More than 60 delegates from twelve federal states gathered in Berlin last Saturday to discuss the results of the umbrella organization’s work in recent years and the priorities for the coming months. In his summary, Frieder Otto Wolf welcomed the fact that the perception of the HVD Federal Association developed in previous years among the general public, political institutions, the media and other relevant bodies could be further expanded and maintained.
positive result is due both to the activities on the ground under the responsibility of the regional associations, including the youth organizations, which are successfully involved in a continuous expansion in numerous practical fields of humanistic educational, cultural, youth and social work. The federal association itself has been successfully involved in various projects of its own, as can be seen from the activities over the last few years and the resonance in reporting as well as the increased involvement in relevant events at other institutions.
Thanks to members, volunteers and employees
Frieder Otto Wolf therefore thanked both the delegates of the regional associations and the representatives of the Young Humanists as well as the volunteers on the Presidium of the HVD Federal Association for their joint and pioneering achievements in the development of practical humanism in Germany. Frieder Otto Wolf and the delegates thanked Ines Scheibe, psychologist and treasurer of the umbrella organization since 2008, in her absence, as Scheibe was at the same time the official event manager of this year’s Day of Action for the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination initiated by the Humanist Association. Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination initiated by the Humanist Association. In a subsequent resolution, the Federal Delegates’ Assembly expressly welcomed the plan officially adopted a few months ago by the Humanistische Gemeinschaft Hessen KdöR to join the HVD Federal Association. Holger Behr, chairman of the Wiesbaden community and spokesman for the state community, briefly presented the Humanist Community of Hesse and the steps taken so far that had led to the renewal and renaming of the former Freireligiöse Landesgemeinde. As state chairman of the HVD Hessen, which was founded in 2011, Florian Zimmermann emphasized the successful cooperation to date, including the annual youth celebrations.
New Executive Committee with 13 members
Florian Zimmermann was elected as the new President of the HVD Federal Association at the regular elections of the Federal Delegates’ Assembly that followed. Zimmermann, who holds a doctorate in mathematics, works as a project manager and development engineer and, in addition to his position as state chairman of the HVD Hessen, has also been active as an assessor on the executive committee of the HVD umbrella organization since 2014, including as a contact person for international affairs, refugee policy and small state associations, as well as an official liaison person and delegate for the
International Humanist and Ethical Union
. After more than seven years in the office of President of the HVD Federal Association, Frieder Otto Wolf did not stand for re-election, but he will continue to focus on his activities as President of the Humanist Academy Germany among other things.
delegates also elected Ulrike von Chossy (HVD Bayern), Jan Gabriel (HVD Berlin-Brandenburg) and Guido Wiesner (HVD Niedersachsen) to the Executive Committee as Deputy President and President respectively. Ines Scheibe was reappointed as Treasurer by the Federal Delegates’ Assembly. Max Schmidt was elected as representative of the Young Humanists. Erwin Kress (HVD North Rhine-Westphalia), Norbert Röhrl (Die Humanisten Baden-Württemberg), Sebastian Rothlauf (HVD Bavaria), Rainer Ruder (HVD Bavaria) as well as Gita Neumann (HVD Berlin-Brandenburg), Ralf Schöppner (HVD Berlin-Brandenburg) and Werner Schultz (HVD Berlin-Brandenburg) will support the Presidium as assessors. The Executive Committee now consists of a total of 13 people. On behalf of the Assembly of Delegates and the new Executive Committee, Florian Zimmermann expressed his appreciation and thanks to Frieder Otto Wolf, who has served as President since 2010, and to Helmut Fink, who has also left the Executive Committee.
New humanist self-image
Following the elections, the new version of the Humanist Self-Conception was adopted after a brief discussion. This was developed in a discussion process lasting several years up to mid-2015 and was already approved by the Presidium of the HVD Federal Association last year. Now that the new version has been adopted by the Federal Delegates’ Assembly, it replaces the previous version from 2001. A commission yet to be established will deal with its further development on a permanent basis in the future. On Saturday, Elke Rasche also introduced herself as the new head of the
Central Office for Living Wills
of the Humanist Association Berlin-Brandenburg to the Federal Assembly. In this role, she recently succeeded the founder of the central office and previous director Gita Neumann, who was also expressly thanked at the meeting for her pioneering support in the political debates on patient autonomy and self-determination at the end of life. Rasche also announced that, as part of an ongoing advertising campaign by the Central Office for Advance Directives , all interested regional associations and communities will receive the previously valid print materials such as brochures, folders, powers of attorney and advance directives free of charge until November 30, 2017.
25th anniversary of the federal association
The deliberations and debates at this year’s Federal Delegates’ Assembly were held in a special light, as next year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the HVD Federal Association. On 14 January 1993, representatives of seven free-religious and free-thinking organizations with a humanist tradition came together to found the Humanist Association of Germany as a federal association. Today, it consists of twelve state associations in 13 federal states, plus additional associated associations in Saxony-Anhalt. There are now over 100 projects and institutions nationwide, and the number of volunteers and employees in the associations now exceeds 1,500. The 25th anniversary of the founding of the HVD Federal Association will be celebrated at the beginning of next year. Katrin Raczynski, Chairwoman of the
Humanist Association Berlin-Brandenburg
therefore invited the representatives of the state associations to the planned ceremony in Berlin on January 14, 2018 at the Federal Delegates’ Meeting. In the coming year, there will therefore be two special opportunities to celebrate outstanding milestones from a humanist perspective in a festive setting. This is because the next Humanist Day in Nuremberg from 22 to 24 June 2018 will also mark the 70th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a diverse, thought-provoking and dignified setting.
Humanism is exemplified by us
At the end of the delegates’ meeting at the weekend, the new President of the HVD Federal Association, Florian Zimmermann, emphasized the great importance of value-oriented and value-forming work with a humanistic profile on the ground in the federal states, but also the importance of the continuous and independent work of the Federal Association. Among other things, the new version of the Humanist Self-Conception that has now been adopted provides a contemporary, unifying basis for this. The work against the discrimination of non-denominational and non-religious people also provides some valuable building blocks for the path to equality and the realization of neutrality and equal treatment in the relationship between the state and religious and secular ideological communities in Germany. “Despite all the important work, however, we should not forget that humanism, which should inspire and inspire, is exemplified by people, and self-care, self-cultivation and fun must not be neglected,” said Florian Zimmermann after the Federal Assembly in Berlin.
