Gotthilf Vöhringer

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Gotthilf Vöhringer (born January 15, 1881 in Ebingen , † May 1, 1955 in Oberensingen ) was a German Protestant theologian .

Career

Gotthilf Vöhringer studied theology in Tübingen from 1899 . In 1903 he was ordained and worked as a vicar in various congregations, u. a. used in Schramberg . In February 1907 he did his doctorate in Tübingen at the Philosophical Faculty with the subject The ethical principles of Schleiermacher's educational teaching . In 1907/08 he made a trip to Cameroon to study missions and the school system in the former colony, later suggested the establishment of the Württemberg Chamber of Commerce and went back to Cameroon as its managing director in 1912. During the First World War he served in Cameroon and was taken prisoner by the English . At the beginning of this war, the Germans there were captured and interned by the English, including Vöhringer. At the end of 1914 he was released to Germany and worked as a pastor Verweser in Stuttgart- Ostheim.

From 1919 he was appointed to the central management for charities in Württemberg , where he was later a member of the government and thus in particular responsible for the supervision of educational homes. From 1925 he was General Secretary of the German League for Independent Welfare , which was an amalgamation of mostly denominational umbrella organizations. This began its work on July 1, 1925 in Berlin , Vöhringer became Secretary General and Managing Director. Under pressure from the NSDAP , or the NS-Volkswohlfahrt , the name of the league was changed to the Reichsgemeinschaft der Free Welfare Service , but it was dissolved soon afterwards. Vöhringer initially remained Secretary General until 1933, refused to join the NSDAP, finally resigned his office in 1934 and retired at the age of 53. He moved to Jena and finally to his Swabian homeland in Zizishausen am Neckar .

In 1938 Vöhringer returned to the service of voluntary welfare, this time in the Inner Mission. In 1937 he was elected to the committee of the regional association of the Inner Mission in Württemberg. In 1938 he became a member of the board of directors of the Leonberg-Oberensingen JP welfare homes and was elected its chairman in 1939, an office which he held until the end of his life. He took over the chairmanship when it became known that the state, city and party offices wanted to take over and put an end to the home. In 1940 the home in Leonberg was confiscated and evacuated within five days, so that Vöhringer arranged for him to move to Oberensingen and Hebsack . The return after the war was difficult with the city of Leonberg, but it was still possible to use most of the buildings in Leonberg for the renovation and expansion of a retirement home, so that it was built in 1948 in place of the concentration camp barracks in Leonberg . The care home was reopened in 1946.

After the end of the war in 1945, Vöhringer became (again) managing director of the regional association of the Inner Mission in Württemberg. His focus shifted to caring for the elderly and in 1952 the construction of an old people's home in Oberensingen began, which has since been named Dr. Vöhringer-Heim and is managed by the Samariterstiftung in the 21st century . A school, which was originally founded as a helper school for the Inner Mission in Haslach-Mühle, was named Gotthilf-Vöhringer-Schule , it often changed the course and goal of the training.

Vöhringer also built up the League of Independent Welfare Care in Württemberg and Baden after the war, became its chairman and co-founded the Evangelical Home Foundation in 1952 in order to transfer the homes of the regional association of the Inner Mission and some of the Evangelical Relief Organization there. He also devoted himself to expanding the collection system. He advocated an individual obligation (“directly helping neighborly love”) for the neighbor that does not disappear through a collective obligation and performance. He was also committed to the independence of the voluntary welfare service, but found that large tasks would be relieved of the state by these associations, so that grants could be viewed as a reward. He also spent years of his life negotiating nursing care rates.

At the end of November 1949, Vöhringer suffered a serious heart attack , which was soon followed by a second, whereupon he resigned from his position as managing director of the regional association of the Inner Mission. The illnesses eventually forced him to stay in hospital for several months. On May 1, 1955, he died of another heart attack.

Honors

literature

  • Eckhard Hansen, Florian Tennstedt (Eds.) U. a .: Biographical lexicon on the history of German social policy from 1871 to 1945 . Volume 2: Social politicians in the Weimar Republic and during National Socialism 1919 to 1945. Kassel University Press, Kassel 2018, ISBN 978-3-7376-0474-1 , pp. 208 f. ( Online , PDF; 3.9 MB).
  • Eckhard Hansen: Vöhringer, Gotthilf , in: Hugo Maier (Ed.): Who is who of social work . Freiburg: Lambertus, 1998 ISBN 3-7841-1036-3 , pp. 602ff.
  • Baden-Württemberg biographies. Volume II, p. 468
  • Kraut, Antonie: D. Dr. Gotthilf Vöhringer a life dedicated to welfare. Without publisher, Stuttgart 1977.
  • Vöhringer, Gotthilf: My experiences during the war in Cameroon and in the English captivity of Dr. Gotthilf Vöhringer . Lecture given in Hamburg on Jan. 30, 1915, Dept. Hamburg d. German Colonial Society Friederichsen, Hamburg 1915.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Homepage of the Dr. Vöhringer Home .
personal data
SURNAME Vöhringer, Gotthilf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Protestant theologian
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Ebingen
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 1955
Place of death Oberensingen