Nature Conservation Union Austria

Austrian Nature Conservation Union ; (ÖNB)
purpose	Representation of Austrian nature and environmental protection interests
Chair:	Roman Turk
Establishment date:	1913
Number of members:	80,000 (2010)
Seat :	Salzburg
Website:	www.naturschutzbund.at

The Naturschutzbund Österreich is an Austrian nature conservation organization .

structure

There are around 80,000 members all over Austria, organized in 9 regional groups and numerous regional groups. The federal office is based in Salzburg , where nationwide issues and campaigns are coordinated.

The youth organization of the Naturschutzbund is the Austrian Nature Conservation Youth or önj , which was founded in 1952 .

Another organization under the umbrella of the Austrian Nature Conservation Union is the ARGE Biogas . It sees itself as a non-partisan, non-profit group of farmers, biogas experts and committed people and has set itself the goal of informing farmers and political decision-makers about biogas and winning them over to its intensive use.

The heraldic animal of the Austrian Nature Conservation Union is the otter .

history

Early years

The conservative nature conservation association was founded in 1913 and describes itself as the “oldest nature and environmental protection organization” in Austria. However, the social democratic Friends of Nature in Austria had already been founded in 1895 and the Friends of Nature International in Vienna in 1905.

On December 1, 1913, the Association for Regional Studies of Lower Austria with Günther Schlesinger (1886–1945) published the sheets for nature conservation and natural history (later NATUR und Land) for the first time .

A year earlier, in 1912, the forest scientist Adolf Ritter von Guttenberg (1839–1917) founded the Austrian Nature Conservation Park Association . This was converted into the Austrian Nature Conservation Union on February 4, 1924 . The reason was the urging of some circles to expand the activity to all branches of nature conservation. Until then, the association dealt primarily with homeland security and monument preservation .

Schlesinger, the conservator at Lower Austria. Provincial Museum and chairman of the Nature Conservation Park Association , achieved after the name change that the sheets could also be given to the members of the Austrian Nature Conservation Union . How networked the "nature conservation scene" was at that time is shown by the fact that the sheets also served as a communication organ for the Austrian Teachers' Association for Natural History and the Specialized Agency for Nature Conservation. The first common address for the Blätter and the Naturschutzbund was Herrengasse in Vienna.

Schlesinger was inclined towards National Socialism from an early age . In 1928, for example, in a review in the Blätter für Naturkunde und Naturschutz , he praised the book "Rassenkunde des Deutschen Volkes" by Hans FK Günther , and in 1932 "Neuadel aus Blut und Boden" (New Nobility from Blood and Soil) by the later Reich farmers' leader Walther Darré .

In the years 1934 to 1938, the Naturschutzbund published the magazine Hain and Junghain for children. By 1935, nature conservation laws were drawn up in the individual federal states , in which the Naturschutzbund was significantly involved. In 1934, Schlesinger founded the Austrian Society for Nature Conservation and Natural History (ÖGN). In 1936, the Naturschutzbund leased the first salt varnish with a size of over 200 hectares on Lake Neusiedl .

National Socialism

After the connection , the Austrian Society for Nature Conservation and Natural History was renamed “Danube Country Society for Nature Conservation and Natural History” and Schlesinger was appointed acting head of all nature conservation associations in the former Austria. Immediately after the Anschluss, Schlesinger wrote in the papers :

“A storm that emerged in the last hour from the elementary forces of German nationality in Austria and directed by our leader Adolf Hitler , who has been so dearly loved for years, with unprecedented mastery to shape rather than destroy, has roared across Austria and has our old, German one Land brought home to the empire . ... Since the beginning of Austrian nature conservation, the supreme principle of National Socialism, `` common good before self-interest '' has been a guideline practiced a thousand times for all demands of official and association-like nature protection in Austria, since the beginning it has been a means for us to achieve the most urgent goal of National Socialist educational work. .. We want to keep it that way, now protected and encouraged by the new age, free from the fetters of the materialistic and intellectualistic spirit alien to the people. ... Heil Hitler ! "

Schlesinger immediately ordered the exclusion of all Jewish members: "If there are people with one or more Jewish grandparents among the members of the ÖGN, they must immediately report their departure." Members of all nature conservation, beautification and tourism associations can only be people , " Who are not considered Jews or Jewish mixed race according to the Nuremberg Race Laws ."

Schlesinger presented the goals of the Nature Conservation Union in the papers , including the “struggle for the German people ... to put the alien, Jewish spirit ... in its place”, because: “The Jew has no home ... Judaism and German nature are incompatible terms. "

In the war year 1944 the sheets for nature protection and natural history had to be discontinued.

A more precise processing of the history of the Nature Conservation Union under National Socialism turns out to be difficult because one employee burned all files in view of the approaching allies .

After the Second World War

River otter ( lutra lutra )

From October 1946 the sheets appear again, this time under the new name Natur und Land . Since many copies of the leaves were burned during the war, an appeal was made to readers to collect old copies. Schlesinger's closest collaborator was Augustin Meislinger. The Naturschutzbund has been allowed to use the federal coat of arms since 1947 . In the following year the ÖNB got its seat in the Natural History Museum in Vienna. In 1948 the first youth group was also founded. In 1949, the nature conservationist Lothar Machura and botanist Gustav Wendelberger founded the Institute for Nature Conservation and Landscape Management , and the year after that the Biological Station Neusiedler See was opened. In the year, the natural monument Brunnlust in the Lower Austrian Vienna Basin was purchased as the first property .

In 1952, Eberhard Stüber founded the Austrian Youth for Nature Conservation. The ÖNB was also involved in the creation of CIPRA in the same year. Further salt varnishes could be bought in Burgenland. In 1959 the ÖNB was divided into nine independent regional groups under Curt Fossel , the Styrian chairman, so that from then on the ÖNB functions as an umbrella organization.

In 1964 the federal office moves from Vienna to Graz . In 1965 Manfred Mautner Markhof was replaced as chairman of the ÖNB by Georg Thurn-Valsassina , followed by Eduard Paul Tratz in 1967 .

1970 the Nature Conservation Academy of the Nature Conservation Union is founded and registered as a scientific association under the name Nature Conservation Center . In 1970 the Naturschutzbund was able to hold its first European nature conservation symposium in Innsbruck. A lynx is naturalized again on the Turracher Höhe. By purchasing land, the ÖNB is essentially responsible for the Buchberg Nature Park in the state of Salzburg. In 1972 the ÖNB moved to Salzburg .

In 1980 the ÖNB ordered the creation of the nature trail in the Rauris primeval forest by the Lenzing teacher Rupert Resch, opened by Federal President Rudolf Kirchschläger . The 29th Nature Conservation Days in 1981 take place under the motto "Must sport destroy nature?" instead of. The 31st Austrian Nature Conservation Day (ÖNT) 1984 takes place under the motto "Does our forest still have a chance?" instead of.

In 1990 the otter symbol becomes the ÖNB's new logo. In 1994 the ÖNB passed a critical statement on Austria's future accession to the EU. In 1996, ÖNB and önj unsuccessfully support the Traun citizens' initiative against the construction of a power plant near Lambach.

After 39 years as President of the Austrian Nature Conservation Union, Eberhard Stüber will hand over the chairmanship to university professor Roman Türk at a general assembly on May 21, 2011 .

In January 2016, the ÖNB protested against the revocation of Konrad Lorenz's honorary doctorate by the University of Salzburg . Lorenz had been honorary president of the ÖNB for many years. The University of Salzburg had revoked Lorenz's honorary doctorate due to his commitment to the racial ideology of National Socialism. The ÖNB stated that it was a “downright ridiculous attempt” to “disqualify” an Austrian scientist and Nobel Prize winner .

Actions

Maintenance work by the Naturschutzbund Niederösterreich on the sand field in the Marchauen near Ringelsdorf-Niederabsdorf

Maintenance work by the Naturschutzbund Niederösterreich on the Pulverturmwiese near Marchegg

As a petition to protect the Viennese forest and meadow belt, 200,000 signatures were handed over to the Viennese mayor Karl Seitz in 1921 .

Another signature campaign with 120,000 signatures in 1952 prevented the Krimml waterfalls from being discharged so that they could be preserved in their original form.

In 1958 it was possible to prevent OMV from building another refinery in Lobau .

1959 was under the sign of the preservation of the Wachau .

The nature conservation association played a decisive role in the establishment of the Neusiedler See-Seewinkel National Park through numerous individual campaigns that stretched over the years. In 1971 it was necessary to prevent a bridge over the lake, which was achieved through a signature campaign with 200,000 signatures. In 1978 the Mattersburg Manifesto took place and in 1979 the second European nature conservation symposium was held with the aim of establishing a national park.

The ÖNB was also heavily involved in the anti-nuclear initiatives against the Zwentendorf nuclear power plant in 1978.

In order to protect valuable areas in terms of nature conservation over the long term, the Nature Conservation Association in Austria has bought or leased around 1,200 hectares of land. These areas include the Galgenberg near Oberstinkenbrunn , the Pischelsdorfer Wiesen and parts of the Fehhaube-Kogelsteine nature reserve .

Austrian nature conservation award

Since 1975 the Nature Conservation Association has been awarding the Austrian Nature Conservation Prize to people who have made public contributions to nature and environmental protection in Austria.

Web links

Commons : Naturschutzbund Österreich - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Dieter Pesendorfer: Paradigm Shift in Environmental Policy: From the Beginnings of Environmental Policy to Sustainability Policy: Model Case Austria? Springer-Verlag, 2008, p. 49.

↑ The nature conservation association is turning a hundred! ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (ÖNB). @1@ 2

↑ Dieter Pesendorfer: Paradigm Shift in Environmental Policy: From the Beginnings of Environmental Policy to Sustainability Policy: Model Case Austria? Springer-Verlag, 2008, p. 49.

^ Walter Kahlenborn, Michael Kraack, Alexander Carius: Tourism and environmental policy: A political area of tension . Springer, 2013; P. 59.

↑ Leaves for Natural History and Nature Conservation 1928.6, pp. 90f., Cited. according to Johannes Straubinger: Longing for nature . Salzburg 2009; P. 96.

↑ Blätter für Naturkunde und Naturschutz 1932.6, S. 142f., Quoted in. according to Johannes Straubinger: Longing for nature . Salzburg 2009; P. 96.

↑ Günther Schlesinger: The new age - happy for guidance! In: Blätter für Naturkunde und Naturschutz 1938.4, p. 49f., Cited. according to Johannes Straubinger: Longing for nature . Salzburg 2009; P. 104.

^ Günther Schlesinger: Important message. In: Blätter für Naturkunde und Naturschutz 1938.7 / 8, S. 97f., Cited. according to Johannes Straubinger: Longing for nature . Salzburg 2009; P. 96.

↑ ibid.

↑ Jude und Naturschutz In: Blätter für Naturkunde und Naturschutz 1939.24, p. 414, cited. according to Johannes Straubinger: Longing for nature . Salzburg 2009; P. 95.

↑ Johannes Straubinger: Longing for nature . Salzburg 2009; Pp. 93-94.

↑ Reinhard Farkas: The nature protection association and the history of the nature protection movement. Nature & Land: Journal of the Austrian Nature Conservation Union. Vol. 99 (2013), pp. 12-20

↑ Konrad Lorenz: Critique of the revocation of an honorary doctorate Der Standard , January 2, 2016.

↑ Johannes Gepp: The Nature Conservation Association in the Environment Age Nature & Land: Journal of the Nature Conservation Association Austria. Vol. 99 (2013), pp. 22-26

[1] Dieter Pesendorfer: Paradigm Shift in Environmental Policy: From the Beginnings of Environmental Policy to Sustainability Policy: Model Case Austria? Springer-Verlag, 2008, p. 49.