Landesverein Badische Heimat

The Landesverein Badische Heimat e.V. is a German heritage and cultural association headquartered in Freiburg im Breisgau. It was created through the merger of the Badischer Verein für Volkskunde (founded 1904) and the Verein für ländliche Wohlfahrtspflege (founded 1902), a union agreed on 26 July 1908 in Triberg and effective from 1 January 1909. The name "Badische Heimat" refers to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Baden. The association is a member of the national umbrella organisation Bund Heimat und Umwelt (BHU) in Bonn. For more than a century the Landesverein has worked in the fields of regional studies (Landeskunde), history, monument preservation, and nature and environmental protection. Its central office in Freiburg and its regional groups focus on the area of the former state of Baden, which since 1952 has been part of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. This includes the Baden landscapes along the Rhine, Danube, Neckar and Lake Constance, in the Black Forest, the Odenwald and the Baar. The association also maintains contacts with neighbours in Alsace, Württemberg, the Palatinate and northwestern Switzerland. The association's stated goals, formulated at its founding, are to preserve and research local heritage and folklore, to protect the native landscape, its artistic and natural monuments, its fauna and flora, to spread and emotionally promote local and regional studies, to encourage and cultivate family research, and thereby to awaken love of home and deepen local culture. It publishes a journal and organises lectures, excursions and other events. In the 1920s the association experienced its heyday, reaching around 12,000 members after 1924. It was consulted on almost all nature and monument protection projects and campaigned for the preservation of the Black Forest valleys and against the construction of power plants in the Glottertal and the canalisation of the Neckar. Its influence extended far beyond Baden, with local groups serving as identification hubs for former Badeners as far away as South America. The association's history also includes a problematic chapter during the Nazi era. Early on, the work of anthropologist and race theorist Eugen Fischer brought the association close to racial-völkisch circles. After 1933 the leadership actively sought to participate in the new regime's goals, and in 1934 the Baden culture minister Otto Wacker appointed the state chairman, his deputy, the editor and the local group chairmen, in line with the Nazi Gleichschaltung policy. In 1940 the association's scope was extended to the occupied and annexed Alsace and it was renamed "Oberrheinischer Heimatbund". On 16 August 1944 the Reich Defence Commissioner Robert Wagner ordered its dissolution or suspension. Today the Landesverein Badische Heimat continues its work as a registered voluntary association, publishing its journal, organising lectures such as on climate change in Middle Baden or the construction of the Schwarzenbachtalsperre, and advocating for the preservation of Baden's cultural and natural heritage.

The Landesverein Badische Heimat was formed through the merger of two associations: the Badischer Verein für Volkskunde (founded 1904) and the Verein für ländliche Wohlfahrtspflege (founded 1902). The merger was decided on 26 July 1908 in Triberg and took effect on 1 January 1909. The union was supported by the Grand Duke, the government and the ministries, as the two associations' tasks overlapped. The name "Badische Heimat" referred to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Baden. The association's goals were formulated at that time: to preserve and research local heritage and folklore, to protect the native landscape, its artistic and natural monuments, its fauna and flora, to spread and emotionally promote local and regional studies, to encourage and cultivate family research, and thereby to awaken love of home and deepen local culture. The first state assembly took place in 1909 in Achern. Fridrich Pfaff (1855–1917), a librarian from Freiburg, was elected first chairman; the physician Eugen Fischer became his deputy, and Hermann Flamm (1871–1915) became secretary. After Flamm's death, the Freiburg art historian Max Wingenroth (1872–1922) took over as secretary. He made possible the establishment of a first office in the Colombischlössle in Freiburg. In the 1920s the association experienced its heyday, driven by the tireless work of the board and renowned specialist speakers across a broad spectrum of "Baden cultural history, geology and prehistory, house building, settlement and costume studies, art history and monument preservation, literature and dialect, but also family research and genetics." While the association's editor Hermann Eris Busse represented transfigured agrarian-romantic positions, the work of anthropologist and race theorist Eugen Fischer brought the association early into dangerous proximity to racial-völkisch circles and paved the way toward the National Socialists. In its heyday after 1924, the association counted 12,000 members. It was consulted on almost all nature and monument protection projects and campaigned for the preservation of the Black Forest valleys and against the construction of power plants in the Glottertal and against the canalisation of the Neckar. Its influence extended far beyond Baden and brought "local groups" as identification hubs for former Badeners as far as South America. In its work for a "healthy" folklore, against currents of modernity perceived as soulless and as a threat, against "rootlessness and fragmentation, delusion and error," the association moved into uncritical proximity to völkisch-right groups, not least the NSDAP, without openly adopting their positions. It still wanted to maintain its non-political stance. During the "Third Reich", the association's leadership saw its role in active participation in the fight against "lack of conviction, flatness, desolation within the folklore," believing that the new right-conservative government of NSDAP and DNVP shared essential goals of the Badische Heimat. In spring 1933 Busse pointed to his own successes in this work and was sure of the support of the Reich government. The specific aims of National Socialism, however, such as declared anti-clericalism or anti-Jewish capitalism critique, were not addressed but blanked out. The opportunity was seized to establish the association closer to power with men already involved in the association who now reached responsible positions. These included above all the folklorist Eugen Fehrle, who had joined the NSDAP in 1931. The association's aim was to position him as a "state auxiliary organisation in questions of monument and heritage protection" – which proved an illusion given the totalitarian aspirations of the Nazi regime. Officially the state association maintained its party-political neutrality, even though individual journal articles euphorically praised the dawn of the new era and members in local groups joined the general approval of the people. In a circular to members in May 1933, the association leadership emphasised that it had "consciously and joyfully welcomed" the "national uprising," but also pointed out that it had "for years performed patriotic, national work in the best sense of the word." Following the Nazi regime's Gleichschaltung policy, in 1934 the existing statutes were first suspended, then the Baden culture minister Otto Wacker appointed the state chairman, his deputy and the editor as well as the chairmen of the individual local groups. This protected the association from takeover attempts by immediate Nazi organisations such as the "Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur" and the "Reichsbund Volkstum und Heimat." Despite its intellectual proximity to National Socialism, the association was able to escape a fatal "embrace" by the regime and preserve its independence. In 1937 an internal regime paper classified the editor Hermann Eris Busse as unreliable. The definitive incorporation into Nazi folklore policy occurred in 1940 with the extension of its scope to the occupied and annexed Alsace; the Badische Heimat became the "Oberrheinischer Heimatbund." On 16 August 1944 the Reich Defence Commissioner Robert Wagner ordered that... [text truncated in source]. After the Second World War the association resumed its work. Since 1952 the area of the former state of Baden has been part of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. The association continues to operate from its office at Hansjakobstraße 12 in Freiburg im Breisgau, publishing its journal, organising lectures and events, and advocating for the preservation of Baden's cultural and natural heritage.

• 1952

  Former state of Baden becomes part of Baden-Württemberg

• 1944

  Reich Defence Commissioner Robert Wagner orders dissolution/suspension on 16 August

• 1940

  Scope extended to occupied and annexed Alsace; renamed 'Oberrheinischer Heimatbund'

• 1934

  Statutes suspended; Baden culture minister Otto Wacker appoints leadership

• 1933

  Leadership welcomes the 'national uprising' in a circular to members

• 1924

  Heyday begins; membership reaches 12,000

• 1909

  Merger effective 1 January; first state assembly in Achern; Fridrich Pfaff elected first chairman

• 1908

  Merger of the two associations decided on 26 July in Triberg

• 1904

  Badischer Verein für Volkskunde founded

• 1902

  Verein für ländliche Wohlfahrtspflege founded

A non-profit heritage association for the Baden region, combining regional studies, history, monument preservation and nature conservation.

• Badische Heimat journal

• Lecture series

• Regional group activities

• Archive and library

1. 1Landesverein Badische Heimat e.V. – Der Verein für Badenbadische-heimat.de
2. 2Die Geschichte des Landesvereins – Landesverein Badische Heimat e.V.badische-heimat.de
3. 3Zeittafel zur Geschichte Badens – Landesverein Badische Heimat e.V.badische-heimat.de
4. 4Badische Geschichte – kurzgefasst – Landesverein Badische Heimat e.V.badische-heimat.de
5. 5Landesverein Badische Heimat – Wikidatawikidata.org
6. 6Landesverein Badische Heimat – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org