Stuttgart forest homes
The Stuttgart Waldheime are recreation and event locations with restaurants that were originally run by associations that emerged from the labor movement .
Forest homes of the labor movement
Independent cultural identity
A significant date in the German labor movement was September 30, 1890, when the socialist laws were repealed. In the following time it was again possible for the workers to organize themselves politically. On November 2, 1890, the first state organization of the SPD was founded in Württemberg , which gave itself its own party statute at the same meeting and thus became a pioneer for social democracy in the Reich. In addition to political activity, it was a major concern of the Stuttgart workers to give themselves an independent cultural identity that took into account the peculiarities of the working population and, in particular, differentiated itself from the bourgeois associations. With this in mind, workers' clubs, choral societies, gymnastics clubs and initiatives to create forest homes emerged in almost all of Stuttgart's districts.
Waldheim Sillenbuch (Clara Zetkin House)
founding
With the entry in the Stuttgart register of associations under number 240, the Stuttgart Waldheimverein Sillenbuch was founded on May 10, 1909 . In a solemn act on June 27, 1909, the first chairman, Friedrich Westmeyer, handed over the Waldheim Sillenbuch to the Stuttgart workers. For the founders around Friedrich Westmeyer and Clara Zetkin , the basic idea was to create a place for working people where they could escape the domestic poverty prevailing at the time in the stifling Stuttgart basin and meet with friends and acquaintances on their days off were able to recover. It was particularly important that it was a place of its own that was not under the control of a commercial catering establishment or under the supervision of a restrictive parking attendant. Sport and play on meadows and squares should be made possible for working-class families.
The Waldheim property ( coordinate ) could be found with the help of the married couple Clara Zetkin and Friedrich Zundel, who lived in Sillenbuch (Sillenbuch only belonged to Stuttgart from 1937) . In leisure time, they created together what delighted young and old: swings, carousel, climbing tree, bowling alley and shooting range, there was also a small summer stage for teasing and puppet theater.
A special feature was the organization of the business enterprise in the Waldheim. For visiting the Waldheim members were given annual family cards worth 20 pfennigs (as of 1910), family members over 18 years of age and other workers' associations affiliated with the Waldheim association bought special cards. Business operations were regulated by an economic commission, which was headed by the association's board and an elected economic cashier. The Waldheim members divided the work of the management into a "rotating system". If the number of guests was unexpectedly large, the economic manager could call on other members of the group to help. One of the fundamental rules of the Waldheim was that visitors were not obliged to eat anything. That is, they could eat their food brought from home on the premises.
Polarization and division of the Waldheim movement
The First World War brought an abrupt end to the idea of a uniformly organized workforce. Due to the increasingly different political currents among the Waldheim members, life in the Waldheimen was increasingly determined by political disputes about the direction of the respective associations and the Waldheim management. The left - whose important representatives were Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht - took a fundamental stance against supporting the war, while the supporters of the Social Democratic party leadership affirmed a truce policy . Jacob Walcher describes the disputes at that time : “The longer the more the forest homes proved to be ideal information and advice centers. The organizational prerequisites for many victories in party meetings over the right have been set in motion in the Sillenbucher Waldheim. ”Corresponding political disputes also took place within the social democratic youth movement. The Waldheim Sillenbuch developed into a well-known meeting place for the left-wing social democratic youth in Stuttgart. For the Stuttgart Free Socialist Youth an important meeting place was created with the Waldheim.
Politically, the Waldheim members of Sillenbuch were predominantly represented by supporters and representatives of the left party (later by Spartakus and KPD ). By way of comparison, the Waldheim Association in Stuttgart-Heslach was taken over in 1916 by majority socialists loyal to the government, which resulted in the exclusion of the left supporters around Friedrich Westmeyer. In the 1920s there were violent disputes in the Waldheimen Sillenbuch and Gaisburg over the question of " Bolshevization " and the course of "Stalinization" ( RGO policy and social fascism thesis ) of the KPD. Members who followed the KPD course at the time were able to assert themselves in the Waldheim Sillenbuch, which is why members of the KPO were quickly banned from the house.
Time of National Socialism - dissolution and prohibition of the Waldheim associations
On September 14, 1933, the political end for the Waldheim Sillenbuch came. The Waldheim premises were confiscated, the board members and leading members of the association, including Heinrich Baumann and Karl Scheck , were arrested. The day before, before the law was “legalized”, the association's assets had been confiscated. On November 16, 1933, the Waldheim Association was deleted from the register of associations. Many of the imprisoned Waldheim activists did not survive the concentration camps. A total of 54 members of the association, including 9 women, were persecuted and imprisoned.
Their places of imprisonment were the concentration camps, camps and penal institutions in Heuberg , Kuhberg , Welzheim , Dachau , Buchenwald , Neuengamme , Ludwigsburg , and those of the women in Gotteszell , Moringen , Lichtenburg , and Ravensbrück . The last chairman before the Sillenbucher Waldheimverein was dissolved, KPD city councilor Heinrich Baumann, died on February 23, 1945 in the Dachau concentration camp. A street in the east of Stuttgart is named after him.
Post-war period - political center of the Stuttgart left
In 1945 surviving members of the Sillenbuch Waldheim Association set up a new one, the entry was not made until 1947. From 1948 onwards, renovation of the site and house began. The Waldheim - this applies equally to the Sillenbuch and Gaisburg houses - quickly became an intellectual and organizational center of the Stuttgart left. To be mentioned are the movements against the KPD ban , rearmament , emergency law , and professional bans . Forest homes were meeting places for the Stuttgart peace movement . Between the KPD ban (1956) and the founding of the DKP (1968), the Sillenbuch and Gaisburg forest homes were places where the “ illegal ” communists discussed and coordinated forms of political and organizational work, despite repression.
In the two Waldheimen in the 1960s and 1970s representatives of the Stuttgart left students met with communists and trade unionists for discussions and seminars. For the Stuttgart university groups of DKP and MSB Spartakus , as well as for the SDAJ , these buildings (1970s and 80s) were important meeting places, and that also applied to the district and company groups DKP.
In 1972, on the occasion of Clara Zetkin's 115th birthday, the annual general meeting decided to name the Waldheim “ Clara Zetkin House ”. In the years that followed, the Clara-Zetkin-Haus became a place where different clubs and organizations worked. Today, in addition to nature lovers , social democrats, communists, Greens, adult education centers, trade unions, there are also many initiatives and associations. So there is culture at all levels of society for young and old; Political and musical events, readings and exhibitions are well attended. The articles of association were changed several times in accordance with the change in the framework conditions. What has remained is a meeting place that many people appreciate and love; an important forum for criticism and solidarity.
Waldheim Gaisburg
The Gaisburg Waldheim was built in 1911 . Also as a self-help organization of working class families and the workers' movement in the east of Stuttgart. Like the Sillenbucher Waldheim, the Waldheim Gaisburg has also been closely linked to the trade union, workers and peace movement since it was founded. It has long been a tradition for many active trade unionists to celebrate this day in the Waldheim after the rally on May 1st. As in 1911, the Waldheim is supported by the Waldheim Gaisburg e. V. His aim is to preserve the Waldheim as a meeting place for culture, leisure and politics. The association members receive the house, garden and playground and work out offers for cultural, discussion and leisure events. For a long time, management was carried out by the members free of charge in the "rotating system". Today the catering is run by the tenant couple.
Waldheim Heslach
Karl Oster, a citizen of Heslach, started the initiative in 1908 to create a place to relax for the working population. It took a lot of effort and idealism to find a suitable place, raise the money to buy the site, and found an association that could make the whole idea a reality. In March 1908, Karl Oster found a tree garden in the Heslach Dachswald. An attempt was made to finance the price of the property by issuing share certificates for 5 marks. However, the amount that came about was not enough. Oster managed to get the necessary money from a sponsor.
The design of the acquired land required a lot of initiative. The Waldheim was opened at Easter 1908. The First World War brought a deep break in the cultural and political events in Waldheim Heslach, a time of polarization and division in the labor movement. The Third Reich brought the end of the Waldheim Association. The National Socialists sold the property in 1934 to a parish in Stuttgart. However, this was not able to maintain and maintain the forest home. The workers in Heslach agreed not to visit the Waldheim any more. After it was returned to the city of Stuttgart, it made the house available to the Hitler Youth. What was not destroyed during this time fell victim to the bombing raids in World War II. After 1945, citizens of Heslach came together again to start over. On May 1, 1953, the Waldheim was inaugurated again.
Forest homes of denominations
Waldheim Feuerbachtal
The Waldheim Feuerbachtal in the Feuerbacher Valley was the first Waldheim in Stuttgart operated by the Protestant church. The first camps were held there in 1921, led by the youth pastor Theodor Zimmermann (1893–1974), who was later called to Heilbronn, where he initiated the establishment of the forest home on the Gaffenberg (today the largest children's forest home in Europe). A two-story slide is a trademark of the Feuerbachtal forest home.
General
The Johannes-Brenz-Schule was founded in the 1991/92 school year with day-care facilities in the Waldheim Feuerbachtal. The school later moved to Hohe Strasse. In the Waldheim Feuerbachtal, the entire 6 summer holiday weeks of leisure activities take place, which are divided into 2 weekly blocks (sections). The first section is with z. T. over 250 children regularly the biggest. In the first section there is also the "junior training" for 15-year-olds, in which they are trained to become forest home workers. The second section is carried out as an integrative section in which children with disabilities can also participate. The Feuerbach flows through the Waldheim area .
Waldheim woman's head
The Evangelical Waldheim Frauenkopf was founded in 1922 by the Evangelical Church.
history
In 1907 the Waldheim property was leased for 40 ares by the State Forestry Administration to the Stuttgart Beautification Association . Then a log cabin and a fenced playground were built. Children's programs during the summer holidays were first introduced in 1922. Various expansion measures were carried out by 1930. Starting in 1931, early Sunday morning services were held during the summer. In contrast to the forest homes of the workers 'movement, the Nazis' takeover of power in 1933 did not result in any significant political and organizational consequences; operations continued until the forest home buildings were completely destroyed by the first air raid on Gablenberg in 1944. After the reconstruction, year-round operation began in 1950. The Waldheim Frauenkopf has become a permanent fixture in the life of the church community, offering, among other things, maternal camps, retirement afternoons and men's preparation times. The renovation of the buildings on the site was too expensive for the church, so the lease agreement with the city of Stuttgart was terminated on March 31, 2014, and thus not extended for another 10 years, and the Waldheim was closed. There was resistance to the reconversion of the site to its original state by demolishing the buildings and dismantling the playground equipment. At the end of 2014, the lease contract was extended to March 2016 in order to examine possible re-use of the site. At the beginning of 2016 the lease was renewed, a decision on a possible continued use is still pending.
Waldheim Schmellbachtal
The Waldheim Schmellbachtal, inaugurated in 1973, was founded by the Catholic Filder parishes and is now part of the entire Catholic parish of Stuttgart-Filder. The aim was to build a forest home for recreation on the outskirts of the city for children and seniors and for community work.
Waldheim Lindental
The area of today's Waldheim was acquired in 1929 by the community of St. Josef and is located in Weilimdorfer district. Today the community runs a small inn from April to October . During the summer holidays, children are looked after as part of a holiday program.
Outskirts recreation
Forest homes were (and still are) places where city children can spend their holidays cheaply. The children between the ages of 6 and 14 spend the days in the Waldheim, where they also have all their meals, but spend the night at home. They are divided into groups according to their age, which are looked after by young people who do voluntary work. In Stuttgart, the organizations responsible for recreation on the outskirts of the city, Caritas, the workers' welfare organization and the Protestant church district of Stuttgart are united in the Stuttgart Forest Homes Working Group.
Individual evidence
- ^ Clara Zetkin: About the Bolshevization of the Communist Parties
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.jbs-stuttgart.de
- ↑ http://waldheime-stuttgart.de
- ↑ Jürgen Brand: Parents want to save Waldheim. Stuttgarter-Zeitung.de, September 16, 2013, accessed on January 26, 2014 .
- ↑ Jürgen Brand: The Waldheim Frauenkopf is still standing. Stuttgarter-Zeitung.de, December 10, 2014, accessed on February 17, 2015 .
- ↑ Jürgen Brand: Vacancy on the forest level in Stuttgart-Ost: Not yet a new user for the Waldheim - Stuttgarter Zeitung. Stuttgarter Zeitung, February 6, 2016, accessed October 15, 2016 .
- ↑ Catholic Waldheim Schmellbachtal. (No longer available online.) September 16, 2013, archived from the original on September 22, 2015 ; Retrieved September 24, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Karl-Georg Thomas: Waldheim Lindental. In: se-feuerbach.drs.de. Retrieved January 5, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.waldheime-stuttgart.de/
literature
- Friedrich Westmeyer: The Stuttgart Waldheim. Stuttgart 1911.
- Karsten Lukawec: The Stuttgart forest homes in the context of the labor movement. PH Ludwigsburg 1998.
- Jacob Walcher: The Social Democracy in Stuttgart from 1906 to 1914. Unpublished book manuscript Federal Archives, SAPMO, Jacob Walcher estate SAPMO .
- Waldheim Stuttgart e. V .: 90 years of Waldheim Sillenbuch (Clara-Zetkin-Haus). Festschrift, Stuttgart 1999.