Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz

The Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz e.V. (LSH) is a registered association based in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, founded on 14 July 1908 by Oberbaurat Karl Schmidt and the painter and folklorist Hofrat Professor Oskar Seyffert. It succeeded the Ausschuss für heimatliche Natur, Kunst und Bauweise (Committee for Native Nature, Art and Building), which had existed since 1903. The association's statutory purpose is to preserve the naturally and historically evolved character of the Upper Saxon homeland, to protect its nature, to responsibly shape its landscape, and to research and maintain its historical and cultural values. It realizes these aims through the care of natural monuments, nature reserves, and cultural monuments. The LSH is one of the largest membership-based civic engagement organizations in Saxony, with more than 900 individual members and around 80 corporate members, including associations, interest groups, and companies. It acts as a coordinator and representative for many local heritage and nature conservation associations. Its work is organized into three specialist departments: Nature Conservation/Landscape Design, Monument Preservation/Regional History, and Folklore/Folk Art. It also maintains working groups on village design and structure, property, and school and homeland. In Dresden, the association runs a consultation office and a library with collection focuses on monument protection, regional history, nature conservation, landscape care and village design, as well as rare crafts and folk art. The association publishes the "Mitteilungen des Landesvereins Sächsischer Heimatschutz" (ISSN 0941-1151), known as the "Green Booklets," which first appeared in 1908 and have been published again since 1991 after a more than fifty-year interruption. It also publishes the annual calendar "Sächsische Heimat" since 1993. The LSH has been recognized as a nature conservation association under the Federal Nature Conservation Act and the Saxon Nature Conservation Act since 1991. It organizes projects, conferences, action days, consultations, seminars, hikes, and meetings throughout Saxony. In 2013, the German National Committee for Monument Protection awarded the association the German Prize for Monument Protection for its exemplary commitment to protecting archaeological monuments. After being effectively unable to work for over four decades due to political pressure in East Germany, the association reorganized in 1990 and has since become one of the best-known and most effective heritage organizations in Germany. It continues to acquire and manage conservation areas, such as over 200 hectares of forest, meadows, and fields around Bienhof and Oelsen, and participates in large-scale nature conservation projects like the Lausitzer Seenland.

The Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz was founded on 14 July 1908 as the successor to the Ausschuss für heimatliche Natur, Kunst und Bauweise (Committee for Native Nature, Art and Building), which had been constituted in 1903. Its founders were Oberbaurat Karl Schmidt (1853–1922) and the Saxon folklorist Oskar Seyffert. The association's main groups were nature conservation, building advice, and folklore. In 1908, the first issues of the "Mitteilungen des Landesvereins Sächsischer Heimatschutz" (known as the Green Booklets) appeared, continuing until 1941 and resuming in 1991. The first land acquisition for nature conservation was the Boselspitze in the Spaargebirge near Meissen. In 1909, the Law against the Disfigurement of Town and Country (Heimatschutzgesetz) was passed. In 1913, the Landesmuseum für Sächsische Volkskunst (State Museum for Saxon Folk Art) opened its permanent exhibition in the Jägerhof, and in 1923 it was taken over by the Landesverein together with the Verein für Sächsische Volkskunde. In 1921, the association established a research and recreation home in the manor house of the former Hammergut Bienhof near Oelsen. By 1945, it had acquired numerous mountain meadows around the Hammergut and established the second-largest nature reserve in Saxony with an area of 282 hectares. The Gleichschaltung (coordination) under the Nazi regime occurred at the latest in 1940, when Friedrich Emil Krauß, founding chairman of the Nazi-influenced Heimatwerk Sachsen, became chairman of the Landesverein. In 1946, the nature conservation areas acquired by the association around Bienhof and Oelsen were expropriated in the course of land reform and divided for agricultural use. In 1949, the association's assets were confiscated without compensation. Although the association was not officially banned, external political pressure caused it to lose its ability to work. In 1967, about 132 hectares of meadows, forest, and stone ridges were again placed under nature conservation. A reorganization of the association, which had never been dissolved according to its statutes, took place during the political turnaround in East Germany and before reunification on 3 October 1990. The first general meeting since 1945 was held on 7 April 1990. Immediately after its re-establishment, the association supported the newly founded national park administration in establishing the Elbe Sandstone Mountains as the National Park Sächsische Schweiz, alongside the Sächsische Schweiz Initiative (SSI), and was a sought-after contact for the creation of a nature conservation area on the border of the Vogtland to Bavaria. In the area around Bienhof and Oelsen, the association again acquired over 200 hectares of forest, meadows, and fields and continued the nature conservation work begun in the early 1920s. Between 2003 and 2007, the Landesverein was the sponsor of the research and development project "Restoration of species-rich mountain meadows in the Eastern Ore Mountains," funded by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and the Saxon Ministry of Environment and Agriculture. In 2005, the association became a partial shareholder in the Lausitzer Seenland gGmbH and supports the large-scale nature conservation project Lausitzer Seenland. In 2013, the German National Committee for Monument Protection awarded the association the German Prize for Monument Protection for its exemplary and extraordinary commitment to protecting the archaeological monuments Burgberg Zschaitz, Jungbronzezeitliche Siedlung Lommatzsch, and Burgberg Niederwartha. Since resuming its activities, the association has been organized into three specialist departments: Nature Conservation/Landscape Design, Monument Preservation/Regional History, and Folklore/Folk Art. It also maintains three working groups: Village Design/Village Structure, Property, and School and Homeland. In Dresden, it operates a consultation office and a library. The association publishes the "Mitteilungen" (ISSN 0941-1151), which received the Federal Prize for Regional Heritage Magazines in 1995, and the annual calendar "Sächsische Heimat" since 1993. It has been recognized as a nature conservation association under federal and state law since 1991.

• 2013

  Awarded the German Prize for Monument Protection by the German National Committee for Monument Protection.

• 2005

  Association becomes a partial shareholder in Lausitzer Seenland gGmbH.

• 2003

  Start of the research and development project 'Restoration of species-rich mountain meadows in the Eastern Ore Mountains' (until 2007).

• 1995

  Mitteilungen awarded the Federal Prize for Regional Heritage Magazines.

• 1993

  Annual calendar Sächsische Heimat first published.

• 1991

  Mitteilungen resume publication; association recognized as a nature conservation association under federal and state law.

• 1990

  Reorganization during the political turnaround; first general meeting since 1945 held on 7 April.

• 1967

  About 132 hectares of meadows, forest, and stone ridges again placed under nature conservation.

• 1949

  Association assets confiscated without compensation.

• 1946

  Nature conservation areas around Bienhof and Oelsen expropriated in land reform.

• 1941

  Publication of the Mitteilungen prohibited; it would not resume until 1991.

• 1940

  Gleichschaltung under the Nazi regime; Friedrich Emil Krauß becomes chairman.

• 1923

  Landesmuseum für Sächsische Volkskunst and Verein für Sächsische Volkskunde taken over by the Landesverein.

• 1921

  Association establishes a research and recreation home in the manor house of the former Hammergut Bienhof near Oelsen.

• 1913

  Landesmuseum für Sächsische Volkskunst opens permanent exhibition in the Jägerhof.

• 1909

  Law against the Disfigurement of Town and Country (Heimatschutzgesetz) passed.

• 1908

  Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz founded on 14 July by Karl Schmidt and Oskar Seyffert; first issues of the Mitteilungen (Green Booklets) published.

• 1903

  Ausschuss für heimatliche Natur, Kunst und Bauweise (Committee for Native Nature, Art and Building) constituted, predecessor of the LSH.

A membership-based heritage and nature conservation association acting as coordinator and advocate for Saxony's local heritage and nature conservation groups.

• Mitteilungen des Landesvereins Sächsischer Heimatschutz (Green Booklets)

  Journal published since 1908 (interrupted 1941–1991), ISSN 0941-1151, usually three issues per year, awarded the Federal Prize for Regional Heritage Magazines in 1995.

• Kalender Sächsische Heimat

  Annual calendar with 53 image and text contributions, published since 1993.

• Folk art products

  Pottery, Erzgebirge wood and tin work, blue prints, and other folk art products available from changing exhibitions.

1. 1STARTSEITE - www.saechsischer-heimatschutz.desaechsischer-heimatschutz.de
2. 2Kulturgeschichte - www.saechsischer-heimatschutz.desaechsischer-heimatschutz.de
3. 3Der LSH stellt sich vor - www.saechsischer-heimatschutz.desaechsischer-heimatschutz.de
4. 4Geschichte - www.saechsischer-heimatschutz.desaechsischer-heimatschutz.de
5. 5Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz - Wikidatawikidata.org
6. 6Landesverein Sächsischer Heimatschutz - Wikipediade.wikipedia.org