Tidofeld refugee camp

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The Tidofeld refugee camp was one of the largest camps in Lower Saxony between 1946 and 1960 . Today Tidofeld is the smallest part of the city in the north in East Friesland

Beginnings

At the time of National Socialism, there was a Wehrmacht and Navy camp on the site . After the end of the Second World War , the British occupying forces used it as a release camp for German prisoners of war and after its abandonment it was used to quarter displaced persons.

The warehouse

A settlement of barracks was built on the site , which once again provided a permanent home for the displaced . In 1946 around 1200 people lived in Tidofeld , and in 1951 there were still 1100 refugees and displaced persons, but also a few local residents. One problem was the shortage of living space, with up to 30 people living in many barracks. Many families lived in connecting rooms. There was hardly any privacy under these conditions, especially since the doors of the barracks could not be locked and there were shared toilets and wash barracks . With the men who had returned from captivity , around 750 people lived in Tidofeld at the end of the 1950s. One of the greatest difficulties was the lack of job opportunities, in 1951 70% of the population were unemployed . For this reason, many displaced people left East Frisia . A strong sense of togetherness developed among those who stayed, which went so far that 30 families who had emigrated moved back to Tidofeld after a few years.

Dissolution of the barracks camp

At the beginning of the 1960s the camp was abandoned, the barracks demolished and replaced by normal stone houses. This was preceded by a dispute between the city and the displaced. Norden planned to build a new settlement for displaced persons in the immediate vicinity of the city center, but the residents of the camp succeeded in establishing the new district in Tidofeld.

particularities

The main aim of the British military government in distributing the displaced people to the towns and villages was not to revive old neighborhoods in order to prevent the formation of a parallel society and to promote rapid integration . Tidofeld was so special that due to the large number of displaced people, old family and village associations reunited.

The displaced persons elected a committee to represent their concerns to the city. A school, a volunteer fire brigade , a restaurant , a football club and a barrack church were built. These were used by Catholics , Lutherans and Baptists . As a result of the barrack evacuation and new building program in 1961, a stone church was built at the request of the Evangelical Lutheran Christians , today's Gnadenkirche. Catholics and Baptists were incorporated into the existing church congregations of the respective denominations.

The barrack church

Gnadenkirche Tidofeld

In the Tidofeld camp, an unused room in one of the barracks was initially used by the new citizens as a temporary place of worship . After the community of expellees had been allocated a deputate of lumber, construction of a barrack church began in 1948. After the inauguration on August 8, 1948, the newly built church was used by the Evangelical Lutheran and Catholic Churches as well as by the Baptist congregation. The three religious communities held their services there alternately and shared the running costs. Through the mediation of regional bishop Hans Lilje, the West German bell casting company "Bochumer Verein" donated a cast steel bell to the displaced persons in Tidofeld in October 1951 . The inauguration of the bell took place on October 21, 1951 with a large participation of the population in two festive church services, by the Evangelical Lutheran parish in the morning and the Catholic parish in the afternoon. As a result of the barrack evacuation and new building program in 1961, a stone church was built at the request of the Evangelical Lutheran Christians, today's Gnadenkirche. From then on, the Catholic residents went to the St. Ludgerus Church in the city.

Documentation and meeting place

The Gnadenkirche was given up as a place of worship in 2006 due to declining church attendance. A project group headed by Norder ev.-luth has been planning since October 2005. Superintendent Helmut Kirschstein to set up a documentation center on the grounds of the Gnadenkirche for the integration of refugees and displaced persons in Lower Saxony and Northwest Germany . Since September 2007 the Hannoversche Landeskirche has provided Pastor Anton Lambertus as a full-time manager for this project. As Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff took over the patronage in November 2007. In connection with the 5th East Frisian Church Congress, he visited the Gnadenkirche Tidofeld at the beginning of July 2008. In December 2008, the then regional bishop of Hanover, Margot Käßmann, was also able to take over the patronage.

Also in the course of 2008, a German-Polish youth exchange was linked to the Tidofeld Church of Grace project (headed by Zbigniew Kullas, north). A return visit to Tarnowo Podgorne (near Poznan) is planned for October 2009, as well as another youth encounter with a school from Wroclaw and a German-Polish theater project at the beginning of the 60th year of the Second World War.

A Scientific Advisory Board was set up in March 2006 , to which Uwe Meiners (Head of Museumsdorf Cloppenburg from 1996 to 2018) and Dietmar von Reeken (Oldenburg) belong; Hermann Queckenstedt (Head of Archives Diocese of Osnabrück) is now also working on it. The scientific director of the project is Bernhard Parisius (Head of the Aurich State Archives). The project is non-denominational and non-partisan. It is supported by members of the Landtag and Bundestag of the CDU , SPD , FDP and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen .

literature

  • Kullas, Zbigniew: Memory of Successful Integration. A former church for displaced persons in East Frisia becomes a meeting place. In: The Pommersche Zeitung. Episode 40/08. October 4, 2008. p. 3
  • Parisius Bernhard: “A joyful message” - The refugee settlement turns 50. In: Emder yearbook for historical regional studies of East Frisia . Volume 76/1996. Aurich 1996. pp. 159-168
  • Parisius Bernhard: Many looked for their new homeland themselves. Refugees and displaced persons in western Lower Saxony (= treatises and lectures on the history of East Frisia. Volume 79). Aurich 2004

Web links

Coordinates: 53 ° 35 ′ 43.5 "  N , 7 ° 14 ′ 11.5"  E