Goa (Cologne)

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As Goa ( G aststätte o teeth A lkohol) stationary and mobile were restaurants and refreshment cars in Cologne called that in the late 1920s to the early 1930s from Cologne Women's Association for soft guest and recreation centers have been set up and operated. The association maintained vehicles in which only non-alcoholic beverages and healthy food were offered very cheaply. The association set up canteens and so-called refreshment rooms in public buildings, such as the University of Cologne , in court and police buildings.

Background and story

Since the beginning of the 20th century there has been an active women's movement in Germany that has set itself the goal of combating the consequences of increasing alcohol consumption . A local association of the Association of German Abstinent Women was also founded in Cologne . In the first two decades of the 20th century, the per capita consumption of pure alcohol continued to rise sharply. The reasons for this were varied: In addition to an established drinking tradition among men, the increasing impoverishment of the lower classes of the population, the (sup) belief in the healing power of alcohol, poor drinking water quality in the big cities and the compulsion to serve alcohol in pubs also played a role. Excessive alcohol consumption was also a frequent cause of domestic violence and further impoverished working-class families. It was generally difficult for women to eat alone in public without the general compulsion to drink. There were first attempts to set up alcohol-free restaurants in Cologne before the First World War . In the mid-1920s , various women's associations and the Cologne Housewives Association set up dining rooms for working women, including Am Hof ​​36, Albertusstrasse 29 and Mittelstrasse 11, without drinking and tipping.

Founding of the Goa

Goa advert, 1929

The Cologne women's association for alcohol-free restaurants and recreation places, which Else Falk co-founded in Cologne, propagated the establishment of alcohol-free sociability based on the findings of the abstinence movement . In the summer of 1927, the association first used a mobile vending machine to offer non-alcoholic drinks such as ice-cold fresh milk , fruit juices and mineral water in the city and in the Blücherpark , in the city ​​forest and in the green belt . In the following year, another vehicle was put into operation, which was stationed at the courthouse on Reichenspergerplatz .

At the international Pressa trade fair with 5 million visitors, the women's initiative maintained the non-alcoholic restaurant and confectionery in the green corner with 200 seats and a mobile refreshment trolley with great success . By the commercial encourages success, was from Cologne Women's Association for soft guest and recreation centers in December 1928 in the High Street 38, the restaurant Goa I opened ( 'First restaurant without alcohol'). The restaurant was constantly expanded, as it was used as a meeting place and event location - in particular by women's associations - in addition to the dining establishment. In 1931 there were various club rooms, function rooms and relaxation rooms in the house in addition to the dining room . The association offered women in particular the opportunity to relax during their lunch break on the premises . In addition to milk beverages , fruit juices and coffee, so -called hall daughters also served vegetarian and light meals at reasonable prices.

Two years after opening the first restaurant, the women in Cologne managed six other establishments. In addition to the stationary restaurants, the association expanded the range and offered from a vehicle, the mobile Goa kitchen , healthy food on sports fields, factory premises and construction sites. They also supplied canteens and major sporting events with food from thermos flasks. In the Rheinische Musikschule the association set up refreshment rooms and the first self-service canteen in the old university . The cheap food was also offered in the branch of the unemployment center in Buschgasse and in the homeless asylum in Silvanstraße 12, in the so-called Volksgaststätte . A full lunch was given out for 50 pfennigs .

In 1930, 400,000 meals were served in this way, only the branch in the Cologne police headquarters was closed due to insufficient demand. At major events and on weekends, those looking for relaxation were provided with healthy, inexpensive food by women from the association from the mobile Goa kitchen . The tireless efforts of the Cologne women's association for alcohol-free restaurants showed social success in the early 1930s. No alcohol has been served in the public winter parlors for the unemployed in Cologne since 1931.

This social project, unique of its kind in the Rhineland , was exclusively supervised and commercially managed by up to 70 women from the association . In addition to supplying the working population and students with healthy, inexpensive food, the association also wanted to prove that it was possible to achieve economic success without serving alcohol. On May 28, 1933, the city association of Cologne women's associations was dissolved by the National Socialists .

literature

  • Ida Macco: The Goa restaurants in Cologne , New Housekeeping, Cologne 1931
  • Sully Roecken: The city association of Cologne women's associations and its affiliated associations . In: Kölner Frauengeschichtsverein (Hrsg.): “10 o'clock punctually Gürzenich” - women in Cologne that were moved for a hundred years . Agenda-Verlag, Münster 1995, ISBN 3-929440-53-9 , 183-219
  • Irene Franken : Goa - the first successful Cologne women's company of modern times. In: Irene Franken (Ed.): Women in Cologne - The historical city guide, JP Bachem, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-7616-2029-8 , pp. 268f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Sully Roecken: The city association of Cologne women's associations and its affiliated associations . In: Kölner Frauengeschichtsverein (Hrsg.): "10 o'clock punctually Gürzenich" - A hundred years of moving women in Cologne . Agenda-Verlag, Münster 1995, ISBN 3-929440-53-9 , p. 211-213 .
  2. ^ A b Irene Franken: Women in Cologne - The historical city guide . JP Bachem, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-7616-2029-8 , From personal concern: Women's fight against alcoholism, p. 125-127 .
  3. ↑ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: News sheet of the City Association of Cologne Women's Associations , January 19, 1928
  4. ↑ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: News sheet of the City Association of Cologne Women's Associations , August 26, 1926
  5. ↑ Anja Katzmarzik: International Women's Day: Three impressive Cologne women in history . In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . ( ksta.de [accessed on July 4, 2017]).
  6. ^ Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: News sheet of the City Association of Cologne Women's Associations , July 2, 1928
  7. ↑ a b c Irene Franken: Goa - the first successful Cologne women's company of modern times . In: Irene Franken (Ed.): Women in Cologne - The historical city guide . JP Bachem, Bachem 2008, ISBN 978-3-7616-2029-8 , pp. 268 f .