History of the German
Vegetarian Societies
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| International Vegetarian Union (IVU) | |
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History of the German
Vegetarian Societies |
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In 1867 Eduard Baltzer, from Liepzig, founded the Deutsche Verein für natürliche Lebensweise (German Natural Living Society) - as far as we know this was the first society in Germany to promote vegetarianism. The following year, 1868, Gustav von Struve founded the Stuttgarter Vegetarierverein (Stuttgart Vegetarian Association) ; this group expanded in 1877 to become Süddeutschen Vegetarierverein (South German Vegetarian Association). In 1879 Robert Springer founded a group in Berlin - Deutsche Verein für harmonische Lebenweise (German Association for Harmonious Living), which soon became another national society, the Vegetarier Verein. There were soon many more local groups in Germany mostly affiliated to one of the two national groups. In September 1889 the Liepzig group invited the two major British Societies and others from Germany to a Congress in Cologne. This appears to have been the first ever international gathering of vegetarians. A good time was had by all, including boat trips on the Rhine for the first two days followed by lectures and discussions on the remaining days. The event was very successful, with between 80-100 people at each of the lectures, and it was agreed to arrange further international meetings. On October 1st the London Vegetarian Society initiated the Vegetarian Federal Union, which was meant to be for all vegetarian societies from any country but, in reality, was mostly English speaking groups in Britain, Ireland and America. Some representatives from Germany attended an International Congress organised by VFU in London in September 1890, and one or more German groups joined VFU, but they were never very actively involved. On June 7, 1892, at a joint Congress in Leipzig, the two national societies agreed to unite and form the Deutscher Vegetarier-Bund (German Vegetarian Federation) with its base in Liepzig. By the end of 1893 many more local groups had joined the Federation, including 'Berlin, Chemnitz, Frankfurt/M., Glauchau, Hanover, Hamburg, Leipzig, Magdeburg, Meissen, Zurich as well as the vegetarian settlements Eden Orianenburg, near Berlin, and Bülach in Switzerland.' The Bund published a magazine: Vegetarische Warte. The Stuttgart group remained outside the Federation along with a few others, but over the following years about 70% had joined the Bund. In 1908 the first IVU Congress was held in Dresden, this was initiated by the Manchester, UK based Vegetarian Society, following a suggestion from the French Society. The idea of holding the Congress in Dresden may have been a deliberate attempt to link the English and German speaking Federations - if so it succeeded admirably and IVU has continued from that point until today. The Dresden Vegetarian Society was founded in 1881 and in 1908 it appears to have been a member of the Deutscher Vegetarier-Bund as they worked closely together on the Congress with Dr.Selss, president of the Bund, in the chair. The Secretary of the Dresden Society is mentioned in the reports as Georg Förster. Between 1910 and 1913 Herr Förster and his wife, Martha, broke away from the Bund to form their own societies, including Verein Vegetarischer Frauen - Association of Vegetarian Women founded by Martha. In 1918 another Federation was started from Berlin and the Dresden groups joined it. However by 1930 they had fallen out and the Dresden groups started their own Federation, very much based on the personality of Georg Förster, but nevertheless very successful. In 1932 the IVU Congress was held at the Eden Camp, Berlin, which was a member of the Deutscher Vegetarier-Bund - now celebrating its 40th year. In 1935 independent societies were made illegal and were forced to either join the Nazi Living Reform Movement or close. The members of the Deutcher Vegetarier-Bund conducted a ballot of their members and they voted to close. On February 18, 1935 the Bund was dissolved. The groups based in Dresden attempted to continue under Nazi authority but they had also closed by 1941 or 42. In 1945 the Vegetarians re-established themselves and, after various reorganisations and name changes, became the Vegetarier-Bund Deutschlands (Vegetarian Federation of Germany) in 1985. The following articles appeared in the May/June 1992 issue of Der Vegetarier (VBD magazine) which celebrated the centenary of the Bund.
Other related info (some from Switzerland, the early German Federation included some Swiss groups):
The VBD today can be found at: www.vegetarierbund.de (in German) If you have any more information about anything on this page please contact John Davis - webmaster@ivu.org |