Volkshochschule Essen

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Volkshochschule Essen
Burgplatz Essen with VHS 2011.jpg
Volkshochschule Essen on Burgplatz between the Burggymnasium (left) and the Lichtburg (right)
type of school Community College
founding 1919
address

Burgplatz 1
45127 Essen

place eat
country North Rhine-Westphalia
Country Germany
Coordinates 51 ° 27 '18 "  N , 7 ° 0' 51"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 27 '18 "  N , 7 ° 0' 51"  E
carrier City of Essen
student 37,544 (semester 2017/2018)
Teachers around 650
management Michael Imberg
Website www.vhs-essen.de

The Volkshochschule Essen is a municipal educational institution of the city of Essen . It is located in a new building built in 2004 in the city ​​center on Burgplatz .

history

founding

After the end of the First World War , on May 28, 1919, the Committee for Popular Education formed by the Essen City Council , to which Artur Jacobs belonged, founded the Adult Education Center . On the following September 1st, the statutes of the community college of Essen were adopted. It begins with (quote):

“The adult education center in Essen was born out of the desire to contribute to the reconstruction of the fatherland. The adult education center wants to bring the joy of intellectual work to the general population. She wants to educate people to genuine folkism, joyful community spirit and noble humanity, wants to introduce the world into the context of world events and thereby make professional work happy and valuable. "

The then Lord Mayor of Essen and later Chancellor Hans Luther essentially pushed ahead with the establishment. In October 1919 the second city librarian Heinrich Dicke took over the management of the new adult education center on a part-time basis. The first VHS office was in a house at Burgstrasse 14 (today Kettwiger Strasse, south of the Baedekerhaus ).

The first courses were offered in the ceramic house built in 1912 at Flachsmarkt 2. At first there was a politically divided faculty that reflected the deeply divided society after the war. Some regretted the collapsed empire, others wanted a left-wing revolution, which triggered significant unrest in the Ruhr area . So a Catholic and a Socialist education committee had been formed, which insisted on their independence. However, both were dependent on the support of the city of Essen. In addition, the then Lord Mayor Hans Luther made it clear that the city only sponsors a general adult education center. The resulting compromise went down in the history of the adult education movement as the Essen model . In the statutes of the municipal adult education center, there was §15, which allowed “teachers and students at the university [...] to form groups among themselves”. A socialist, a Catholic, a Protestant and a free group emerged, which under the roof of the city selected the courses offered and appointed the teachers. The first semester started with 75 courses, which grew steadily. In 1930 there were 4477 students.

From the Weimar Republic to National Socialism

During the Weimar Republic, the Volkshochschule's program was based on a largely democratic body made up of the mayor, city representatives, the teaching staff and the student body. - One of the co-founders of the Essen Adult Education Center, the pedagogue and politician Artur Jacobs , warned in 1919 in his programmatic publication “About essence and goals of an adult education center” of emerging völkisch-racist tendencies in this new publicly sponsored adult education institution. In 1923, Artur Jacobs founded the Bund with participants from an adult education center , a community that was committed to a “new attitude from person to person” and, in view of the booming National Socialism towards the end of the twenties, increasingly placed political responsibility at the center of its work; Jacobs and his group then helped those persecuted under the Nazi regime; A number of Bund members were honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the Israeli Yad Vashem Memorial in 2005.

After the seizure of power in 1933, the 1933 summer semester, which was influenced by the National Socialists, consisted of just 35 courses, to which only German-born and innocent citizens were allowed. It was the lowest number of courses since it was founded. The ideological diversity of the socialist, Catholic, Protestant and free groups was suppressed. There was then no further semester. The adult education center was closed for the time of National Socialism and remained so during the Second World War .

After the Second World War

On October 16, 1946, the Adult Education Center received permission from the British Military Government to reopen. Without the four independent ideological groups that existed before National Socialism, they leaned on the work of the 1920s. The content of courses has been expanded to include foreign language skills, among other things. The museum curator Friedrich Meisenburg († 1967) became the acting headmaster. The first full-time director was the later head of the Essen department of culture, Wilhelm Godde (1926–2016); In 1977, the City Council of Essen elected Gerd Hergen Lübben , Head of the Cultural Office and Adult Education Center , as his successor as director of the adult education center . After Gerd Hergen Lübben said goodbye at the beginning of 1996 and until Friederike Brunnbauer was elected as his successor, Rosemarie Seelig , deputy director of the adult education center for many years, temporarily headed the Essen Adult Education Center. After the director of the Essen Adult Education Center, Friederike Brunnbauer, retired in January 2014, her deputy Elke Timm took over the provisional management until the city council in January 2015 was Michael Imberg , who from 1993 to 2000 was the department representative for the then department for culture , Leisure, Education and Business, from 2000 to 2007 head of the administration of the municipal museums in Essen and from 2007 to 2015 advisor for culture and special projects in the mayor's office, appointed the new head of the adult education center.

Building on Hollestrasse

Former adult education center building on Hollestrasse, entrance area

In April 1971, a school building specially built for the adult education center on Hollestrasse in Essen's east quarter went into operation. It was located on the site of the Schulz-Knaudt puddling works, which were located there in the second half of the 19th century . The laying of the foundation stone for the building with exposed aggregate concrete facade took place in March 1969. At the front, the building was supported by concrete pillars on a plot of around 7,000 square meters. The floors were arranged in steps to the rear. The former adult education center (adult education center) on Hollestrasse in Essen, designed by the team led by the Bochum architect Wilhelm Seidensticker , was considered a historically exemplary building block for a modern Ruhr area .

On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Essen adult education center, the then mayor Annette Jäger also referred to the topping-out ceremony for the adult education center building on Hollestrasse 25 years ago. The adult education center has constantly had to adapt to the changed social framework. In the mid-1980s, the Essen VHS attracted national attention for its innovative exploration and creation of employment opportunities for unemployed teachers, including through the establishment of extensive, additional qualification and professional experience in extracurricular educational areas, for example to develop and set up a documentation and information system for the Further education advice in the city of Essen: A " further education database ", which provides neutral information about content, teaching methods, costs, funding opportunities and dates of competing further education offers or further education providers, was fundamental for the initial establishment of the Essen municipal " further education advice center " at the VHS with the aim of Employees, people returning to work, people with a migration background and people with disabilities when searching for A. to support us and further training opportunities in the region. The specific offers of the Volkshochschule Essen for staff training, which are part of the quality assurance of their educational services, are also considered exemplary; For this purpose, functional rooms known as “Didactic Laboratory” had been set up in the adult education center on Hollestrasse, the technical equipment of which also made it possible to broadcast local radio programs for the “ Radio Essen ” program from 1992 onwards . Supported and mobilized by the takeover of its central "motherhouse" on Hollestrasse, the VHS has been able to expand its range of advanced training courses in a model way, which, according to the State of North Rhine-Westphalia Minister of Education, meant (quote):

"The Volkshochschule Essen is one of the large, important, exemplary adult education centers in North Rhine-Westphalia."

- Hans Schwier , Minister of Culture of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (1994)

The "LARGE COMMUNICATOR" - the so-called "STANDPAUKE" made from a four-meter-long hollowed willow trunk and covered with a tanned calf skin at one of the openings - stood inviting to "active music" until the VHS team moved into the new building on Burgplatz between the foyer and the entrance to the forum of the adult education center on Hollestrasse: Here, for example, works specially composed for such “sound objects” were performed for the first time; in the auditorium, stage works developed by the VHS “play group” were performed, for example the play “YOU SAGTEN NO • Essen women and men in the fight against the swastika” in cooperation with the theater and the Old Synagogue ; and the events of the "Open Adult Education Center", which also broadcast nationwide, included the regular exhibitions from the start, including the photographic reproduction of the large wall relief that the Israeli artist Naftali Bezem , who was born in Essen and who fled from Germany as a child before the Nazi terror, for designed the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem . Just as literacy is one of the cornerstones of all educational and cultural work in the adult education center, the concept of this socially committed educational work is aimed at the full development and creative participation of people in culture. The multifunctional room program of the VHS building on Hollestrasse, which can be used in a variety of ways for modern adult education work, was effective for major events that radiated far beyond the Ruhr area region:

Culture is -Transparent - at the Volkshochschule (1988 on "Culture '90": Essen, Hollestrasse 75).

In 1995 events of the World Music Days of the International Society for New Music took place here, as well as various accompanying events to the wide-ranging intercommunal discourse project "Culture '90" and in 1983/1984 the founding events of the International Game Days , the world's largest public event for non-electronic games now takes place at Messe Essen .

demolition

In the 1990s, measurements of the indoor air in the VHS complex on Hollestrasse showed that it is heavily contaminated with PCBs and can be harmful to health. As a result, costs of around seven million euros for a renovation and two million euros for a demolition were estimated.

The gutting of the building began in December 2013, with the building rubble containing PCBs being specially disposed of. As a result, the exposed aggregate concrete panels from the facade were removed. The work had to rest in May and June 2014 so that the exams of the high school graduates could be written undisturbed at the Frida Levy Comprehensive School adjacent to the north . At the end of 2014, the laying down of the entire building complex was completed.

For the subsequent use of the property, the City Council of Essen decided on April 25, 2018 to develop an office complex from the project developer Kölbl Kruse . This decision is currently not being pursued any further, but an expansion of the neighboring Frida Levy comprehensive school to the old VHS property is being discussed at the municipal level.

New building on Burgplatz 2004

In June 2000, the Essen City Council decided to move to a new building on Burgplatz . The building application for the new building on Burgplatz was approved in spring 2002, followed by the laying of the foundation stone on September 12, 2002. The new adult education center was opened on September 16, 2004 in the presence of the architect Hartmut Miksch and the then Lord Mayor Wolfgang Reiniger .

The new building stands on interesting ground in terms of urban history. At this point there are remains of natural stone from the foundation of the Jesuit residence, which was built here in the middle of the 18th century and was considered a magnificent building. It was also used later as a school building, making it the forerunner of what is now the neighboring Burggymnasium . The new, glazed building of the Essen Adult Education Center was built according to plans by the architect Hartmut Miksch. Some training rooms are also located in the adjacent Lichtburg building with a passage to the new building on floors 2, 3 and 4. To the right of the entrance area from Burgplatz, the Lernbar café was integrated until December 2015, which was run by Essen youth welfare. Since the beginning of 2016 there has been a new, privately run restaurant here, not just for school visitors.

Educational offers and statistics

Today the adult education center, which is certified according to the EN ISO 9001 standard, offers various courses in the areas of society and culture, languages, work and occupation, IT, IT, environment and health. Naturalization courses are also offered to help you take the naturalization test . There is also further education at school as well as special senior and youth offers.

In 1979 the adult education center was able to open branch offices with further training opportunities “on site”: In Steele, in the “old district office on Dreiringstrasse” now called “Kulturforum Steele”, equipped with a “cafeteria” and “wheelchair access”, as in Borbeck, there in his own rooms in the new district administration office on Rechtsstrasse; At the same time, the adult education center under the direction of Gerd Hergen Lübben developed the concept of a “special culture model” for Borbeck Castle with the associated farm building, which, in the opinion of Wilhelm Godde, the head of the cultural department at the time, would allow for a “refined, rational and versatile use for the future “Was made possible. Since then, numerous VHS offers have taken place both in the branch of the adult education center in Richtstrasse in Borbeck and in the Kulturforum in the building of the former Sparkasse Steele in Dreiringstrasse in Steele .

In 2010, the adult education center on Burgplatz had more than 83,000 visitors and around 58,000 hours of instruction. The number of visitors at the previous location on Hollestrasse was recently around 63,000. In addition to 44 permanent employees, another 650 freelance lecturers work at the current location. The program for the first semester of 2012 offered a total of 938 courses and courses.

Exhibitions and events

The entrance hall and the waiting areas on the individual floors are used for constantly changing art exhibitions.

Concerts, performances and other events are occasionally held in the Great Hall.

Publications

  • Wilhelm Godde: Problems of communication and communication: on didactic-methodical practice at the Essen VHS in the Horizons department . Ed .: Adult Education Center. 1968.
  • Volkshochschule Essen (ed.): Initiative against teacher unemployment / IGEL - exploring alternative fields of application for unemployed teachers. 1985.

literature

  • Rainer Grossbröhmer, Karin Kirch: Of educational bacteria and adult education epidemics : a contribution to the history of the Essen adult education center 1919–1974 . Ed .: Klartext-Verlag. 1994, ISBN 978-3-88474-228-0 .
  • Detlef Hopp , Baoquan Song : Archaeological information from the area of ​​the adult education center in downtown Essen. (= Reports from the Essen Monument Preservation. Volume 16). City of Essen, Institute for Monument Protection and Preservation / Urban Archeology, Essen 2017, ISSN 2199-1693.
  • Bernd Siepmann (Ed.): 75 years of Volkshochschule Essen . 1994.
  • City of Essen - The Oberstadtdirektor (Ed.): 75 years of Volkshochschule Essen. Further education - subjective factor - location factor. Documentation of the anniversary celebration on November 24, 1994. 1994.

Web links

Commons : Volkshochschule Essen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d 100 years of the VHS: Historian explains why the VHS Essen was founded in 1919; In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung from April 1, 2019
  2. ↑ Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung WAZ, Essen local section from January 31, 2015: Kromberg defends Imberg
  3. ^ Josef Olbrich: History of adult education in Germany (p. 153) . Ed .: Opladen Leske + Budrich Verlag. 2001, ISBN 3-8100-3349-9 .
  4. ↑ Artur Jacobs, About the nature and goals of a community college. A draft for a new public education (1919) as well as the Völkische Hochschule or Volkshochschule. Fundamental to the problem of a German upbringing (1920)
  5. ↑ Gerd Hergen Lübben, WALKING A NIGHT BREAK • FOR LEARNING AND GROWING FROM THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH, ART AND HUMANITY. APPROACHES TO THE EDUCATOR ARTUR JACOBS - ALSO WITH A LOOK AT THE PHILOSOPHER ERNST MARCUS AND THE MOVEMENT DESIGNER DORE JACOBS, BORN MARCUS. In: DIE BRÜCKE - Forum for anti-racist politics and culture. Issue 147–149, Saarbrücken 2008, ISSN  0931-9514 , ISBN 3-925134-11-5 .
  6. ↑ Mark Roseman: In an unguarded moment - A woman survives underground. Berlin 2002 and Daniel Fraenkel, Jakob Borut (Ed.): Lexicon of the Righteous Among the Nations: Germans and Austrians. Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-89244-900-7 , p. 248 f.
  7. ^ Friedrich Meisenburg died . In: Adult Education Center in the West. Journal of the German Adult Education Association . Volume 19, Issue 6. Cologne 1967, p. 283 .
  8. ↑ Rheinische Post (May 24, 2016), obituary notice Dr. Wilhelm Godde; * August 4th, 1926 - † May 17th, 2016. ; accessed on May 27, 2016.
  9. ^ Volkshochschule - council elects man from Unna today. In: NRZ. 15th December 1977
  10. ↑ Gerd Hergen Lübben - new VHS boss. In: WAZ. 15th December 1977
  11. ↑ Lübben leaves an 'orderly desk' in Unna In: Ruhr Nachrichten / Hellweger Anzeiger December 16, 1977.
  12. ^ Wolfgang Althaus, The cultural life in Unna significantly shaped. / scene no. 189; In: Hellweger Anzeiger / KULTUR-MAGAZIN, December 24, 1977.
  13. ↑ If the VHS didn't exist, it would have to be invented now. Friederike Brunnbauer says goodbye to the adult education center after 17 years. In: WAZ. January 21, 2014; last viewed on December 23, 2014 ( derwesten.de ).
  14. ↑ Imberg despite criticism of the new director of the VHS. In: WAZ. January 30, 2015; last viewed on February 3, 2015 ( derwesten.de ).
  15. ↑ Press and Communication Office of the City of Essen (notification on January 29, 2015): Council appoints Michael Imberg to head the Essen Adult Education Center.
  16. ↑ Rosemarie Seelig: The VHS building of the city of Essen. In: Adult Education Center in the West. Journal of the German Adult Education Association. Issue 6/1980, p. 312 f.
  17. ↑ TU Dortmund - History / Archive for Architecture and Civil Engineering North Rhine-Westphalia (Wilhelm Seidensticker estate), Symposium: Architecture Culture Ruhr 1945-75: Building Blocks for a Modern Ruhr Area / Interinstitutional Symposium of the Working Group Architecture 45 + Ruhr , Conference 25. – 27. February 2010, event of the TU Dortmund (Architecture and Civil Engineering / History and Theory of Architecture), University of Applied Sciences Dortmund (Department of Building History and Monument Preservation), Ruhr University Bochum (Art History Institute) in the Rudolf Chaudoire Pavilion of TU Dortmund; the flyer (viewed on Sept. 25, 2013 03:33:46 GMT; PDF; 1.7 MB) with an example of the House of Adult Education (Volkshochschule), Essen 1971 , Arbeitsgemeinschaft W. Seidensticker, W. Spantzel, H. Budde, W. Gutsmann, H. Jung; Photos: Hans Grempel, Manfred Hanisch (A: AI Archive for Architecture and Civil Engineering NRW)
  18. ↑ also "REVIERORTE": House of Adult Education ("Alte VHS") ( Memento from October 20, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (= Hollestrasse 75 | 45127 Essen): "Exemplary example of modern and functional architecture"; the website is richly illustrated (viewed October 19, 2013).
  19. ↑ Helga Mohaupt: The VHS suggests help for unemployed teachers. In: West German general newspaper. May 5th 1983.
  20. ↑ Volkshochschule Essen (ed.): Initiative against teacher unemployment / IGEL - exploring alternative fields of application for unemployed teachers. 1985
  21. ↑ SPIEGEL series about unemployed academics (l): Die Lehrer In: Der Spiegel. 20/1985 ( spiegel.de ).
  22. ↑ the survey results unemployed teachers in the municipalities: employment opportunities and projects with unemployed teachers - examples from the cities. In: German Association of Cities / Material Part. September 1986, p. 7 f.
  23. ^ For example Regine Möllenbeck: Further training advice on supporting organizations. In: Hessian sheets for popular education. 2/1993, pp. 150-155.
  24. ↑ Gerd Hergen Lübben: Introduction and further training of part-time VHS employees. Example: Volkshochschule Essen. In: Hessian sheets for popular education. 2/1979, pp. 150-156.
  25. ↑ Gerd Hergen Lübben: Compulsory adult education center. In: Adult Education Center in the West, magazine of the German Adult Education Association. Issue 5. Dortmund 1985. In addition, the same author. Further training in public responsibility: compulsory adult education center. In: Forum Education and Profession. Information - discussion - analysis - trends. No. 1/94, Essen 1994.
  26. ↑ Wolf Schneider: Essen. Adventure of a city. Düsseldorf / Vienna / New York 1991, p. 326 f.
  27. ↑ on this also: Andrea Bartholdt (text) and Franz Meinert (photos): A day in the VHS: Yoga, soapstone and the education battery. In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. June 21, 1986.
  28. ↑ City of Essen - The Oberstadtdirektor (Ed.): 75 years of Volkshochschule Essen. Further education - subjective factor - location factor. Documentation of the anniversary celebration on November 24, 1994. 1994. p. 14.
  29. ↑ DRAGON or LARGE COMMUNICATOR. In: Thomas Rother. Objects • sound objects • stone preservations • projects • drawings. Essen 1983, p. 18 f.
  30. ^ For example, the piece of music Spinal Flute (1984); see. CD Gerhard Stäbler : fall. Fall ... and lie and fall • Jumps in time • Ungaretti songs. Edition Contemporary Music (Ed. Deutscher Musikrat), 286516-2 / WER 6516-2.
  31. ↑ Herbert Somplatzki : NO to the swastika. A piece about the resistance in Essen. Brochure accompanying the WDR film of the same name about a production by the theater group of the Essen Adult Education Center under the direction of Ilka Boll ; 1982, ISBN 3-923128-05-3 .
  32. ^ Gerd Hergen Lübben: Due matters of opinion, incidental similarities. Impressions and experiences with exhibitions in the area of ​​the adult education center. In: Adult Education Center in the West. Journal of the German Adult Education Association. No. 5, 1978.
  33. ↑ NAFTALI BEZEM. An exhibition by the Folkwang Museum in the Old Synagogue Essen 21.2. – 5.4. 1992. ed. v. Museum Folkwang Essen (editor Dr. Gerhard Finckh ), Essen 1992; with the articles Everyday Synagogue and Hoffnungsstrasse. Memories of Essen in the 1930s by Michael Zimmermann, Naftali Bezem - an Israeli artist by Edna Brocke , Whom does your own story dismiss? by Matthias Kohn and Naftali Bezem by Gerhard Finckh
  34. ↑ Heinz G. Gibas: Key function in communal cultural work - VHS is an educational battery. In: Hello food. January 31, 1991, p. 3 (CULTURE).
  35. ↑ “kulturportal.de” page “Gerd Hergen Lübben” : Essen / Ruhr, 1988: “Kultur '90”. (Accessed September 18, 2014.)
  36. ↑ Gerd Hergen Lübben: AKKU charge for culture and education. Building blocks from the future workshop. In: Revier-Kultur, magazine for society / art / politics in the metropolitan area. Issue 2, 1987 (Essen).
  37. ↑ Despite protests: Council waves office construction on the VHS area ; In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung of April 27, 2018
  38. ↑ VHS presents new program - hot irons at the new "focal point" - adult education center goes into the city districts. In: WAZ. 15th August 1978.
  39. ↑ VHS in Steele opens the doors - In the old office. In: NRZ. 15th February 1979
  40. ↑ "Kulturforum Steele" of the Volkshochschule Essen is now ready to go - a meeting point for citizens. In: NRZ. February 21, 1979
  41. ^ Volkshochschule für Borbeck - branch in new rooms. In: NRZ. February 21, 1979
  42. ^ Volkshochschule planned a special "culture model" for Borbeck - a castle for citizens. In: NRZ. 4th October 1979
  43. ↑ VHS Essen wants to expand instead of cut back. In: Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. Essen, December 14, 2010; last viewed on December 15, 2011