Die Kooperation von SOS-Kinderdorf und MAN

About us

His name and idea are unforgotten: The medical student Hermann Gmeiner founded the first SOS Children’s Village in 1949 in Imst, Tyrol. There, orphans who lost their parents during the Second World War were to be provided with a loving home and a caring family. Gmeiner’s basic idea was both simple and brilliant: Children who lost their parents grow up together with an SOS Mother in an SOS Family. In this caring environment children experience trust, comfort and support. They experience a new home until they are able to lead a self-determined life on their own.

Also in Germany, Hermann Gmeiner’s idea met with great enthusiasm. In 1955 the German SOS Children’s Villages association, SOS-Kinderdorf e.V., was founded. Only one year later the foundation stone was laid for the first German Children’s Village in Diessen. Initially, SOS-Kinderdorf mainly cared for orphans, but today mostly children and youth from difficult family situations are supported by our care model. Just as in the past, our work is financed by donations and public funding.

Since the 60s, many new SOS facilities have opened their doors worldwide. Often, the donations SOS Children’s Villages associations in poor countries receive are not sufficient to support local SOS facilities in the respective country. Therefore, SOS-Kinderdorf e.V. alone supports 130 projects in 44 countries. Most SOS Children’s Villages also have associated facilities such as Hermann-Gmeiner Schools, Social Centers and Medical Centers, from which also people in the neighborhood benefit.

The idea of SOS Children’s Villages of four principles, i.e. “mother, siblings, house, village” is still valid today, but the care offer has become more extensive. In addition to our main task to provide long-term family-based care for children and youth, we support and accompany young adults of especially strained, overburdened families in our external programs as an important measure of prevention.