Bayernpark Feriendorf Grafenau, Holiday village complex in Grafenau, Germany
Bayernpark Feriendorf Grafenau is a holiday village complex located on a hillside near Grafenau, Germany, consisting of individual homes spread across several hectares. The accommodations are arranged around a central area that includes communal facilities and activity spaces.
The Deutscher Städtetag founded the Hilfswerk Berlin after the blockade of West Berlin began on 24 June 1948, sending Berlin children on holidays under the motto "Ein Platz an der Sonne". Between 1960 and 1965 the foundation built its own camps; the Grafenau village opened on 24 May 1964, inaugurated by Wilhelmine Lübke, wife of Federal President Heinrich Lübke. Construction including land cost 12 million DM, and until 1998 the villages were reserved for families with children from West Berlin.
The village was run by the Bayernpark Feriendörfer Nadenberg GmbH, whose supervisory board included representatives of the AWO, Caritas, the German Red Cross, Diakonisches Werk, the Stiftung Hilfswerk Berlin, the Jewish Community of Berlin and the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband. Several times a week, families gathered in the events hall for shows in which children and teenagers performed pieces rehearsed during the daytime programme.
The village was built on the Schwaimberg on the edge of Grafenau, on a 27-hectare site. It closed in December 2014, and as of 2023 all bungalows have been demolished, so there is no complex left to explore on foot.
The complex was among the first in Germany to offer organized childcare programs sorted by age group, making it especially valuable for working parents. This model was innovative for its time and was later adopted by other holiday village projects.
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