Hoffbauer Foundation

The Hoffbauer-Stiftung (Hoffbauer Foundation) is a legally independent Protestant church foundation based on the island of Hermannswerder in Potsdam, Germany. It was established by notarial deed on 14 March and 9 April 1901 by the widowed Clara Hoffbauer (née Becker, 1830–1909), and was formally inaugurated on 30 June 1901 — the birthday of her late husband Hermann Hoffbauer (1819–1884). The foundation was endowed with assets of six million marks and several buildings on the Tornow peninsula in the Templiner See, which was renamed Hermannswerder in Hermann Hoffbauer's honour. Its founding mission combined Protestant education with lived social responsibility, a mandate that still guides it today. Hermann Hoffbauer, a merchant from Halberstadt who settled in Berlin around 1840, married Clara Ottilie Alexandrine Emilie Becker in 1850 and co-founded a carpet factory with his brother-in-law Emil Becker in 1856. The childless couple planned a foundation to address the social hardships of industrialisation, a plan Hermann fixed in his will in 1878. After his death in 1884, Clara acquired roughly 40 hectares on the Tornow peninsula and began building the foundation's campus; the first spade was turned on 10 June 1891. Today the foundation operates a broad portfolio of educational and social institutions: kindergartens (Kitas), primary schools (Grundschulen), gymnasiums and comprehensive schools (Gesamtschulen), a youth welfare facility (Oase), vocational and technical schools for social professions and elderly care, and facilities for the housing, care and support of elderly and disabled people. It also runs inpatient and outpatient care services, day care, senior shared-living communities, and hospice and palliative work through the Potsdam hospice and palliative network (HoPa). The foundation opened the first Protestant school in the former East German states (neue Bundesländer). The Hoffbauer-Stiftung was a shareholder in the sponsoring body of the Clara Hoffbauer Potsdam university, the non-profit Protestant University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (Evangelische Hochschule Potsdam), which ceased teaching operations on 1 April 2024 by decision of the foundation. The foundation remains active, expanding its educational campus in Werder and celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2026. It is led by a board (Vorstand) chaired by Frank Hohn, who has publicly discussed how the foundation is responding to demographic change and declining birth rates affecting its childcare facilities.

The Hoffbauer-Stiftung traces its origins to the philanthropic convictions of Clara and Hermann Hoffbauer. Hermann Hoffbauer (1819–1884) was born in Halberstadt, followed his father into commerce and moved to Berlin around 1840. There he met Clara Ottilie Alexandrine Emilie Becker (1830–1909), daughter of the wealthy Kommerzienrat Ludwig Becker, whom he married in 1850. Together with his brother-in-law Emil Becker, Hermann founded a carpet factory in 1856, which he built into a successful enterprise. In 1870 the couple moved to the 'Havelhaus' in Potsdam. Clara Hoffbauer was a self-confident, well-travelled and independent woman with a strong sense of the social hardships of industrialisation. Driven by her Christian faith and social responsibility, she repeatedly placed herself in 'patriotic service' nursing wounded soldiers during the wars of unification between 1866 and 1871. In 1873 Hermann established a sickness and support fund for his employees. The childless couple planned to create a foundation to address the social challenges of industrialisation, originally intended to be established after their deaths. Hermann fixed this intention in his will in 1878. After Hermann's early death in 1884, Clara acquired a roughly 40-hectare area on the Tornow, a peninsula in the Templiner See in Potsdam, to build her foundation. The first spade was turned on 10 June 1891. The foundation was established by notarial deed on 14 March and 9 April 1901 as a legally capable foundation under §§ 80 ff. of the German Civil Code (BGB), and was inaugurated on 30 June 1901 — Hermann Hoffbauer's birthday. It was endowed with assets of six million marks and several buildings on the Tornow, which was renamed Hermannswerder in Hermann's honour. The foundation's exhibition notes that since 1901 women and men have worked in the Hoffbauer-Stiftung, long since beyond the island itself. The foundation's main activities have long included the operation and maintenance of kindergartens, primary schools, gymnasiums and a youth welfare facility (Oase), technical and vocational schools for social professions and an elderly care school, and facilities for the housing, care and support of elderly and disabled people. It opened the first Protestant school in the new German federal states (the former East Germany). In the 21st century the foundation continued to expand. For its centenary in 2001 a first chronicle booklet appeared, which led to the creation of a historical archive; in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, archival materials, plans, drawings, manuscripts, photographs, films and documents were digitised and systematised. On this basis Dr Stephanie von Hochberg conducted research extending beyond the Hoffbauer archive into other archives and to contemporary witnesses. From this more than one-thousand-page scholarly work, author Magdalena Schupelius and layout designer Lesley Vinson produced the book 'Die Hoffbauer-Stiftung – evangelische Bildung für Generationen'. The foundation was a shareholder in the sponsoring body of the Clara Hoffbauer Potsdam university, the non-profit Protestant University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (Evangelische Hochschule Potsdam), which ceased teaching operations on 1 April 2024 by decision of the foundation. In 2026 the foundation celebrated its 125th anniversary with the Inselfest Hermannswerder, including new bells for the island church, and marked the completion of the Hoffbauer Bildungscampus Werder. Board chairman Frank Hohn has publicly addressed how the foundation is responding to demographic change and declining birth rates.

• 2026

  125th anniversary celebrated with the Inselfest Hermannswerder; Hoffbauer Bildungscampus Werder completed.

• 2024

  The Protestant University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, in whose sponsoring body the foundation was a shareholder, ceases teaching operations on 1 April by decision of the foundation.

• 2001

  Centenary; first chronicle booklet published, leading to the creation of a historical archive.

• 1901

  Foundation established by notarial deed on 14 March and 9 April; inaugurated on 30 June, Hermann Hoffbauer's birthday, with assets of six million marks.

• 1891

  First spade turned on 10 June for the foundation's buildings on the Tornow.

• 1884

  Hermann Hoffbauer dies; Clara Hoffbauer acquires roughly 40 hectares on the Tornow peninsula to build the foundation.

• 1878

  Hermann Hoffbauer fixes the plan to create a foundation in his will.

• 1873

  Hermann Hoffbauer establishes a sickness and support fund for his employees.

• 1856

  Hermann Hoffbauer and his brother-in-law Emil Becker found a carpet factory.

A Protestant church foundation delivering education, elderly care and hospice services, guided by the founders' Christian-social ethos and the motto 'Vermögen als Verpflichtung' (wealth as obligation).

• Hoffbauer Gymnasien und Gesamtschulen

• Evangelische Grundschule Mahlow

• Hoffbauer Bildungscampus Werder

• Oase youth welfare facility

• Hospiz- und Palliativnetzwerk Potsdam (HoPa)

• Senioren-Wohngemeinschaften (senior shared-living communities)

1. 1Hoffbauer-Stiftung | Hoffbauer-Stiftunghoffbauer-stiftung.de
2. 2Geschichte | Hoffbauer-Stiftunghoffbauer-stiftung.de
3. 3Chronik | Hoffbauer-Stiftunghoffbauer-stiftung.de
4. 4Ausstellung | Hoffbauer-Stiftunghoffbauer-stiftung.de
5. 5Hoffbauer foundationwikidata.org
6. 6Hoffbauer-Stiftungde.wikipedia.org