger: Give me your poverty. A report on the Evangelical Foundation of Countess Elvine de La Tour in meetings over the period 1916–1980. Heyn, Klagenfurt 1999, ISBN 3-85366-936-0 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Hanisch-Wolfram: Faith that is active in love. Ernst Schwarz and the Diakonie in Waiern . In: The Carinthian State Archives . tape 40 . Publication of the Carinthian State Archives, Klagenfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-900531-84-3 , p. 38-119, 159-167 .
  2. ^ Kurt Schaefer: Ernst Schwarz. The work of love in Waiern . Schaefer, Feldkirchen i. K. 1986, p. 93-200 .
  3. ↑ Heidrun Szepannek: Elvine Countess de La Tour. (1841–1916) - Protestant - visionary - cross-border commuter . In: The Carinthian State Archives . tape 38 . Kärntner Landesarchiv, Klagenfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-900531-77-5 , p. 80-174 .
  4. ↑ Friedrich Gienger, Dorothea Gienger: Give me your poverty. A report on the Evangelical Foundation of Countess Elvine de La Tour in meetings over the period from 1916 to 1980 . Heyn, Klagenfurt 1999, ISBN 3-85366-936-0 , p. 1-60 .
  5. ↑ Friedrich Gienger: Give me your wealth! A picture of the life of Countess Elvine de La Tour . Evang. De La Tour Foundation, Meeting 1982, p. 15-105 .
  6. ↑ Alexander Hanisch-Wolfram: Faith that is active in love. Ernst Schwarz and the Diakonie in Waiern . The Carinthian Provincial Archives, No. 40 . Kärntner Landesarchiv, Klagenfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-900531-84-3 , p. 167-170 .
  7. ↑ Heidrun Szepannek: Elvine Countess de La Tour. (1841–1916) - Protestant - visionary - cross-border commuter . In: The Carinthian State Archives . tape 38 . Kärntner Landesarchiv, Klagenfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-900531-77-5 , p. 199 .
  8. ↑ Heidrun Szepannek: Elvine Countess de La Tour. (1841–1916) - Protestant - visionary - cross-border commuter . In: The Carinthian State Archives . tape 38 . Kärntner Landesarchiv, Klagenfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-900531-77-5 , p. 199-209 .
  9. ↑ Alexander Hanisch-Wolfram: Faith that is active in love. Ernst Schwarz and the Diakonie in Waiern . The Carinthian Provincial Archives, No. 40 . Kärntner Landesarchiv, Klagenfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-900531-84-3 , p. 173-180 .
  10. ^ Kurt Schaefer: Ernst Schwarz. The work of love in Waiern . Schaefer, Feldkirchen i. K. 1986, p. 208-299 .
  11. ↑ Friedrich Gienger, Dorothea Gienger: Give me your poverty. A report on the Evangelical Foundation of Countess Elvine de La Tour in meetings over the period from 1916 to 1980 . Heyn, Klagenfurt 1999, ISBN 3-85366-936-0 , p. 67-105 .