Sauerländischer Gebirgsverein

The Sauerland Mountain Club, short SGV, is an association for sports hiking, cycling and Nordic walking. The club area includes not only the Sauerland and the Ruhr, Munster country, the Bergische Land and the winning country. He has about 39,500 members today.

Purpose of the Association

The SGV organizes events and is involved in the field of nature conservation. The organization cares for thousands of hiking trails, including numerous long-distance trails. He is in his field of expertise, in addition to the administrations of national parks, exclusive legitimized by the state of North Rhine -Westphalia, to mark in the open countryside trails with signposts. The trail system includes a length of about 34,000 km, of which about 4300 km are shown as SGV main trails. In association owned several dozen hectares of forest that have been acquired to allow them to devote as a nature reserve.

For the members of the magazine is a quarterly " Kreuz & Quer" published with a circulation of 46,000 copies. Chief editor of this publication is the Iserlohn journalist Thomas Reunert. On June 8, 2013, the delegates elected as president Andreas Hollstein.

History

On May 25, 1890, a founding manifesto was the forester Ernst Ehmsen and the Headteacher Karl feaux de Lacroix from Arnsberg written to a " Sauerland Toristenverein " after she and next to people from the College of de Lacroix, namely the teacher Busch, Daldrup, Rosbücker horse mackerel, had won the support of many the Sauerland notables, including attorney Hesse, district judge Müller, pharmacist Black and later the Arnsberg Mayor Max Löcke.

Members of the official founding committee of the " Sauerland Toristenvereins " were next Ehmsen and de Lacroix the Arnsberg District President William winemaker, the first prosecutor Spengler ( Arnsberg ), the entrepreneur and Secret of Commerce William Bergthal ( Warstein), District Administrator Hans Carl Federath ( Brilon) and producer Otto Schütte (Upper church ).

Ehmsen and de Lacroix were quickly followed by a " section of Arnsberg Sauerland tourist association". In the following months Ehmsen founded on its forestry official missions further 44 departments, of which 27 to early 1891 was already so far that they - Criterion was among other things a parent cash management - official inclusion in the association found. It won it in the places again Honoratiorenschaft ( pastors, teachers, village head and front of all hosts ). 1891 the club name was changed to the Sauerland Mountain Club.

The first General Assembly of the SGV met on July 19, 1891, with already 54 official departments. From their ranks came more known function support such as the Magistrate Wiethaut ( Hagen ), Professor Karl Kneebusch (Dortmund ), Rector R. Rebling ( Altena ), which, Schuette and Müller were next de Lacroix the first board under Chairman Ehmsen. Departments also emerged far outside the Sauerland, such as in Berlin and Warsaw.

The association promoted the construction of many observation towers on the Sauerland heights. Already in 1894 were from the 25 observation towers in the Sauerland 24 owned by the SGV, only the Astenturm these did not include. Dividing the association of this tower was also viewed critically, given the vast financial resources of the association went to these projects, which were no longer available elsewhere. Many towers, especially from wood, kept the weather conditions did not stand long.

The association developed a first network of hiking trails and popular hiking trails marked by road signs in the countryside. 1905 created the then Chairman of the Commission of the main ways the club and also the first chairman of the local department Hagen, the engineer Robert Kolb, a uniform sign system and a main road network, which was uniformly provided with the Signs St. Andrew's cross. These signposts were coated with white paint on trees and other suitable places.

Since 1903, published the SGV contributions to the field of nature conservation issues. These thoughts led in 1911 to the acquisition of forest land, to put them under protection. Over the decades, many other areas have been acquired by the association for that purpose. From the ranks of the SGV the founders of the German Forest Protection Association Wilhelm Münker comes.

Under the leadership of SGV club officials Richard Schirrmann, Wilhelm Münker and Julius Schult the German Youth Hostel Association was founded in 1919 to support the SGV youth work founded.

Individual local departments in the Ruhr and the Bergische Land established already at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century and worked outside the original club area. As there were local divisions nationwide in these areas, they have been summarized in provinces and districts. After the Second World War, the Gau level was dissolved. Especially up in the 1930s, expanded the club area, also favored by political decisions in the era of National Socialism, on neighboring regions of the Sauerland from.

In the era of National Socialism of the SGV was promoted by those in power, since on the one with nature and traditionalism of the civil association with the ideological ideas of National Socialism was to bring in line and on the other the club as opposed to the socialist hiking movement, represented eg by the products resulting from the labor movement nature lovers, pursued rather apolitical goals. This led to expropriation of property of other hiking clubs, which were then added to the SGV. In the 1930s, the main chairman Karl Eugen Dellenbusch was as vice president of the district of Arnsberg and Vice President of the Upper Rhine Province active party member of the NSDAP.

With the creation of motorists hiking trails in the 1960s in the club area was a dichtmaschiges trail system, which hardly has gaps. The voluntary care of this network proved to be the end of the 20th century and beyond through an ongoing loss of members difficult. This is due to an aging in the membership structure. In individual local departments are no active members find more, who can afford the volunteer way work or want so that parts of the road network threatening to fall apart.

The club tried this development including through new campaigns as the Youth Portal S'Ourland and reforms, such as the structural reform (districts to regions together ) meet and the ways quality reform 2:1. In the latter reform paths are radically removed from the network and for that revalued others.

Structure

The club area was divided into 21 districts, which in turn were made up of 259 individual local departments. These sub-groupings of the total association in turn are partially independent legal entities in the Register of registered associations, partly but not legal independent departments of the main association. The districts and local departments provide the delegates for the AGM of the total association.

Since 2005, a restructuring took place, under which the districts were grouped into nine regions. At the end of this process the district level should be completely replaced by the region level and so held a streamlining of structures.

The breakdown of regions ( new) into districts ( old) is currently as follows:

• Region Central Sauerland District means Ruhr

• District of Upper Ruhr
• District Astenberg
• District Hunau Wilzenberg

• District Mark
• District Volme
• District of Lower Lenne

• District Südsauerland

• District Hellweg -Lippe
• District Möhne

• District Emscher -Lippe
• Under Ruhr district
• District of Münster

• District Hagen
• District Ennepe
• District Dortmund- Ardey
• District Bochum

• District Bergisch land
• District of Lower Mountain

• District winner country
• District Wittgenstein

The presidency of the association consists of a president, three vice-presidents, a treasurer and the nine regional representatives. To the Board of Directors include speakers for the technical units Hiking Leisure, travel, culture, media, German Migrant Youth, Family, Nature Conservation and Landscape Management, homes & cottages.

The Advisory Board is made up of dignitaries and representatives of friendly organizations. The overall association operates a main office with full-time manager who is responsible for the club administration, the youth training center and the club's academy hiking.

The association is a shareholder of a Marketing GmbH, which is responsible for marketing, communications, event management and sponsorship.