Hensoltshöhe Foundation
Coordinates: 49 ° 7 ' N , 10 ° 46' E
The Hensoltshöhe Foundation is a Protestant charity and a spiritual center with its headquarters in Gunzenhausen , Middle Franconia , Bavaria . It goes back to a foundation in 1909. The spiritual center of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation is incorporated into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria .
People carrying
Sisterhood of Deaconesses
For many decades an essential and supporting element of the Hensoltshöhe was the sisterhood of its deaconesses . These have individually committed themselves to a celibate and simple life together with other deaconesses and to service in the community. They provide service to the community, foregoing personal income as part of their professional activity, sometimes up to old age. Most of them live in the Hensoltshöhe properties and are employed there in their various functions and facilities during and after work. In addition to the practical duties, the sisterhood has also given itself a missionary and preaching mandate. The deaconesses of the Hensoltshöhe who need support and care in old age live in the so-called "Feierabendheim" in Büchelberg five kilometers north of Gunzenhausen.
Employees, volunteers
As the number of deaconesses has fallen sharply, many of their former duties are now performed by employees and volunteers.
history
The history of the Hensoltshöhe is also in the context of the evangelical diakonia movement and the community movement that took place in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Similar institutions had already been set up before, such as the Kaiserwerth mother house , the Neuendettelsau mother house and the deaconess mother house in Vandsburg in what was then West Prussia, the parent house of the German Community Diakonieverband.
Surname
"Hensoltshöhe" was the name of a restaurant on the former eastern outskirts of Gunzenhausen. It was named after Leonhard Hensolt, a former mayor of Gunzenhausen, who promoted the establishment of the garden economy in the middle of the 19th century. After its rededication, the restaurant building formed the first building of today's Hensoltshöhe institution and gave it its name.
Founding phase 1903 to 1909
In 1903, Ernest Mehl, technical director of the Augsburg worsted yarn spinning mill , acquired the Hensoltshöhe excursion restaurant on the eastern outskirts of Gunzenhausen at the time. Mehl was evangelical-Christian and had already created progressive social institutions for the security and position of the workers and employees of the company in the company division of the spinning mill in Augsburg for which he was responsible. Mehl acquired the property of the former Hensoltshöhe restaurant in Gunzenhausen with the aim of founding a Christian rest home and a Christian center in Middle Franconia. In addition to the restaurant, he built a new three-story building, which was also used as a recreation house for several years from 1905. From the summer of 1905, Ernest Mehl invited to faith conferences and Bible courses in the rooms of the former inn. In addition, in 1909 a diaconal institution of its own called "Hensoltshöhe" was founded, which accepted and trained female deaconesses in its own name. In May 1909 the first deaconess was accepted.
1910 to 1933
in 1910 the Hensoltshöhe already had 24 candidates of its own. The deaconesses initially worked in local and regional nursing, but from the beginning they also tried to work in a missionary manner in their environment, and for this purpose formed Christian groups for girls and women. From 1914 onwards, kindergarten work was also carried out, and there was also care for those injured in the First World War. The first superior of the Hensoltshöhe motherhouse was Sister Anna Kolitz from the parent motherhouse in Vandsburg, who held this position from 1909 to 1954. In 1919 the Hensoltshöhe received its first rector, Pastor Ernst Keupp.
Corresponding to the rapid growth in personnel (1929: 750 deaconesses), the parent company quickly took on further tasks:
- 1919: Start of school activity; Takeover of the drinking sanatorium Haus Immanuel Hutschdorf, today a specialist clinic for women with addictions.
- 1920: Start of Christian leisure work; Founding of the leaf mission work in Nuremberg, forerunner of today's Marburger Medien Foundation .
- 1921: Union of pietistic community groups to form the Hensoltshöher Community Association (HGV eV), since 2006 part of the Federation of Evangelical Communities .
- 1925: The first Hensoltshöher deaconesses are sent out for missionary work in China.
- 1927: Foundation of various seminars (e.g. for business and handicraft teachers) and a kindergarten and after-school care center, today a specialist academy for social education.
In the 1920s, Hensoltshöhe acquired several farms and used them to supply their facilities. In Gunzenhausen and elsewhere, she was constantly expanding her properties. In the parent company she ran a large kitchen as well as her own butcher, bakery and laundry for her own needs. It employed its own craftsmen (shoemakers, locksmiths, electricians, bricklayers, carpenters) in some of their own workshops, in which apprentices were also trained.
1933 to 1945
During the Nazi era tried the Hensoltshöhe, their religious life and their educational and heritage institutions in their mainly Christian sense against the pressure of the Nazi regime, in particular media propaganda and the institutionalized DC circuit to continue. It succeeded in many ways, but not completely. At times, closeness to the regime was sought. Rector Keupp temporarily joined the German Christians . Nazi celebrities visited the Hensoltshöhe repeatedly and were received there.
Between 1939 and 1942, the National Socialist authorities closed all schools and seminars at Hensoltshöhe. At the beginning of the Second World War, a large part of the building complex was converted into military hospitals in which deaconesses cared for war wounded.
1945 to 2016
After the end of the Second World War, the Hensoltshöhe resumed its previous operations. Parts of their behavior during the Nazi dictatorship were later admitted as being politically wrong. The rector pastor Ernst Keupp had to resign.
The number of deaconesses in Hensolshöhe grew strongly until the end of the 1950s (1960: 1266 deaconesses), and they were very present in their traditional costume in Gunzenhausen's townscape. Since then, however, their number has been falling (1984: 910, 2009: 370). Accordingly, the facilities at Hensoltshöhe increasingly also require conventional employees to carry out the work. Certain areas of activity, such as community nursing and hospital service, were given up. In the 1980s the own butcher's and bakery were closed.
Since 2016
In 2016 the foundation "Stiftung Hensoltshöhe" was founded, which took over and continues the objectives and the mandate of the community deaconess mother house Hensoltshöhe. The sisterhood is part of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation.
Content orientation
In general, diaconal work is seen as a Christian-motivated service to people and thus as an invitation to deal with questions of religion and belief. The service to people is understood as a step towards the fulfillment of the preaching and missionary mandate.
The decreasing number of deaconesses in the past few decades led to employees and voluntary workers taking over the deaconesses' work areas. While the work of the deaconesses took place under the motto “Moved by the Gospel, with Jesus to the people”, the work today is continued under the motto “Where heaven and life meet”, which was launched in 2016.
Spiritual offer
The spiritual offer of the Hensoltshöhe includes
- In the regional church organizational form that of a conventional church community, it offers pastoral care, holds church services and carries out baptisms, weddings and funerals,
- various regular occasions - usually weekly meetings of various groups in which interested parties can participate,
- extraordinary occasions. They include conferences - with over a thousand participants in some cases - on religious and church-related topics, seminars, study days and musical events.
The facilities operated by Hensoltshöhe practice religious practice, invite you to do so or offer the opportunity to do so.
Facilities today
The Hensoltshöhe Foundation operates the following facilities.
Spiritual center of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation
The spiritual center of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation is a regional church institution in the Evangelical Regional Church of Bavaria. As such, it is organizationally and financially parallel to the local parishes, namely the Evangelical Parish Gunzenhausen. It fulfills the spiritual obligations of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation. For this purpose, it has meeting and seminar facilities - for the most part also publicly used.
Deaconess mother house of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation
The parent company in Gunzenhausen on Hensoltstrasse is the organizational and intellectual center of the sisterhood of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation. It is also the home of many deaconesses with appropriate facilities. The deaconess mother house was rebuilt and modernized in 2016 by Nuremberg architects Niederwöhrmeier + Kief .
Crèche, kindergarten, day-care center
In the "Sonnenhof Family Center", Hensoltshöhe maintains a crèche, a kindergarten and an after-school care center. The family center has other offers for families.
Realschule and technical academy
The Hensoltshöhe is responsible for the "Hensoltshöhe girls' secondary school". It is a secondary school that enables girls to be educated from the 5th to the 10th grade. The school's mission statement focuses on the Gospel and Christian values. The Realschule has 370 female students (as of 2017).
The “Fachakademie Hensoltshöhe” provides students with specialist knowledge in various socio-educational fields of work in theory and practice and enables them to acquire the qualification as a state-recognized educator. The specialist academy is open to men and women regardless of their religious affiliation. Like the Realschule, however, it relates to a Christian image of God and man. The specialist academy has (as of 2017) 275 students and almost 30 teachers.
clinic
In the "Altmühlseeklinik Hensoltshöhe" the indication areas orthopedics, oncology, psychosomatics, cardiovascular diseases and internal medicine are treated as part of rehabilitation measures. In addition, preventive care and health treatments are offered for self-paying patients. The clinic has 120 beds in single rooms.
Old people's home
The Hensoltshöhe maintains a nursing home in Nuremberg in a barrier-free building with 68 single rooms and seven double rooms. People in full inpatient or short-term care or in geriatric psychiatric care are given priority.
Guest houses on the Ammersee and in the Allgäu
In Riederau on the southwestern bank of the Ammersee, the Hensoltshöhe has the so-called "Ammersee houses". There are two neighboring houses in gardens near the lake. Meeting rooms and a chapel for devotions are available. The Ammersee houses have 41 rooms of different sizes and some apartments.
In Sulzberg-Moosbach in the Allgäu on the Rottachsee south of Kempten, the Hensoltshöhe operates the so-called "Christian Guesthouse AllgäuWeite". The guest house has 73 rooms and a few apartments.
Publications, bookstore
Hensoltshöhe publishes the newspaper Mittendrin , which appears roughly every four months and is also accessible online via its website. It also offers sermon and lecture recordings for download.
A branch of the Francke bookshop has been set up on the premises of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation, offering Christian-oriented literature.
Legal structure
Until mid-2016, the Hensoltshöhe Deaconess Mother House and many of the Hensoltshöhe facilities were legally dependent parts of the German Community Diakonie Association DGD e. V. in Marburg.
In 2016, the foundation “Stiftung Hensoltshöhe” and the non-profit GmbH “Stiftung Hensoltshöhe gGmbH” were founded practically at the same time . The foundation is a partner in the gGmbH. Both the foundation board and the management of the gGmbH are Rev. Wolfgang Becker, deaconess Marion Holland and Burkhard Weller. Today the gGmbH is the formal legal sponsor of most of the Hensoltshöhe facilities.
Real estate
The Hensoltshöhe uses the following properties, among others:
- Gunzenhausen Hensoltstraße: The parent company, the Altmühlsee Clinic, conference rooms and meeting places and the Francke bookstore are located on a four-hectare site along Hensoltstraße and the western edge of the Burgstallwald. The area is laid out like a park.
- Gunzenhausen Lindleinswasenstraße: The site is just under a kilometer east of the site on Hensoltstrasse and measures around 1.5 hectares. The girls' secondary school, the technical academy and crèche, kindergarten and after-school care center are located here.
- Büchelberg: In the village of Büchelberg about five kilometers north of Gunzenhausen, the Hensoltshöhe maintains a so-called retirement home for deaconesses who are no longer working.
- Ammersee and Allgäu: The above-mentioned guest houses are located there.
- Nuremberg: A retirement home in a barrier-free building.
Memberships, network
The Hensoltshöhe Foundation is a member of the following associations and clubs:
- Evangelical Gnadauer Gemeinschaftverband eV,
- German Community Diakonieverband DGD eV,
- Diakonisches Werk Bayern eV
The Hensoltshöhe Foundation supports the following associations:
- Hensoltshöher Community Association (HGV): The HGV was founded in 1921 by the then rector of the parent company and is today an association of around 65 regional evangelical communities in Bavaria, which provide community and community work across generations and maintain five kindergartens. A regional church community of the HGV is located in Gunzenhausen, so that three Protestant organizations are active there in parallel, namely the Protestant church community, the Hensoltshöhe and the state church community Gunzenhausen. The interaction between the Protestant church community and the regional church community is regulated by a regional agreement. The HGV acts independently of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation.
- Bavarian section of " Decided for Christ ",
- Therapeutic Pastoral Care Foundation,
- The lifelong dream of the project we are on the road
literature
- Hermann Findeisen, Gisela Staib (Ed.) Life without makeup: Deaconesses tell. Stories of deaconesses of the Hensoltshöhe and a classifying contribution. Marburg 2009.
- Arno Pagel in collaboration with the Sisters of the Hensoltshöhe Only the path of faith is certain: Deaconess Anna Kolitz - a life for God. Gunzenhausen 1994.
- Lüdke, Frank: Diaconal evangelization: the beginnings of the German Community Diaconal Association 1899-1933 in denomination and society, 28, Stuttgart 2003.
- Sebastian Kranich , Peggy Renger-Berka, Klaus Tanner (Eds.): Deaconesses - Entrepreneurs - Pastors. Social Protestantism in Central Germany in the 19th Century. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-374-02686-9 .
- Ute Gause, Cordula Lissner (ed.): Kosmos Diakonissenmutterhaus. History and memory of a Protestant women's community. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2nd edition, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-374-02267-7 .
- Anne Kitsch: We are so free ... - biographical sketches of deaconesses. Bethel, Bielefeld 2001, ISBN 3-922463-98-3 .
- Silke Köser: Because a deaconess cannot be an everyday person. Collective identities of Kaiserswerth deaconesses 1836–1914. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig 2006, ISBN 3-374-02232-4 .
- Gerta Scharffenorth : Sisters. Life and work of Protestant sisters , in: Mark , Volume 10. Burckhardthaus, Offenbach am Main 1984, ISBN 3-7664-0111-4 .
- Daniela Schwegler, Susann Bosshard-Kälin: Under the hood - deaconesses talk about their lives. Huber, Zurich 2011, ISBN 978-3-7193-1567-2 .
- The German Community Diakonieverband: 1899–1927, formerly Evang. Community nursing home in Vandsburg in Westpr. Publishing house for architecture, industry and municipal works. Düsseldorf, around 1927.
- Christoph Mehl: Kingdom of God Work: The Christian entrepreneur Ernest Mehl (1836-1912) as a pioneer of the community movement . Degener, Neustadt a. A. 2001.
Web links
- Hensoltshöhe website
- Website of the Hensoltshöhe Foundation
- History of the Hensoltshöhe
- Website of the Evangelical Gnadauer Community Association e. V.
- Website of the German Community Diakonieverband e. V.
Individual evidence
- ↑ On the history of the Hensoltshöhe
- ↑ Deaconess Mother House in Vandsburg
- ↑ Christoph Mehl Christian entrepreneurship and diakonia - the director of the Augsburg worsted spinning mill and founder of the deaconess mother house Hensoltshöhe (Gunzenhausen / Franconia), Ernest Mehl (1836–1912) . uni-heidelberg.de, WS 1992/93, contributions to diaconal science NF 4.
- ^ The DGD in the Nazi era
- ↑ see e.g. B. Hensoltshöhe Easter Conference
- ↑ Price 2017 | German brick award. Retrieved August 11, 2020 .
- ^ Website of the Sonnenhof family center
- ^ Website of the girls' secondary school at Hensoltshöhe
- ^ Website of the Hensoltshöhe University of Applied Sciences
- ^ Website of the Altmühlseeklnik
- ^ Website of the Hensoltshöhe nursing home in Nuremberg
- ^ Website of the Ammersee houses
- ↑ Website of the Allgäuweit guesthouse
- ↑ Download area for recordings of sermons and lectures
- ^ Website of the Francke bookstore
- ↑ a b Website of the German Community Diakonieverband
- ↑ Change at the top of the Diakoniewerk "Stiftung Hensoltshöhe" , idea.de, report from June 23, 2017.
- ^ Website of the Evangelical Gnadauer Community Association
- ↑ Website of the Hensoltshöher Community Association ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Website of the state church community Gunzenhausen
- ↑ regional agreement
- ^ Website of the association Decided for Christ eV
- ^ Website of the Therapeutic Pastoral Care Foundation
- ↑ Website of the We Travel Association
