General alms box

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The general alms box is a foundation under public law in Frankfurt am Main , which has its roots in the Reformation . The alms box, founded in 1530, was a forerunner of today's social welfare and still provides funds for social issues, but is primarily concerned with the administration of the foundation's own assets.

The general alms box is legally independent. However, there is a personal link with the City of Frankfurt that has grown out of history and is anchored in the statutes. The responsible city council from the municipal authorities of the city of Frankfurt takes over the chairmanship of the nursing office - that is the foundation board. The income from the foundation's assets has also been flowing into the city of Frankfurt since state institutions took over welfare work.

The alms box is one of the six large “public charitable foundations” in the city of Frankfurt. In addition to the general alms box, these are: the Hospital of the Holy Spirit , the St. Katharinen- und Weißfrauenstift , the foundation for the deaf and dumb, the Wiesenhüttenstift and the orphanage foundation.

history

In the Middle Ages , mainly churches and monasteries cared for the sick and poor. This also applied to Frankfurt am Main. From the end of the 14th century onwards, secular organizations devoted to this task also emerged in Frankfurt. This included the Almosen zu St. Nikolai Foundation , which was initially financed from the fortune of the doctor Johann Wiesebeder, which was donated to the city of Frankfurt in his will in 1428. Anyone who was a Frankfurt citizen, had a good repute and was able to prove their neediness received two loaves of bread per week , which were distributed in front of the Nikolaikirche on Römerberg , which was used as a council chapel .

A reform of welfare for the poor was one of the main concerns of the Reformation , which has found more and more supporters in Frankfurt since 1521. In 1525 the guilds revolted , forcing the city council to adopt the 46 articles in which they had compiled their demands. Articles 13 and 14 stipulated that all benefices and wills bequeathed alms in future to flow into a common box for the urban poor relief, so that the poor no longer had to rely on begging. Although the uprising failed in June 1525, the council took on the goal of improving social conditions in the city. In 1530, the city of Frankfurt introduced the Reformation and took over the assets and income of some church organizations that had gone under, including the Gutleuthof and the Barefoot Monastery . The Nikolaikirche was also profaned. On May 24, 1530, the council established the General Alms Box. On Sunday Laetare , March 19, 1531, the alms box distributed the first donations.

The general alms box took on social tasks such as providing the needy with food, clothing and money and caring for the mentally ill ; thus he founded the first organized care for the mentally handicapped . The alms box also took over the church factory , i.e. the construction and renovation of the churches and, from June 1, 1531, the management of the church books and other purely administrative tasks ( city ​​library , funeral services). Frankfurt was one of the first cities to systematically keep baptism, marriage and death registers.

The administration of the foundation was the responsibility of the "caste gentlemen", a council made up of various groups in the city. It led to profound disputes on various occasions because the caste masters were accused of doing business in their own pockets, for example in 1613 in connection with the Fettmilch uprising .

The administration was initially reorganized by imperial resolutions in 1735; but the imperial orders never fully prevailed.

These disputes only ended after the time of Napoleon . In 1833 the Free City of Frankfurt issued general foundation rules and the General Alms Box became an independent public charitable foundation.

Modern times

With the introduction of the new poor order on April 1, 1883, the city of Frankfurt took over the task of central communal welfare with the establishment of the municipal office for the poor, which later functions as a welfare office , then as a welfare office and today as a social welfare office . The foundations, including the alms box, which had taken on this task so far, continue to manage their foundation assets, but have since then had to transfer the income from the assets to the city - the social welfare office.

In 1989 the general alms box hit the headlines in connection with the Beker affair because it had financed real estate transactions for the relocation of a brothel with 17 million DM from foundation funds. City authorities had tried to keep the politically explosive business out of the city committees. The foundation did not suffer any damage due to long-term rental agreements with the city for the property.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Jürgen Telschow: History of the Protestant Church in Frankfurt am Main . tape 1 . From the Reformation to the end of Frankfurt independence in 1866. Cocon-Verlag, Hanau 2017, ISBN 978-3-922179-53-5 , pp. 80-81 .
  2. ↑ See collection of sources on the history of German social policy 1867 to 1914 , Section II: From the Imperial Social Message to the February Decrees of Wilhelm II (1881-1890) , Volume 7: Communal Poor Care , edited by Wilfried Rudloff, Darmstadt 2015, No. . 15 and no. 16.
  3. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of November 4, 1995, p. 52