Veterans club
The Veteran Club (also used spelling "Veteranenclub" ) was an institution of the people's solidarity in the GDR , which took care of older citizens.
From the beginning of the 1950s, the work of the people's solidarity was systematically concentrated on the elderly. In addition to housekeeping and daily lunch, this was also the creation of meeting places. On the III. At the Central Conference of People's Solidarity Delegates in Berlin (June 23–24, 1956), it was decided to set up veterans' clubs in all major cities in the GDR. Here the older population should have access to a wide range of educational opportunities, information, art and entertainment. The first veterans club in Berlin was opened in 1957 on Bötzowstrasse in the Prenzlauer Berg district .
In the 1960s, the veterans' clubs developed into "cultural centers" of the residential areas. Through social and cultural communication and integration, they served the direct care of older citizens. For 1966 over 5 million visitors were reported and 2.2 million lunches were served daily. After the turning point and peaceful revolution in 1990 and the conversion of numerous associations of people's solidarity into registered associations , the veterans' clubs were dissolved.
literature
- Stefan Sommer: The great lexicon of everyday life in the GDR , Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2003, p. 557, ISBN 3-896-02532-5 .
Web links
- Postcard of the veterans club in Potsdam
- Photo collection on veterans' clubs in the Federal Archives