The Weltladen in Bad Tölz is intended to help make the world a little better. The beginnings were modest, the general acceptance was not always given.
Bad Tölz – In the 40 years of its existence, the Weltladen in Bad Tölz has already attracted many an illustrious clientele: Former German President Richard von Weizsäcker and his wife regularly made detours here. CSU politician Gerd Müller was a guest during his time as Federal Development Minister. And in 2019, presenter and actress Anke Engelke bought "great upcycled newspaper cans as a gift for our film team" on Säggasse, as she tells in a magazine of the Weltladen umbrella organization.
Weltladen Bad Tölz: Sales have more than quadrupled since 1983
However, it is not the celebrity glamour that makes the success story of the "Eine Welt" association – but that the shop has established itself so well among locals, people from all over the surrounding area and tourists. "Our turnover has grown from 1983,15 to 000,70 euros in 000 since 2022," says chairwoman Irma Walter, not without pride. In 2014, the Weltladen received the recognition prize at the district's business award, and in 2017 the city of Bad Tölz awarded it the Medal of Merit. The idea of fair trade has now become so entrenched in Tölz that the city is officially a "Fair Trade Town". "Awareness has changed a lot compared to the beginning," says Hedi Hafensteiner, who has been working here on a voluntary basis for many years.
The beginnings mentioned date back to the early 1980s. At that time, Ingeborg and Franz Mittermair from Königsdorf founded the "One World Working Group" and started with a small "Third World Shop", as it was called at the time, in the Hochland youth settlement. "They were supported by committed young people from the socio-educational field of the Benediktbeuern University of Applied Sciences," reports Irma Walter. After the group had grown considerably, it opened a shop with a manageable assortment in October 1983 in the rooms of the Catholic Church in the Tölzer Franzmühle. In 1985, the company moved to its current location.
Almost all members of the One World Working Group are women
Gerti Stümpfing, a retired religion teacher, had rented a house on Säggasse from the city that had previously belonged to the municipal utilities and founded a "center of encounter" there. This also included providing the "One World" working group with a shop for a very low rent. "The first specialist shop for fair trade in the district was opened," says Irma Walter.
The beginnings were financed by deposits and personal loans from the founders and members, explains the current chairwoman. To this day, the store is also economically viable because of the current 65 members of the association – almost all women, by the way – 20 volunteer shifts as saleswomen. Only three employees who are responsible for purchasing the goods are employed on a mini-job basis. The Weltladen does not have to make a profit, but as a registered trading company it must not make a loss, says Irma Walter.
The Weltladen Bad Tölz sells products from 30 countries
Chocolate, coffee and tea, sugar and spices, but also singing bowls, handicrafts, blankets, jewellery, basketry and much more: this is how customers know and appreciate the range of products offered by the Weltladen. The products come from 30 countries around the world, mainly from Asia, Africa and Latin America, as Irma Walter explains. What they have in common is that the product range follows the principle of "fair trade". This includes fair prices "so that producers can make a living from it", long-term purchase agreements, direct, partnership-based trade relations, social working conditions, transparent structures, respect for people and the environment and the promotion of ecological production methods.
"I've been on the road a lot in Asia myself, especially in Nepal and Tibet," says the chairwoman. This motivated her to work for fairer world trade. She joined the Tölzer Verein many years ago as a geography teacher at the Tölzer Realschule. After working at schools in other cities, she has now been back in Bad Tölz since 2018.
Customers ask critical questions in the Weltladen in Bad Tölz
The association sees its task not only in sales, but also in educational work. These include working with confirmation groups, serving fair coffee at open days at schools or even a photo exhibition about Bangladesh and offering the creation of an "ecological footprint" in the store. And, of course, the conversations with customers. "Nowadays, they often ask critical questions," reports Vice-Chairwoman Cäcilia Peterhoff. "They inquire about packaging, palm oil or under what conditions the cashew nuts were peeled."
It is with mixed feelings that the team looks at the fact that products with the Faitrtade seal are now available in every better supermarket. "Almost all people find it difficult to buy something that they can get ten meters cheaper," says Irma Walter. On the one hand, it is to be welcomed "that fair trade does not only take place in world shops". However, the criteria of the Fairtrade seal there are "weakened so that the prices remain suitable for the supermarket".
In the world shop, the products are "even fairer," says Walter. In addition, the assortment is larger, "and handicrafts from all over the world are only available in the world shop". Actually, adds Cäcilia Peterhoff, the goal was once "to make world shops superfluous". But Hafensteiner notes: "We're a long way from that."
You can find even more up-to-date news from the region at Merkur.de/Bad Tölz.