Diakonie Stetten

Diakonie Stetten is a German diaconal institution of the Evangelical Church, headquartered in the village of Stetten in the municipality of Kernen im Remstal in the Rems-Murr-Kreis near Stuttgart. It traces its origins to 1849, when the Tübingen physician Georg Friedrich Müller founded a healing and care institution for children with disabilities in Riet near Vaihingen an der Enz. Over its 175-year history the institution has grown into a broad social-services group serving people with disabilities, children and young people with support needs, people with mental illness, and the elderly. The organization describes itself as a provider of professional social services rooted in Christian-diaconal values such as charity, respect and responsibility. Its stated mission is to work for a world in which no one is excluded and in which all people find their place at the centre of society, regardless of age, origin or disability. It sees its work as contributing to the implementation of the German Basic Law and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN-BRK). Diakonie Stetten operates a wide range of services: inclusive kindergartens and schools; a vocational training centre (Berufsbildungswerk) that prepares young people with support needs for working life; integration assistance (Eingliederungshilfe) offering residential forms, workplaces and therapeutic and medical help for people with disabilities; counselling, accompaniment and integration into the world of work for people with mental illness; and local care and nursing for seniors. Its Ludwig Schlaich Akademie trains people in social professions. The Remstal Werkstätten, founded in 1971, provide sheltered and supported employment. According to the organization, around 7,000 clients and their families use its services across 37 cities and municipalities in the extended Stuttgart region, at roughly 100 locations. In 2023 the Diakonie Stetten group employed 4,193 people, including volunteers in the Federal Volunteer Service and the Voluntary Social Year, holiday helpers, interns and trainees. Since June 2024 the institution has been led by Dietmar Prexl as chairman of the board and commercial director, with Friedemann Kuttler as deputy chairman and theological director; Tobias Brenner, director of the Böblingen local court, chairs the administrative council. The history of Diakonie Stetten includes a dark chapter: in 1940, during the Nazi "euthanasia" programme (Aktion T4), 328 residents of the then Anstalt Stetten were deported and murdered, most of them at the Grafeneck killing centre and eleven at Hadamar. Since 1999 a memorial designed by sculptor Markus Wolf on the Diakonie Stetten grounds commemorates these victims. The organization has since engaged in historical research and remembrance, including a project on the history of care and pedagogy at the former Anstalt Stetten between 1945 and 1975. In 2024 it marked its 175th anniversary with a varied programme.

Diakonie Stetten originated in 1849, when the Tübingen physician Georg Friedrich Müller founded a healing and care institution for children with disabilities ("schwachsinnige Kinder") in Riet near Vaihingen an der Enz, starting with three children. In 1851 the institution moved to Winterbach for reasons of space. As rising numbers of residents again made space scarce, Müller's son-in-law Johannes Landenberger arranged in 1863 the purchase of the empty Stetten Castle from the Württemberg royal house. In 1864 the "Heil- und Pflegeanstalt für Epileptische und Schwachsinnige" opened in Stetten Castle. The Anstalt Stetten expanded steadily, building new structures and acquiring land (such as the Schweizerhaus) also in neighbouring Rommelshausen. By 1864 the institution's own school already employed ten teachers. By 1875, with 250 residents being cared for, a dedicated cemetery had to be established. In 1892 residents worked in workshops, a bakery, bookbinding, shoemaking, wood turning, brush making and an agricultural operation. In the same year Hermann Hesse attended the school for the "feeble-minded" for three months due to a "mental disturbance". The present Theodor-Dierlamm-Schule for children with severe disabilities, which also includes a school kindergarten, is named after the school's rector from 1951 to 1980, Theodor Dierlamm (1912–2004). During the Nazi era, in 1940, residents were systematically killed under the Aktion T4 programme based on Nazi racial hygiene. A total of 328 residents of the Anstalt Stetten were deported without their relatives' knowledge and murdered: the majority at the Grafeneck killing centre and eleven residents at the Hadamar killing centre. Since 1999 a memorial designed by sculptor Markus Wolf on the Diakonie Stetten grounds commemorates these victims of the Nazi regime. In the post-war period, the Remstal Werkstätten were founded in 1971. In 1996 the "Anstalt Stetten" was renamed "Diakonie Stetten e. V." From July 2005 to February 2006 the then chairman of the board Klaus-Dieter Kottnik was simultaneously director of the Evangelisches Diakoniewerk Schwäbisch Hall; a far-reaching cooperation between the two institutions was sought but could not be realized. In the field of disability assistance, Diakonie Stetten has oriented itself since 1994 on the special-education model of the GBM procedure (Gestaltung der Betreuung von Menschen mit Behinderung) and since 2007 increasingly introduced the assistance model of the Dutchman Willem Kleine-Schaars (WKS), aimed at self-determined living for people with disabilities. As part of restructuring efforts toward a decentralized institution, Diakonie Stetten moved into a new residential complex in the Esslingen district with 36 places in 2012, and in 2013 into three further decentralized residential units in the Rems-Murr-Kreis with 24 residential places each for people with intellectual disabilities. The Hangweide site was sold in 2019. In 2025 a relocation within Waiblingen took place, merging the former Steinbeisstraße and Oppenländerstraße locations at a new site in the Waiblingen commercial area Ameisenbühl. The Johannes-Landenberger-Schule at the former vocational training centre is to move to a new location by 2028; the former site on Oppenländerstraße was sold to a housing company. Leadership has evolved over the decades. Georg Friedrich Müller led from 1849 to 1859, followed by Johannes Landenberger (1859–1877), Pfarrer Gottlob Adam Schall (1877–1894), Pfarrer Martin Strebel (1894–1905), Pfarrer Sprösser (1905–1909), Pfarrer Karl Martin Julius Reischle (1909–1914), Pfarrer Sick (1914–1920), Pfarrer Kieser (1920–1930), Pfarrer Ludwig Schlaich (1930–1967), Pfarrer Peter Schlaich (1967–1991), Pfarrer Klaus-Dieter Kottnik (1991–2007) and Pfarrer Rainer Hinzen (2008 – end of April 2024). Since May 2024 Dietmar Prexl has led the institution. Since June 2024 the board has consisted of Dietmar Prexl as chairman and commercial director and Friedemann Kuttler as deputy chairman and theological director; Tobias Brenner, director of the Böblingen local court, chairs the administrative council. In 2023 the Diakonie Stetten group, which includes further locations besides Kernen-Stetten, employed a total of 4,193 people, including volunteers in the Federal Volunteer Service and the Voluntary Social Year, holiday helpers, interns and trainees, who support people with disabilities, people with learning disabilities, the mentally ill, the unemployed and seniors. In 2024 the institution celebrated its 175th anniversary with a varied programme. It has also engaged in historical reappraisal, including a research project begun in June 2015 on the history of care and pedagogy at the former Anstalt Stetten between 1945 and 1975, published under the title "…und da gab's noch ein Tor, das geschlossen war".

• 2025

  Relocation within Waiblingen merges the Steinbeisstraße and Oppenländerstraße locations at a new site in the Ameisenbühl commercial area.

• 2024

  Diakonie Stetten celebrates its 175th anniversary; Dietmar Prexl becomes chairman of the board.

• 2019

  The Hangweide site is sold.

• 2015

  A research project begins on the history of care and pedagogy at the former Anstalt Stetten between 1945 and 1975.

• 2013

  Three further decentralized residential units with 24 places each open in the Rems-Murr-Kreis.

• 2012

  A new residential complex with 36 places opens in the Esslingen district.

• 2007

  Diakonie Stetten increasingly introduces the WKS assistance model aimed at self-determined living.

• 1999

  A memorial by sculptor Markus Wolf commemorating the Nazi victims is erected on the Diakonie Stetten grounds.

• 1996

  The "Anstalt Stetten" is renamed "Diakonie Stetten e. V."

• 1994

  Diakonie Stetten begins orienting its disability assistance on the GBM procedure model.

• 1971

  The Remstal Werkstätten are founded.

• 1940

  328 residents of the Anstalt Stetten are deported and murdered under the Nazi Aktion T4 programme, most at Grafeneck and eleven at Hadamar.

• 1892

  Residents work in workshops, bakery, bookbinding, shoemaking, wood turning, brush making and agriculture; Hermann Hesse attends the school for three months.

• 1875

  With 250 residents, a dedicated cemetery is established.

• 1864

  The Heil- und Pflegeanstalt für Epileptische und Schwachsinnige opens in Stetten Castle; the institution's school employs ten teachers.

• 1863

  Johannes Landenberger arranges the purchase of Stetten Castle from the Württemberg royal house.

• 1851

  The institution moves to Winterbach for reasons of space.

• 1849

  Georg Friedrich Müller founds a healing and care institution for children with disabilities in Riet near Vaihingen an der Enz.

A Christian-diaconal social services provider promoting inclusion and participation for people with disabilities, mental illness and the elderly in the Stuttgart region.

• Inclusive kindergartens and schools

• Berufsbildungswerk vocational training centre

• Eingliederungshilfe integration assistance

• Therapeutic and medical services

• Counselling and work integration for people with mental illness

• Elderly care and nursing

• Ludwig Schlaich Akademie

• Remstal Werkstätten

• Theodor-Dierlamm-Schule

• Johannes-Landenberger-Schule

1. 1Diakonie Stetten official website homepagediakonie-stetten.de
2. 2Geschichte Diakonie Stettendiakonie-stetten.de
3. 3Diakonie Stetten, über unsdiakonie-stetten.de
4. 4Diakonie Stetten – Wikidatawikidata.org
5. 5Diakonie Stetten – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org