Training association for workers
The training association for workers was the successor organization of the Leipzig workers' education association .
history
Training association for workers
After the socialist law was passed in October 1878 and the associated prohibition of the workers' education association, a training association for workers was founded on February 17, 1879 in the old rifle house , which later became the Leipzig Crystal Palace . The chair was taken over by the lawyer Emil Otto Freytag , who defended August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht in the Leipzig high treason trial in 1872 , while the painter and varnisher Heinrich Christoph Friedrich Bosse acted as second chairman . His efforts to acquire the confiscated library holdings of the Workers' Education Association failed, so that he had to build up the holdings again. With donations from the workers, among other things, a new library was set up, which in 1881 had 574 volumes.
A suitable club location was found after a long search and advertising in the Tonhalle, later in Sanssouci. The clubhouse of the workers' education association was still empty, but they wanted to avoid any appearance of continuation of the previous association. You knew from a file that you were being watched by the police. In June 1881, when the minor state of siege was imposed on Leipzig and many Social Democrats were expelled, Bosse took over the office of first chairman. In addition to the many inconveniences of the state of siege, the landlord of the Tonhalle resigned from the club. After several moves, a suitable restaurant was found at Kurprinzstraße 19 in 1885.
In addition to courses in arithmetic, bookkeeping, rhetoric and foreign languages, Bosse organized lectures on art-historical, literary and scientific topics and also wrote small plays that have been performed many times. Its aim was to raise the level of education of the workers.
The board of directors endeavored to have foreign speakers give lectures in Leipzig. Manfred Wittich came from Dresden and was banned from speaking after a speech. After Wittich was no longer allowed to speak in Leipzig, the board suggested that he help the association in other ways. The attempt was successful: Ulrich von Hutten's work was performed in the Tonhalle at the Reformation Festival. The association was able to perform another piece for the 11th foundation festival in 1890 by Bosse, in which he undertook to bring the association's program to the stage, so to speak. The title of the play was: The workers' associations have a future! It was performed in many German workers' associations. He also wrote a May Festival, which was performed in the workers' association on May 1st in 1890, in which he called for the "eight-hour day".
In addition to excursions that have been very well organized, the festivals also deserve attention; they were celebrated several times a year as foundation, singing, summer or gymnastics festivals. In order to give as many workers as possible the opportunity to take part in the training, a branch of the training association was opened in Lindenau on March 24, 1889 . Gradually the government had come to believe that permanent and complete suppression of the workers' organizations was neither possible nor salutary.
Leipzig Workers' Association
After the repeal of the Socialist Law , the association took on the name of the Leipzig Workers' Association on October 31, 1890 in order to avoid the mistake, as if it were a charity of some kind of philanthropist for the workers. The association was now active alongside the newly founded "Social Democratic Association". The Leipzig Workers' Association was not under the leadership of the party, but there were no contradictions between it and the Social Democratic Association in the implementation of the tasks facing the party as a whole. At the end of 1891 the third club bar was opened in Neuschönefeld . Other clubs were founded in Thonberg , Connewitz , Gohlis , Kleinzschocher , Anger-Crottendorf and the ninth club cup in Eutritzsch . This closed the circle of club bars in Leipzig.
At the 14th Foundation Festival in 1893 in the Tonhalle, Wilhelm Liebknecht could be won as a keynote speaker. The play "The Battle for Science" was performed by Bosse. The individual branches strived for independence and wanted to be independent, so it was decided at the general meeting on December 31, 1897 to split the association. It was agreed to separate all club premises from the workers' club. As a result, the number of lectures decreased, while courses in the field of science and economics were introduced, with great success. A course in machine technology could also be offered. Foreign languages and drawing disappeared completely from the curriculum of the workers' association. The reason was the rapidly changing economic situation of the worker and a lack of participants. The small number of lectures could be supplemented by discussion evenings.
In the past few years a male choir, a mixed choir, a drama department, a gymnastics department, a shorthand department and a department for cyclists was formed. After the repeal of the Socialist Act in 1890, the library comprised 1,800 volumes, which grew to 2,421 volumes by 1894. In the reading room there was plenty of literature, such as newspapers and magazines, political papers from various parties, trade union papers, art magazines, satire and humor were also represented.
Friedrich Bosse was first chairman of the association until July 1891; Heinrich Lange then took over this office until April 23, 1894; During this time, Bosse was managing director of the association. He then led it again until it was dissolved in 1907. In the years 1894–1895, the association had its own bulletin, the storm bells , with the subtitle, organ for social democratic workers' and popular education associations .
The activities in the years 1896 to 1904, were determined above all by the Duncker courses in economics, by the publication of the magazine “Der Freier Bund” at the end of 1898 to 1902, and by the drawing of the proletarian youth to the club work.
In 1904 for the 25th anniversary, Heinrich Lange gave the speech in the hall of the Sanssouci. Friedrich Bosse, who headed the association for 25 years, received special praise.
On February 16, 1907, the 28th and last foundation festival of the association took place in the Volkshaus .
After the Mannheim SPD party convention, the General Workers' Education Institute (ABI) was founded in 1907 . Under these aspects, discussions this year were mainly determined by the topic "dissolution of the association". At the general meeting on February 7, 1907, the dissolution of the association was discussed. There were two currents: the first, which included Bosse and Lange, who found the dissolution of the association to be the right thing to do so as not to stand in the way of broad, uniform educational work under the leadership of the party. The second group of association members - who “stood still” and did not understand the new political requirements - persisted in their position that the association must remain in its old form.
After a long debate, it was decided with 153 votes against 76 not to dissolve the workers' association, but to merge it. The Leipzig Workers' Education Association was merged with the Social Democratic Association for the 12th Saxon constituency (Leipzig city) with effect from April 1, 1907. One of the first results of the reorganization was the centralization of the library system through the creation of a central library in the Volkshaus, which was officially opened on April 21, 1907. At that time the library had 4,000 volumes. The work on education and training policy, as well as the further development of youth organizations, were henceforth taken over by the workers' education institute.
See also
literature
- Friedrich Bosse: The Leipzig Workers' Association. Its creation and development. A commemorative publication for the 25th Foundation Festival , 1904
- 2nd edition: The Leipzig Workers' Association. Its creation and development. A commemorative publication for the 25th Foundation Festival. Expanded by the keynote address given by Heinrich Lange , Leipzig 1904
- Wolfgang Schröder : Leipzig - the cradle of the German labor movement. Roots and development of the workers' education association 1848/49 to 1878/81.
- Adina Lieske: Working-class and bourgeois culture in Pilsen and Leipzig. Dietz, 2007 - 470 pages.
- Josef Olbrich: History of adult education in Germany. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2001.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Horst Gebauer: Workers' libraries in Leipzig in "Leihbibliotheken Arbeiterbibliotheken Buchhallen" of the Leipzig City and District Library 1989, ISSN 0863-2049, ISBN 3-86061-001-5 , pp. 31-44.
- ^ Josef Olbrich: History of adult education in Germany. Page 117
- ^ Friedrich Bosse: The Leipzig Workers' Association. Its creation and development. A commemorative publication for the 25th Foundation Festival , 1904
- ↑ Hans Joachim Schäfers: On socialist workers 'education in Leipzig 1890 to 1914. Museum for the history of the Leipzig workers' movement, 1961 - 251 pages.