Wittekindshof
| Wittekindshof - Diaconal foundation for people with disabilities
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| legal form | Charitable church foundation under private law |
| founding | May 2, 1887 |
| Seat | Bad Oeynhausen - Volmerdingsen |
| management | Dierk Starnitzke (Board Spokesman ) and Marco Mohrmann (Commercial Director) |
| Number of employees | around 3,500 (as of 2019) |
| sales | 220 million euros (as of 2019) |
| Branch | Protestant social enterprise |
| Website | www.wittekindshof.de |
Wittekindshof - Diaconal Foundation for People with Disabilities , short form: Wittekindshof - Diaconal Foundation, is a social enterprise for people with mental and multiple disabilities as well as psychological impairments. The Wittekindshof was founded in 1887 on the southern slope of the Wiehengebirge in Volmerdingsen , today part of the East Westphalian town of Bad Oeynhausen in the Minden-Lübbecke district , where its headquarters are still located today. The Wittekindshof is active in 18 municipalities in East Westphalia, the Ruhr area and the Münsterland.
General
Around 5000 children, young people and adults with and without disabilities use the services of the Diakonische Stiftung - be it in East Westphalia, in the Münsterland or in the Ruhr area. You will be looked after by roughly the same number of employees with a wide variety of qualifications, e. B. Theologians, social and special educators, curative educators and helpers, nurses and geriatric nurses, etc.
The aim of the work is to enable people with disabilities to live a life with the greatest possible self-determination in the four work areas of living, work, health and education. Over 2,500 people use the Wittekindshof's residential facilities. You live in groups with very close staff contact, apartments with a lower level of care that are attached to the groups, in inpatient or semi-inpatient single apartments, in outpatient-assisted apartments or in host families.
In several workshops , clients can work in work training and work preparation measures tailored to their personal characteristics in the specialist areas of assembly, packaging, wood, textiles, gardening, etc. and be trained in a total of 19 different professions.
There is also a wide range of offers for people who are unable to work or no longer able to work due to their disability or age. Special mention should be made here of the special educational support for adults .
There is a wide range of leisure activities (handicrafts, sports of all kinds, music, open meetings, etc.) as well as a cafeteria with a street café on the campus. We also cooperate with the VHS so that courses tailored to the client can be offered. Also within the parish, those in care find opportunities to get involved, be it in the choir or an instrumental group, in the divine service and devotional organization or by participating in the various events.
On the founding site in Volmerdingsen, clients can move relatively safely and securely due to the traffic calming, meet friends and acquaintances in the various leisure activities or simply go for a walk. drive. The nearby center of Volmerdingsen and the inner cities of Bad Oeynhausen and Minden, which are easily accessible by public transport, represent an expansion of the leisure offer.
The board is formed by Pastor Dierk Starnitzke as the theological director and Marco Mohrmann as the commercial director.
history
The Protestant pastor Hermann Krekeler founded the institution in 1887 as pastor of Volmerdingsen. As an employee of Friedrich von Bodelschwingh (senior), he had got to know working with disabled people in Bethel for several years . Because there was no Protestant home for people with intellectual disabilities in Westphalia, he bought a small farmstead in Volmerdingsen on May 2, 1887. In January of the same year he took over the pastoral position in the village near Bad Oeynhausen.
Due to the pietistic awakening movement , which at that time had a strong impact in the Minden-Ravensberger Land and thus also in Volmerdingsen and the surrounding area, people were prepared to stand up for disadvantaged people out of their Christian faith. The establishment of this new facility found great support. It was named Wittekindshof after the Saxon Duke Wittekind , who lived in this area in the 8th century, was baptized and is said to have spread Christianity.
The First World War stopped the steady development. The poor supply situation resulted in hunger and disease, to which many residents fell victim. The second half of the 1920s, however, was characterized by a great spirit of optimism. New buildings could be built or bought, including a hospital and Ulenburg Castle near Mennighüffen with its large agricultural and forestry areas. Medicine and education have also been further developed.
During the time of National Socialism , the Wittekindshof came under great pressure. Among other things, the church struggle spread to the institution, and there were attempts by the authorities to revoke the Christian character of the institution in the course of amendments to the statutes. The forced sterilization as a means of racial hygiene was accepted in Wittekindshof, the elimination of disabled people is leaning Christian convictions Strongly object. From 1934 onwards, compulsory sterilizations were carried out in the Bethanien Hospital. In autumn 1941, around 950 of the 1,330 residents had to be relocated to state institutions. It can be assumed that around 400 of these people fell victim to Nazi euthanasia . 1942 was in Wittekindshof hospital of the Wehrmacht established. The work with the remaining people could only be carried out under extremely difficult conditions. After the war ended in 1945, Bad Oeynhausen became the seat of the military government of the British occupation zone . The British confiscated the Wittekindshof and set up a military hospital there in early July. Only in one house on the founding site in Volmerdingsen and in Ulenburg Castle lived extremely cramped disabled people. In 1948 the British released the houses again.
There has been a brotherhood since 1949, which was accepted into the German Deaconry in 1954 . In 1994 the name was changed to Diaconal Brotherhood and Sisterhood . This is led by a committee elected by the members (the council ) and an elected elder . The pupils and students are also represented by the advisory board they have elected .
In 1956 the Wittekindshof bought the Annaheim in Gronau because the reception capacity was more than exhausted. A second sub-facility was set up there, which grew steadily in the following decades. The severe overcrowding in the 1950s and 1960s with large residential groups and too few staff often led to excessive demands on employees and thus to psychological and physical violence against the residents.
In the 1960s the situation improved. With the purchase of Schloss Benkhausen near Espelkamp in 1962, a third partial facility was created. Several new buildings were erected on the founding site, including modern dormitories, employee apartments and farm buildings. The offers have also been further developed and the training of employees professionalized through the establishment of a curative education seminar. In addition to medicine, pedagogy has now established itself as an important pillar.
In the following decades the offerings continued to expand. In 1980, the strict gender segregation that had existed since it was founded ended. In the 1990s, new, more independent forms of living were set up and subsequently gained in importance. In 1993, the Meyer-Spelbrink-Haus in Lübbecke- Nettelstedt was the fourth part of the facility. At the end of 2001 a new statute came into force, with which, among other things, the office of head of the board was replaced by a two-person board. In the course of the deconcentration, especially on the founding site, spaces are being cut massively. For this purpose, places are being set up at new locations, such as in the Ruhr area .
On the occasion of the 125th anniversary in 2012, the foundation published scientific research work on historical processing under the name "Who does not ignore the screams of the young ravens" . This was preceded by a study on the processing of the foundation's history from the 1950s and 1960s under the title “As if we were here for punishment”. Violence against people with intellectual disabilities. The Wittekindshof in the 1950s and 1960s , written by the same authors.
Wittekindshof as an employer
Pedagogical and nursing staff predominantly work here, but the administration also has a wide variety of “office professions”. The Wittekindshof Evangelical Vocational College and the Wittekindshof Deacon School are affiliated to the Wittekindshof. There are training courses for health and nurses (until 2008), educators, curative educators, curative educators, the advanced training course in social management and training to become a deacon. Some employees also begin their careers at Wittekindshof with a (school) internship, a diaconal year (another form of the voluntary social year ) or community service .
Construction of the special school in Bad Oeynhausen-Volmerdingsen
After six years of planning, the foundation built a new school building for 150 children and young people with mental and multiple disabilities for their special needs school on their site in Volmerdingsen. 15 classrooms were created, each with an assigned group room, as well as 13 specialist rooms to promote musical and creative skills, but also for targeted career preparation and familiarization with practical life activities. The construction costs amounted to around 12 million euros, which were borne by the Minden-Lübbecke district , the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) and private donations. The new building was completed in autumn 2011, and teaching has been in the new building since the 2011/2012 school year.
Locations (sorted alphabetically)
- Ahaus
- Awls
- Bad Oeynhausen
- Bonen
- Frets
- Tighter
- Espelkamp
- Gronau (Westphalia)
- Hamm
- Herford
- Herne
- Holzwickede
- Wages
- Luebbecke
- Minden
- Oberhausen
- Rahden
- Vlotho
literature
- Hans-Walter Schmuhl , Ulrike Winkler: "Who does not fail to hear the screams of the young ravens". The Wittekindshof. An institution for people with intellectual disabilities from 1887 to 2012. (= Writings of the Institute for Diakonie and Social History at the Church University of Wuppertal / Bethel , Volume 21.) Publishing house for regional history, Bielefeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-89534-931-7 .
- Hans-Walter Schmuhl, Ulrike Winkler: "As if we were here as a punishment". Violence against people with intellectual disabilities. The Wittekindshof in the 1950s and 1960s. (= Writings of the Institute for Diakonie and Social History at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal / Bethel , Volume 19.) 3rd edition, Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, Bielefeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-89534-939-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Numbers and facts, HP Wittekindshof , accessed March 3, 2020
- ↑ Numbers and facts, HP Wittekindshof , accessed March 3, 2020
- ↑ Hans-Walter Schmuhl, Ulrike Winkler: "Who does not ignore the screaming of the young ravens". The Wittekindshof. An institution for people with intellectual disabilities 1887 to 2012. Bielefeld 2012, p. 261 ff.
- ↑ Hans-Walter Schmuhl, Ulrike Winkler: "As if we were here as a punishment". Violence against people with intellectual disabilities. The Wittekindshof in the 1950s and 1960s. Bielefeld 2012.
- ↑ Book presentation and discussion with the authors on the 125-year history of the Wittekindshof ( Memento from November 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ New school building in Bad Oeynhausen, Wittekindshof ( Memento from February 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) accessed April 23, 2012
Coordinates: 52 ° 15 ′ 25 ″ N , 8 ° 47 ′ 13 ″ E