Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg

Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg
German Scouting Saint George
Country	Germany
Founded	1929
Membership	95,000
Chairman	Manuel Rottmann
Chairwoman	Kerstin Fuchs
Curate	Guido Hügen OSB
Website http://www.dpsg.de
Scouting portal

The Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg (DPSG, German Scout Association Saint George) is the largest of Germany's many Scouting organizations. The Catholic association has about 95,000 members of both genders.^[1] Via the Ring deutscher Pfadfinderverbände the DPSG is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

The DPSG is also a member of the International Catholic Conference of Scouting (ICCS) and of the Bund der Deutschen Katholischen Jugend (BDKJ).

History

Members of the Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg (boys) and of the Pfadfinderinnenschaft Sankt Georg (girls), 1967.

The DPSG was founded in 1929. In the preceding years only a few Catholic Scout groups were active, since most German bishops saw Scouting as a Protestant or a-religious movement. In the beginning the DPSG didn't count more than 800 members. After 1933 membership rose massively: Most competing youth organizations were disbanded by the Nazi-authorities or incorporated in the Hitler Youth. In 1935 membership stood by 16.000 boys in 457 local groups. This development lasted till 1938 when all religious youth organizations were banned.

Catholic Scouting was restarted as soon as World War II was over. The first local groups were reorganized in 1945, mainly in the American occupied zone. In 1946 the national association was restored. When the Ring deutscher Pfadfinderbünde was founded in 1949 the DPSG had about 20,000 members.

The membership of the association rose also in the following years - with some temporary set-backs - until it reached 100,000 in the early 1980s. Since then membership has stagnated. In 1971, the DPSG did open to girls. Today, nearly all local groups are coeducational but there is also a parallel Guiding organization with strong ties to the DPSG: the Pfadfinderinnenschaft Sankt Georg.

Program

The Scout emblem is a blue symbol, a combination of the Scouting fleur-de-lis with a cross.

Sections

Commemorative stamp of the Deutsche Post on the centenary of Scouting in 2007, depicting Senior Scouts and Rovers.

The DPSG is divided in four sections according to age:

• Wölflinge (Cub Scouts) - ages 7 to 10; orange scarf
• Jungpfadfinder (Scouts) - ages 10 to 13; blue scarf
• Pfadfinder (Senior Scouts) - ages 13 to 16; green scarf
• Rover (Rover Scouts) - ages 16 to 20; red scarf

All leaders in the DPSG are supposed to be 18 or older; they wear a grey scarf or, if they are Gilwell educated, the Wood Badge scarf and insignia. Unlike most German Scout associations, the association doesn't practise youth leadership.

Promise

The DPSG doesn't know a common Scout Promise. The promise shall be formulated individually by the respective group and for the respective advancement. Nevertheless some local groups have regular wordings that are in use since the 1960s.

Scout Law

In 2005, the DPSG reintroduced a common Scout Law for the whole association. In the years before, four guide lines were used instead of a Scout Law.

Als Pfadfinderin .../Als Pfadfinder ...
As a Girl Scout/Boy Scout ...

• ... begegne ich allen Menschen mit Respekt und habe alle Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen als Geschwister.
  ... I'll meet everybody with respect. All Scouts and Guides are my brothers and sisters.
• ... gehe ich zuversichtlich und mit wachen Augen durch die Welt.
  ... I'll meet the world confindent and with open eyes.
• ... bin ich höflich und helfe da, wo es notwendig ist.
  ... I'm courteous and will help where necessity arises.
• ... mache ich nichts halb und gebe auch in Schwierigkeiten nicht auf.
  ... I'll finish my task; I won't give up in difficulties.
• ... entwickle ich eine eigene Meinung und stehe für diese ein.
  ... I'll develop my own opinion and stand for it.
• ... sage ich, was ich denke, und tue, was ich sage.
  ... I'll say what I'm thinking and do what I'm saying.
• ... lebe ich einfach und umweltbewusst.
  ... I'll live simple and environmental aware.
• ... stehe ich zu meiner Herkunft und zu meinem Glauben.
  ... I'm aware of my origin and faith.

International partners

The DPSG emphasizes strongly on international partnership. Since the late 1940s, it is twinned with the Scouts de France and the Associazione Guide e Scouts Cattolici Italiani. More recently a number of development partnerships were started. These partners include the Scouts de Bénin, the Asociación de Scouts de Bolivia, the Lebanese Scouting Federation, the Association des Scouts du Rwanda and the Association Scoute du Togo.

Organization

The DPSG is divided in 25 councils (Diözesanverbände) corresponding to the Catholic dioceses of Germany. Only two dioceses in the former German Democratic Republic are without own structures (Dresden-Meissen and Görlitz), they are served by the neighbouring councils.

Most of the councils are divided in districts (total: 137 districts) and on local level more than 1,400 groups (Stämme, "tribes") are active. Regularly, a local group consists of four troops - one of each section.

See also

• Scouting in Germany

References

1. ^ http://www.dpsg.de/dpsg/zahlenundfakten.html accessed on June 10, 2006

External links

• Official homepage