Wüstenrot Foundation

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Wüstenrot Foundation, Association of Friends of the German Private Home Association V.
Logo-Wüstenrot Stiftung.gif
Legal form: Nonprofit organization
Purpose: Promotion of monument preservation, science, research, education, art and culture
Chair: Joachim E. Schielke
Managing directors: Philip Kurz
Consist: since 1990
Founder: Community of Friends of German Home Owners' Association
Seat: Ludwigsburg (formerly Stuttgart)
Website: Website of the Wüstenrot Foundation

The Wüstenrot Foundation, the Association of Friends of the German Private Home Association e. V. has been working exclusively and directly on a non-profit basis in the areas of monument preservation , science, research, education, art and culture since 1990 . The association designs and implements projects itself and also promotes the implementation of outstanding ideas and projects from other institutions through financial donations.

The association's work is based on two roots: on the one hand, the search for the right way to deal with cultural heritage and, on the other hand, the search for ways in which the community can face the challenges of the future. She works in an interdisciplinary manner and always with the aim of providing practical impetus, creating models, being an example, animating imitators and thus bringing about positive changes in people's living conditions beyond her own actions.

The association is continuously active in around 40 projects and also funds around 100 projects annually. In order to publicize groundbreaking ideas, achievements and projects and to promote their further development, it organizes competitions and awards grants. The association's work and its results are documented and published through numerous events, exhibitions and publications.

The board elected by the members from their ranks consists of Joachim E. Schielke (chairman), Hans-Ulrich Schulz (vice chairman), Klaus W. Rösch (treasurer), Barbara Walder and Georg Eberhardt. Philip Kurz is the managing director.

Focus of work

An important thematic focus is the preservation and care of material and immaterial cultural assets and the securing and anchoring of cultural achievements in the memory of society. There is a special focus on cultural assets from the second half of the 20th century, as their worth of preservation is often still in question and are therefore particularly endangered. In its monument program, the association repairs outstanding architectural monuments and researches materials and constructions from the period of construction, possibilities for conservation and restoration, and trends in architectural history. Museums and collections are supported in the recording, indexing, research, conservation and restoration of their holdings, often in order to be able to retrieve them from their depots and archives and make them accessible to the general public. The cultural heritage is the starting point and often also an orientation for future developments.

Another focus is the scientific work on central questions of the future of today's society, which is characterized by dynamic and diverse interrelated changes and faces challenges that are often new and unprecedented. In numerous projects, the association takes up demographic change with its opportunities and dangers for the prospects of society. The focus is on the individual possibilities of the different generations for quality of life, prosperity and material security, the future of the built environment as well as living and working conditions in cities and rural areas.

Last but not least, the support and development of the skills of schoolchildren, students and young professionals in cultural topics is a major concern of the association's work.

history

In 1921 the association “Community of Friends” was founded, which originally “aimed to create housing and old people's homes for the general public on a purely non-profit, land reform basis”, based on the goals of the garden city movement and wanted to tackle the housing shortage, usurious interest rates and land speculation. After the end of hyperinflation, the first German building society emerged in 1924 , and the association remained its sponsor for over 50 years. Today the association is the owner of Wüstenrot Holding, which in turn holds a stake in the listed Wüstenrot & Württembergische AG (W&W) based in Stuttgart. The association is politically and denominationally independent and committed to the democratic community.

Examples of association work

Einstein Tower in Potsdam (2005)
Chancellor's bungalow in Bonn (2009)

Monument program

As part of its monument program, the association repairs valuable monuments and thus gives them a future. The program is supplemented by the systematic search for new findings relevant to monument preservation as well as their documentation and publication.

The association also creates appreciation for monuments that are not yet the focus of public attention. These are e.g. B. Monuments from the time after 1945, with which society is still struggling, that do not have a broad lobby - and are therefore most at risk.

In order to be able to ensure the highest quality when dealing with historic buildings in terms of monument preservation, the association acts not only as a financier, but also as the responsible project sponsor and builder - alone or together with the monument owner who, after the completion of the measures, is responsible for the sustainable and monument-compliant use and accessibility of the monument is responsible.

The association is committed to a concept of monument that is based on the historically shaped substance and takes seriously the history of construction and use as well as the qualities of the original substance of what was found. The creation of images or the reconstruction of utopian original conditions is not their goal.

Monument projects of the 20th century that have already been completed are the Geschwister-Scholl-Schule by Hans Scharoun in Lünen, the auditorium and the foyer of the Weißensee Art Academy by Selman Selmanagić in Berlin, the Chancellor's bungalow by Sep Ruf in Bonn, the semi-detached house by Le Corbusier in the Weißenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart , the boarding houses of Heinrich Tessenow in Dresden-Hellerau, the master house Muche / Schlemmer of Walter Gropius in Dessau, the house Schminke of Hans Scharoun in Löbau, the Einstein tower of Erich Mendelsohn in Potsdam as well as the city bath of Wilhelm Jost in Halle.

Monument projects that have already been completed in earlier centuries are the scholarship holder's house (Anna-Vorwerk-Haus) of the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel, the Bugenhagenhaus in Wittenberg, the Biblical House in Görlitz, the Wordspeicher in Quedlinburg, the Marientor in Naumburg, the Frommann property in Jena, the Jan Bouman House in the Dutch Quarter of Potsdam, the Schabbellhaus in Wismar and the Princely Crypt in Weimar.

The association is supported in its monument program by a scientific advisory board. This includes Berthold Burkhardt and Adrian von Buttlar . Before that, the Advisory Board included August Gebeßler (†) and Norbert Huse (†).

Science and Research

The projects and specialist events in the science and research department address current tasks and topics with their content and objectives. They are based on the conviction that today's society is facing great challenges on many levels, which it can only overcome together: What effects will demographic change have? How can one combine sustainable development with economic success and collective prosperity? Which concepts and strategies can one choose to preserve cultural, identity-creating heritage and at the same time transform it into sustainable forms? Simple answers to these questions or solutions can hardly be found. The scientific projects are therefore usually structured on an interdisciplinary basis, i.e. staffed by experts from different sectors. A purely theoretical discussion is not the aim; therefore the projects have a high application relevance and an empirical feedback in practice and in the everyday life of the people.

education

The education and upbringing program serves to support the future viability of schoolchildren, students and professionals, primarily in the areas of art and culture as well as building culture. In addition to the documentary photography sponsorship awards, public symposia on changing issues in documentary photography are held in loose succession. With the financing of several places of the voluntary social year in the field of culture in Baden-Württemberg, the association encourages young people to get involved in culture and at the same time supports the state's cultural institutions. The association dedicates itself to the education of students of all ages and school types in the field of building culture with its course offering "Building culture - built environment. Curricular building blocks for teaching ”, which has been certified as recommended teaching material by UNESCO. The association also tries to familiarize budding cultural journalists with this topic with an annual block seminar. At various German universities the association offers the lecture series “Forum Architecture” and with the “ZukunftsWerkstattWohnbauen” a workshop for postgraduate architects in which innovative living concepts are developed and discussed. Finally, the “Youth per Profession” project supports secondary school students with career orientation via an apprentice academy.

Projects (selection)
  • ZukunftsWerkstattWohnbaus . Young university graduates work with well-known university lecturers and architects to develop concepts for new forms of living.
  • Baukultur - built environment, curricular modules for teaching . The project serves to develop the skills for critical reception and participation in the area of ​​the built environment among students. The range of courses is recommended by UNESCO.
  • Current trends in residential construction. The lecture series includes dealing with new challenges and trends in residential construction.
  • European University Dialogue Photography. As part of a symposium, the European training situation with its different models and requirements will be presented and discussed
  • Space pilot . The teaching compendium, which has so far comprised four volumes, serves the modern reorientation of building theory in the training of architects.
  • Apprentice Academy . This project serves to support secondary school students in their professional orientation and the search for a training position.
  • Building culture in the media . In events, young journalists are imparted solid knowledge about the assessment of architecture, its development processes and structures.

Endowed professorships

The association initiates and designs endowed professorships for future-oriented research and teaching content in cooperation with various universities in Germany. One goal is for the respective university to continue the professorship with its own funds after the five to ten year funding period has expired. Endowed professorships have so far been established for:

  • Real estate and housing management at the University of Leipzig
  • Housing construction, housing concepts and building theory at the University of Stuttgart
  • Administrative management and new public management at the University of Leipzig
  • Building preservation and monument preservation at the University of Stuttgart
  • Architecture communication at the University of Karlsruhe (KIT)

Arts and Culture

With this program, the association would like to contribute to the preservation and promotion of art and culture. In addition to its memorial program and to support young artists in the field of documentary photography, the association develops projects that preserve important cultural values. The measures applied in the projects are aimed at both physical preservation and securing and anchoring cultural and artistic achievements. In addition, the association is committed to the preservation of the collection of fabric samples, fabric drafts and sample books including the library of Pausa works.

Projects (selection)
  • Keep literature! This project aims to ensure that valuable historical texts do not fall out of society's memory due to the economic constraints of the book market. The project is carried out in collaboration with the German Academy for Language and Poetry and has so far dealt with the works of Adolph Freiherr Knigge, Peter Altenberg, Oskar Loerke, Jesse Thor and Rahel Varnhagen. In 2015, the new edition of Carl Schurz's memoirs was funded .
  • Bauhaus in Mössingen. The project serves to preserve the unique collection of fabric samples, fabric drafts, sample books including the library of Pausa AG
  • The voluntary social year for culture promotes the commitment of young people who want to be active in cultural institutions

Competitions, prizes and grants

The association promotes groundbreaking ideas, achievements and projects with prizes and grants - partly as a partner of other organizations. It aims at the general announcement of exemplary projects and personalities and promotes their further development. This includes the “Design Prize of the Wüstenrot Foundation”, the “Land and People - Education and Culture in Small Communities” competition and the “Documentary Photography Prize”, which the association awards in cooperation with the Folkwang Museum:

  • Design award from the Wüstenrot Foundation (new living in the city / energy-efficient architecture / renovation of existing buildings / building for children / building schools in Germany / housing in Germany / independence through assisted living in old age)
  • Country and people - education and culture in small communities . The competition is looking for excellent concepts of how small communities can react to demographic change and influence their own future.
  • Documentary photography sponsorship award , in cooperation with the Folkwang Museum in Essen
  • Baden-Württemberg Archeology Prize
  • German Urban Development Award, in cooperation with the German Academy for Urban Development and Regional Planning
  • Monument Protection Prize Baden-Württemberg of the Swabian Heritage Association
  • Christian Wagner Prize of the Christian Wagner Society
  • Caligari sponsorship award from the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy

literature

Web links

Individual evidence