Our garden club was founded more than 80 years ago in the spring of 1942, in the middle of the war. It was no coincidence that our association was founded during the Second World War. Once again, the importance of allotment gardens for ensuring food security and for providing alternative housing became clear. To secure allotment gardens, there was already an "Ordinance on Protection against Dismissal".
At that time, 28 interested parties were willing to cultivate a piece of land that had been made available by the city of Helmstedt. The garden friends were initially added to the "Ziegelberg" association and in 1945, during a meeting on what is now the main path (meetings had not yet been approved by the military government in place), a separation took place. Thus, the garden clubs "Am Weinberg" and "Ziegelberg" each came into being under their own management.
In 1943 the number of members had grown to 90 gardeners.
The war was over and allotments played a major role in ensuring food security. The Allies tried in vain to accommodate 46 refugees in the arcades of our association. The first garden party was held in 1945, with a dance floor measuring five by five metres. In 1948 the Helmstedt Hospital donated a barracks to the association. This became the first clubhouse and was replaced in 1955 by a larger and better BKB. During the community work, it was built in the present place.
On April 7, 1946, a meeting was held in the "Feldschlößchen Saalbau" that underpinned the independence of the allotment garden association "Am Weinberg" and where the board approved by the military government with W. Pfuhl as 1st chairman was unanimously confirmed. According to the wishes of the military government, the board of the association was to decide whether to withdraw or reinstate comrades who had acted in the spirit of National Socialism as members of the association. This chapter, which was not exactly pleasant, was closed to the complete satisfaction of those involved in the time that followed, even if a few hardships were unavoidable.
After this time there was a certain calming down and the following years were devoted to the expansion of the gardens. A statute was created on June 1, 1946, based on a certified copy of the association register of the local court in Helmstedt, in the name of the allotment garden association "Am Weinbeg" in Helmstedt.
It should also be mentioned that at the beginning of 1955 the BKB was able to allocate a larger wooden barracks through the initiative of the then 1st Chairman K. Klemm. Over time, a clubhouse was built.
Source: Chronicle from 1992 and 2007
