Rescue house to the fish house

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The rescue house zum Fischhaus was the first children's home in the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen and is now a single homestead on the outskirts of the municipality of Rhönblick in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district in Thuringia . The history of the home begins with the establishment of a rescue home for neglected and homeless children, which a Meiningen grammar school teacher Schneider requested in 1845 . The building complex also includes the “Bernhardshaus” in the neighborhood, which was occupied as an extension in the 19th century. The Mathildenstift on the outskirts of Schmalkalden also emerged as a spin-off from this children's home.

location

The fish house is located about 14 kilometers southwest of the district town of Meiningen in the south of the municipality of Rhönblick. The property is located in the northern part of the Hermannsfeld corridor , near Landesstraße 2625 . At the homestead there was once the Great Hermannsfelder See .

history

Origin and original use of the fish house

A building erected by the tenant or owner of the fishing rights has served the management of the Großer Hermannsfelder See since the 18th century - which was called the “fish house” after its main use. The dining room in the Fischhaus was a romantic place for the Meininger Hof and was often used as a place for excursions. After the lake silted up, the building was taken over by a resident of Hermannsfeld who operated a seed kiln for forestry in the building. The geography of the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen, published in 1838, mentions the location:

  • Fischhaus: 5 inh., 3 male and 2 female. Gender. 4 buildings at all, 1 inhabited house. Single house in the Hermannsfeld land markings, below the large Hermannsfeld pond that is now dry and used for cultivating fields and meadows. Currently defeat and Darranstalt of a forest seed dealership. Parish and schooled in Hermannsfeld.

The work of the Meiningen social reformer Richard Schneider

The Meiningen high school professor Richard Schneider was a socially minded pedagogue and supporter of the reform pedagogue Johannes Daniel Falk . From letters and conversations with specialist colleagues, he had learned about the work of the rescue house movement of the Inner Missionary Movement. During this time, the Rauhes Haus children's home near Hamburg became a model for further home foundations in the Protestant states of Germany.

According to the "founding legend", Schneider was in mortal danger during a trip to Italy and swore to donate a children's home in Meiningen as thanks for his rescue after his happy return home. The idea developed by Schneider found many supporters, but it was not possible to find a suitable place for the home in the residential town of Meiningen. Three years went by looking for a suitable location, then the fish house was "discovered". The remote location offered many advantages, the property could even be bought for half the original price, namely 2000 guilders. There were outbuildings, stables and a garden around the solid house; the place offered space to accommodate 40 to 50 children. The dormitory was built with donations and personal savings. At the end of 1860, the "Rescue House to the Fish House" founded by Professor Richard Schneider near Hermannsfeld was moved into.

Life and everyday life in the Fischbach rescue center

Georg Strobel was taken over by the Trautberg rescue center in Lower Franconia in Bavaria as educator and house father , who was also entrusted with teaching the children in his own house after approval had been received from the ducal school supervisory authority.

Subsequently, neglected and orphaned boys aged 6 to 12 could be admitted according to the statutes.

The schedule in the fish house was precisely defined by a weekly schedule with day and hour division. Different subjects were taught from Monday to Saturday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Work was carried out between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. At first the garden was tended, later the acreage acquired for this purpose was tilled and the cattle, cows and pigs that had meanwhile been acquired were looked after. With the income it was possible to largely self-cater for themselves. On Sunday, the main focus was on going to church, because the purpose of the founder was to educate the neglected boys on the basis of the Christian or Evangelical-Lutheran creed to pious and good people.

The institution also thrived thanks to growing outside support. Above all, the family of the Duke of Meiningen repeatedly approved subsidies from state funds. In addition, there was support from pastors and teachers, collections and lotteries were held, the proceeds of which went to the rescue house.

The New House - the first extension of the home

The Fischbach rescue center, founded in 1860, received a legal title and further state support by statute of July 28, 1877 with an amendment of December 17, 1878 as a public charitable foundation. The purpose of this facility was to raise neglected or neglected children on the basis of the Evangelical Lutheran creed to be good people.

In order to be able to look after girls as well, an extension was built from 1868 onwards, the “New House”.

The Mathildenstift

With the expansion of the home, more home workers were needed and hired, including the brothers Johannes and Daniel Saal from Kaltenlengsfeld . Johannes Saal in particular , a tailor by trade, devoted himself to the disabled children in the home, to which there were also more mentally handicapped children who needed intensive care. Together with his wife, Saal took some particularly needy children into his family. Saal was given the opportunity to pursue further training over several years: first in 1865 he went to the training center for deaconesses and nurses founded by Wilhelm Löhe in Neuendettelsau , the so-called “Blödenheim” in Neuendettelsau, in order to acquire knowledge of nursing. His further training took place in the later state mental institution in Hildburghausen . From 1872, Saal worked again in Fischhaus, where on May 27, 1873, in the “New House”, he founded the “Mathildenstift”, a “private stupid institution”. With this separate home establishment, Saal tried to improve the conditions for support for his mentally handicapped pupils, as they suffered many inconveniences in the previously mixed groups.

The Mathildenstift moves to Schmalkalden

The two children's homes formed a care community for almost ten years. When a family friend found a suitable site for a new home near Aue on the outskirts of Schmalkalden , the opportunity was seized, and in autumn 1883 Johannes Saal moved with 20 pupils to the neighboring district of Herrschaft Schmalkalden , part of Aue near Schmalkalden, which belonged to Prussia , the new facility was officially registered as a “boarding school for the idiot”. The conditions there were difficult, however, and in 1930 another opportunity was used to move into the Röthof in a forest clearing away from the town of Schmalkalden. After a few years of construction at the new location, the operators were confronted with a radically changed social concept when the National Socialists came to power . The laws passed by the Reich government solved the problem of "life unworthy of life" according to the formula:

“In the foreground is the determined will of our government to purify the people's body. The breed wants to breed high average, not exceptions. "

State support was thus extinguished. On the orders of the Reich Defense Commissioner, 113 foster children who were on a list should be relocated. The Röthof nursing home fought bitterly for every single pupil, and it was actually possible to save all those classified as “unworthy of life” from being transferred.

Literature and archival material

  • Georg Sintenis: Sermon on Luc. 5, 10 in the church in Hermannsfeld and Weihrede for the laying of the foundation stone of the new boys' house donated by Her Highness Princess Marie von S. Meiningen at the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the rescue house at the fish house near Meiningen. Keyßler, 1885. Thuringian State Archives Meiningen , signature: M8 ° 01538; connected Newer Sachsen-Meiningische or other Saxon holdings, State Ministry area, Department of the Interior. Existing: Rescue House to Fischhaus (inventory signature: 4-12-398, duration: 1845–1944, scope: 1.90 running meters)
  • Hans Nonne: The rescue house to the fish house b. Hermannsfeld in the Duchy of Saxony Meiningen; Memorial font for the 50th anniversary celebration. Keyßner, approx. 1910. Meiningen State Archives, signature: M4 ° / 30
  • Gerhard Schätzlein: Hermannsfeld and the surrounding area. History and stories. Verlag Börner, Meiningen 1994, OCLC 258626385 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Georg Brückner : The administrative office Meiningen . In: Regional studies of the Duchy of Meiningen . 2nd volume. Verlag von Brückner and Renner, Meiningen 1853, Fischhaus, p. 153 ( digitized version [accessed on May 10, 2020]).
  2. ^ A b District Court District Meiningen . The city of Meiningen and the country towns. In: Paul Lehfeldt (Hrsg.): Architectural and art monuments of Thuringia . Issue 34. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Jena 1909, Fischhaus, p. 345 , urn : nbn: de: gbv: wim2-g-2500739 .
  3. ^ Contributions to the statistics of the Duchy of Meiningen . First volume. Kesselring 'sche Hof bookstore, Meiningen and Hildburghausen 1838, p. 101 ( digitized version [accessed on May 10, 2020]).
  4. ^ Arnd Götzelmann: The Pietism in the 19th and 20th centuries . In: Martin Brecht, Klaus Deppermann, Ulrich Gäbler , Hartmut Lehmann (eds.): History of Pietism . tape 3 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-525-55348-X , The older rescue house movement, p. 280-289 .
  5. ↑ a b c Hans Nonne: The rescue house to the fish house b. Hermannsfeld in the Duchy of Saxony Meiningen
  6. ↑ a b c d e f Foundation (The History of the Christian Dwellings Schmalkalden GmbH). Christliche Wohnstätten Schmalkalden GmbH, 2013, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved February 7, 2013 .
  7. ^ Robert Eberhardt: Chronicle of the lower Schmalkaldetal . Ortschronik for the localities Haindorf, Aue, Mittelschmalkalden, Volkers and Möckers. Wolffverlag, Schmalkalden 2007, p. 416.

Coordinates: 50 ° 31 '  N , 10 ° 19'  E