Badehaus chairwoman Sybille Krafft (7th from left) was delighted with club members and political celebrities about the "Green Wanninger". © Peter Herrmann
Wolfratshausen - Since 1988, the district parliamentary group of the Greens has been awarding a cultural prize named after a sketch by the Munich comedian Karl Valentin. This year, the bathhouse association was delighted.
"It doesn't get any more classic than this," said Sybille Krafft after the award ceremony. In her work on the board of the association "Bürger fürs Badehaus Waldram-Föhrenwald", which has been in existence for eleven years, she feels reminded again and again of the famous sketch by Karl Valentin. Like the "bookbinder Wanninger", Krafft was constantly referred to other places after the time-consuming filling out of funding applications and countless telephone calls. Without exception, all of the approximately 13,000 visitors to the memorial site so far have been enthusiastic about the reappraisal of history there.
"But when it comes to the much-needed institutional support, everyone just points to the other," regrets the bathhouse boss. She was all the more pleased about the presentation of the 3,000 euro cultural prize "Der Grüne Wanninger", which was presented by the district parliamentary group of the Greens for the 30th time.
Purpose of the "Der Grüne Wanninger" award: "It is intended to encourage social and political commitment"
After the trio "Bavarian Immigrants", who were awarded the prize two years ago, had opened the ceremony in the fully occupied attic of the bathhouse, the two district councillors Martina Neubauer and Elisabeth Janner explained the purpose of the prize. "It is intended to encourage social and political commitment," Neubauer clarified. Among the winners of the award, which has been awarded since 1988, are the now defunct Biermösl Blosn and Andreas Wagner from Geretsried, who has written a detailed book on the "death march" of concentration camp prisoners.
Third District Administrator Klaus Koch emphasized in his speech that the bathhouse "brings memory before your eyes" and thus fulfills an important orientation function. Third Mayor Annette Heinloth recalled the difficult early days of the Badehaus-Verein, which had to fight persistently for recognition from the city. "I wish you stable financing at last," Heinloth hopes. Marius Schlosser, board member of the district association of the Greens, praised the current references to the culture of remembrance conveyed in the bathhouse. Proof of this are the discussion evenings on right-wing extremism and the fate of refugees.
Green Party member of parliament Gabriele Triebel demands: "Immerse yourself in history"
In her laudatory speech, Green Party member of the state parliament Gabriele Triebel called for an "immersion in history" and recalled that at the beginning of the Second World War, the National Socialists had built a settlement for armaments workers in the Wolfratshausen Forest, which the concentration camp death march passed in 1945. Shortly thereafter, the Föhrenwald camp became the temporary home of around 5,000 to 6,000 Jewish displaced persons who had survived the Holocaust.
After the settlement of Catholic expellees with many children in the 1950s, it was finally renamed to today's Wolfratshausen district of Waldram. Triebel paid tribute to the 50,000 volunteer hours of the bathhouse association so far. "Every single hour was worth it," said the laudator. Bathhouse Chairwoman Dr. Sybille Krafft was combative after the ceremonial presentation of the prize. "Like the bookbinder Wanninger, we will continue undaunted," she promised.
For the seventh time award for bathhouse
Already on April 27, 2023, the Badehaus memorial site in Mannheim caused a sensation at the award ceremony of the "Active for Democracy and Tolerance" competition. For the seventh time, the bathhouse received an award for its civic engagement, presented by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. With this award, the jury acknowledged the exemplary function of the Waldram Museum, because the Badehaus team can look back on an impressive 49,000 hours of volunteer work.