Nikolauspflege

Nikolauspflege is a German church foundation (kirchliche Stiftung bürgerlichen Rechts) and one of the country's leading competence centres for blind, visually impaired and multiply disabled people of all ages. It was founded on 13 August 1856 by Crown Princess Olga of Württemberg, later Queen Olga, and named after her father, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. Its roots go back to 1827, when the Stuttgart teacher Gottlieb Friedrich Wagner first offered "Blindenunterricht" (instruction for the blind) to a single pupil; the growing group of children led Olga to take Wagner's "Blindenanstalt" under her special protection and to open the "Nikolaus-Pflege für blinde Kinder" in Stuttgart's Forststraße. Today the foundation describes itself as a modern social enterprise and competence centre. Its work spans school education, vocational training and rehabilitation, work and employment, counselling, residential and boarding services, and a wide range of outpatient and outreach services. It operates several school types and vocational education institutions, workshops and businesses, counselling and regional offices, boarding houses and various forms of housing, mainly at locations across Baden-Württemberg, with additional facilities in Chemnitz and Königs Wusterhausen. Its guiding motto is "Den Menschen sehen" ("Seeing the person"), and its stated goal is the best possible participation of blind and visually impaired people in society, regardless of the type and severity of disability. As a church foundation and member of the Diakonisches Werk, Nikolauspflege orients its work toward the values of Christian charity. Its facilities include the Betty-Hirsch-Schulzentrum, the Tilly-Lahnstein-Schule and vocational schools in Stuttgart, the Königin-Olga-Schule and Haus am Zanger Berg in Heidenheim, the Berufsbildungswerk Stuttgart, the Qualifizierungszentrum Berufliche Reha, the NIKOSehzentrum rehabilitation specialist shop, the Haus des Blindenhandwerks in Esslingen and Stuttgart, the Limeshof in Welzheim, the Paul-und-Charlotte-Kniese-Haus in Weinheim, the Franz-Mersi-Haus in Mannheim, the NIKOWerk integration company, and the SFZ Chemnitz. The foundation also runs subsidiaries and participations, including the Nikolauspflege GmbH, the Nikolauspflege Haus des Blindenhandwerks gemeinnützige GmbH, the NIKOWerk gemeinnützige GmbH and the SFZ Förderzentrum gGmbH. Nikolauspflege is a non-profit organisation rather than a commercial listed company. It is financed through its foundation assets, public funding, donations and its own operations, and it explicitly warns the public that it does not conduct telephone advertising or door-to-door sales. Its history, spanning more than 165 years, reflects the development of German blind pedagogy and disability services from a small residential school to a decentralised, regionally active social enterprise.

The history of Nikolauspflege begins in 1827, when the teacher Gottlieb Friedrich Wagner offered "Blindenunterricht" (instruction for the blind) in Stuttgart for the first time, initially for a single pupil. Over the following years the number of children grew steadily. Twenty years later, Olga Nikolajewna, the future Queen of Württemberg, wrote Wagner a consequential letter in which she placed his "Blindenanstalt" (institute for the blind) under her "special protection". On 15 October 1856, Olga of Württemberg opened the "Nikolaus-Pflege für blinde Kinder" at Forststraße 18 in Stuttgart, on a garden plot far outside the city. The institution was named after her father, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. According to the foundation's own history, the date of founding is also given as 13 August 1856. Wagner soon failed in his role as director of the institution; planning, administration and financial management overwhelmed him. He was thereafter employed only as a teacher and was dismissed in 1857. Christian Sackmann, who came from the Staatsblindenanstalt Gmünd, took over the leadership of the "Nikolaus-Pflege" in 1858. For him, a solid craft education for the pupils was particularly important, so he established a basket workshop in 1860 and a blind printing house in 1869. His successors, above all Theodor Decker, continued to expand the educational offerings. After the move to a new building at Kräherwald in 1908, departments for brush making, chair weaving, machine knitting, home economics, stenotypy and telephony were created. Demand for places at Nikolauspflege was enormous: until 1900 the institution could accommodate only just under half of all blind people in Württemberg between the ages of five and 18. The new building at Kräherwald, planned between 1906 and 1908 for 80 to 100 residents on an area then outside the city limits, provided more space. By the mid-1950s the number of residents had doubled again. In the second half of the 20th century, new extensions and additions followed on this site. At the threshold of the 21st century, Nikolauspflege responded to changed societal expectations of a modern disability system by dismantling centralised structures and, with the new motto "Den Menschen sehen" ("Seeing the person"), expanding geographically into the wider region. Today it sees itself as a modern social enterprise and competence centre for blind, visually impaired and multiply disabled people. The foundation is a church foundation under civil law (kirchliche Stiftung bürgerlichen Rechts) and a member of the Diakonisches Werk. Its work is divided into business areas including "Schulische Bildung" (school education), "Berufliche Bildung" (vocational education), "Erwachsenenbereich Baden-Württemberg" (adult services in Baden-Württemberg) and "Arbeit und Beschäftigung" (work and employment), alongside several subsidiaries and participations. Its facilities are located at multiple sites in Baden-Württemberg, with additional operations in Chemnitz and Königs Wusterhausen. In 2006 the foundation marked its 150th anniversary, commemorated in a scholarly article by Oliver Häuser in Schwäbische Heimat.

• 2006

  Nikolauspflege marks its 150th anniversary, commemorated in Schwäbische Heimat by Oliver Häuser.

• 1908

  Move to the new building at Kräherwald; departments for brush making, chair weaving, machine knitting, home economics, stenotypy and telephony are created.

• 1869

  A blind printing house (Blindendruckerei) is established.

• 1860

  A basket workshop is established for craft training of pupils.

• 1858

  Christian Sackmann, from the Staatsblindenanstalt Gmünd, takes over the leadership of the Nikolaus-Pflege.

• 1857

  Gottlieb Friedrich Wagner is dismissed as director and thereafter employed only as a teacher.

• 1856

  On 15 October (also given as 13 August), Olga of Württemberg opens the "Nikolaus-Pflege für blinde Kinder" at Forststraße 18 in Stuttgart, named after her father Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.

• 1847

  Olga Nikolajewna, the future Queen of Württemberg, writes to Wagner placing his "Blindenanstalt" under her special protection.

• 1827

  Teacher Gottlieb Friedrich Wagner offers "Blindenunterricht" (instruction for the blind) in Stuttgart for the first time, initially for one pupil.

One of Germany's leading competence centres for blindness, visual impairment and multiple disability, operating as a church foundation and member of the Diakonisches Werk with the motto "Den Menschen sehen" ("Seeing the person").

• Betty-Hirsch-Schulzentrum

  School centre of the Nikolauspflege.

• Tilly-Lahnstein-Schule / Berufliche Schulen Stuttgart

  Vocational schools in Stuttgart.

• Königin-Olga-Schule, Heidenheim

  School in Heidenheim.

• Haus am Zanger Berg, Heidenheim

  Facility in Heidenheim.

• Berufsbildungswerk Stuttgart

  Vocational training centre in Stuttgart.

• Qualifizierungszentrum Berufliche Reha, Stuttgart

  Vocational rehabilitation qualification centre.

• NIKOSehzentrum

  Rehabilitation specialist shop (Reha-Fachgeschäft).

• Nikolauspflege Haus des Blindenhandwerks, Esslingen and Stuttgart

  Operated by Nikolauspflege Haus des Blindenhandwerks gemeinnützige GmbH.

• Limeshof, Welzheim

  Facility in Welzheim.

• Paul-und-Charlotte-Kniese-Haus, Weinheim

  Operated by Nikolauspflege GmbH.

• Franz-Mersi-Haus, Mannheim

  Operated by Nikolauspflege GmbH.

• NIKOWerk gemeinnützige GmbH

  Integration company (Integrationsunternehmen) in Stuttgart.

• SFZ Chemnitz

  Facility in Chemnitz; part of SFZ Förderzentrum gGmbH.

1. 1Nikolauspflege – Stiftung für blinde und sehbehinderte Menschennikolauspflege.de
2. 2Geschichte der Stiftung Nikolauspflegenikolauspflege.de
3. 3Über uns - Nikolauspflegenikolauspflege.de
4. 4Das Leitbild der Nikolauspflegenikolauspflege.de
5. 5Wikidata Q1768607wikidata.org
6. 6Nikolauspflege – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org