Society for Culture and Monument Preservation - Hessischer Heimatbund
The Society for Culture and Monument Preservation - Hessischer Heimatbund e. V. deals with regional characteristics of the culture, art and history of Hesse .
history
The Society for Culture and Monument Preservation - as it has been called since 1997 - was founded in 1909 as the Association for Natural Monument Protection in Kurhessen and Waldeck at the suggestion of the Kassel District Association . The association was supported by the German Homeland Security Association . A number of associations and individuals in Hesse had already become members of it; However, it was in keeping with his association policy to bundle the local efforts of the Heimatschutz movement on a regional basis and to expand these associations at the state and administrative district level to become the central organizational instance of the Federal Heritage and Nature Protection Association , which was supposed to be an association of associations. In the Prussian part of Hesse in the Kassel administrative region, the Association for the Protection of Natural Monuments was established ; In the Grand Duchy of Hesse (-Darmstadt), the Hessian Association for Rural Homeland Care, Welfare and Cultural Care was founded in 1906 . In contrast, in the Wiesbaden administrative district, i.e. in the Nassauer Land, the unification efforts did not go beyond weak beginnings.
In this historical threefold division of Hessen-Kassel (" Kurhessen "), Darmstadt and Nassau, as well as in the changing club names and statutes, the problems of a club history that transcends the inner Hessian regional borders and their fields of activity are reflected. The Kassel Association expanded its name in 1911 to include the Heimatschutz , in 1928 the protection of natural monuments was deleted from it, and in 1938 the association chose the more concise and more open designation “Heimatbund”, which remained in use until 1997.
The focus of the association's activities has always been on the preservation of culture and monuments . At the beginning of the association's history, the names of the Hessian painters Carl Bantzer and Otto Ubbelohde , who were also involved in the founding of the German Federal Homeland Security , stand . When the association was practically re-established in 1928 after the emergency years of the First World War and the post-war period, in which its activities had almost completely come to a standstill, it was Carl Bantzer, the art historian Richard Hamann and the Kassel district curator Friedrich Bleibaum who set the direction . Friedrich Bleibaum in particular, deputy chairman since 1928, knew how to combine his official position as district curator with the work of the Heimatbund. In addition, he succeeded in maintaining the profile of the Heimatbund even under the rule of National Socialism and largely fending off the attempts at harmonization that began in 1933 . After 1945 Bleibaum continued to run the association and many of the members displaced in 1933 made themselves available again. In 1971 the Darmstadt Association was taken over by the - Kurhessischer - Kasseler Heimatbund, which was able to operate as the Hessischer Heimatbund for the first time - with the claim to be responsible for the entire state of Hessen.
Serious effects on the structure and organization of the Hessian Heimatbund resulted from the dissolution of the district municipal associations in the state of Hesse in 1952. With this step, the Heimatbund - in contrast to the majority of its sister associations, which act as state associations supported by the public sector - was stripped of its institutional ground. The Hessian Heimatbund has thus become a self-financed member association.
The organ of the society is the magazine Hessische Heimat . In connection with other associations, institutions and initiatives, the company works to research, protect and maintain the evidence of the Hessian cultural landscape. It stands up for the issues of monument and nature conservation and supports the lively discussion of folklore, art and everyday culture. The Society for Culture and Monument Preservation - Hessischer Heimatbund eV - is a member of the Federation of Homeland and Environment in Germany (BHU).
Publications
Die Hessische Heimat is the journal of the Society for Culture and Monument Preservation - Hessischer Heimatbund eV, which has been published since 1951. It is the only cultural journal for the whole of Hessen and contains scientific articles from the fields of culture, art, architecture, folklore, regional history, monument preservation and environmental protection. In addition, it provides information on cultural associations, initiatives and individual research. It appears 2-3 times a year.
literature
- Fritz Wolf: The Hessian Heimatbund in its history, in: Hessische Heimat, 1984, Issue 4 (special issue 75 years Hessischer Heimatbund eV), pp. 119-140.