Social work in its beginnings – from caregivers and nurses

It is no longer possible to determine exactly when German Adventists began their social work. The oldest traces can probably be found in the Hamburg Adventist churches. Following the American model, the work of Tabea associations to support people in need was adopted there, as was Sunday school work. At the same time as the Friedensau Sanatorium was inaugurated in July 1901, the Friedensau Sisterhood was founded.

New job profiles emerge out of a need.

After the First World War, church leaders recognized the need to offer Red Cross courses in the parishes (in order to be prepared for service in the event of conscription in a future war) and to be able to set up appropriate groups, as well as to make a contribution to society (especially in families), which was shattered by the many hardships of the post-war years. To this end, so-called "Association Sisters" were employed in the associations, some of whom worked together with the state authorities as social welfare workers. After the Central European Division was founded in 1928, Hulda Jost was given responsibility for a newly founded department for welfare work in the division. She was very active in setting up appropriate groups in the congregations, organized welfare festivals and evenings, and incorporated the social work of the German Adventist churches into the Fifth Parity Welfare Association of the Reich. With these activities, the work of the Tabea groups was largely discontinued.

Focus on social and health-promoting measures

After the Adventist churches were banned in November/December 1933, the leadership of the Central European Division decided to make a stronger public appearance than before with social and health-promoting measures and also founded a department of the German Association for Health Care to support these goals. The association, founded in 1900, had previously acted exclusively as the legal entity for all German Adventist properties and institutions outside of Hamburg, including, for example, the Gesundkostwerk.

During the Nazi era, Hulda Jost incorporated the welfare organization into the Nazi welfare organization. In the early years, great efforts were made to demonstrate the willingness of the church to support the welfare of the people, and a whole series of young sisters were deployed as helpers at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. During the war years, the Nazi People's Welfare Organization ordered them to help with air raid protection and in other areas.

After the Second World War, the Adventist welfare work sought new tasks, but above all Tabea groups were formed again, which in the following decades merged into a now expanded Adventist welfare work (Dr. Johannes Hartlapp).