Euer Dorf Soll Schoner Werden

English summary: Between 1961 and 1979, villages took part in the contest "Unser Dorf soll schoner werden" (let's make our village prettier) over 40,000 times. No other program has ever reached rural areas with such breadth and intensity. From the very beginning, the competition was more than just a simple floral decoration contest, with villagers trying to decorate their "Heimat" in as pretty - or in as chintzy, as some critics argued - a way as possible. Since 1961, it was more than...
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English summary: Between 1961 and 1979, villages took part in the contest "Unser Dorf soll schoner werden" (let's make our village prettier) over 40,000 times. No other program has ever reached rural areas with such breadth and intensity. From the very beginning, the competition was more than just a simple floral decoration contest, with villagers trying to decorate their "Heimat" in as pretty - or in as chintzy, as some critics argued - a way as possible. Since 1961, it was more than anything a key factor in promoting and shaping the restructuring of the rural space at a time when a wave of modernization was sweeping across the country and the rural areas were changing to a degree which had not been seen for centuries. The contest went along with and actively promoted the end of a 'peasant folk culture', which until the 1960s had defined life in the countryside. At the same time, it also contributed significantly to the establishment of a modern, functionally differentiated rural space. Even remote areas were now integrated into the Federal Republic as business, residential and recreational spaces. It was a very mixed group of experts, politicians and functionaries who came together to achieve this. Personalities such as Count Lennart Bernadotte from the island of Mainau influenced the contest just as decisively as the National Socialist landscape gardener Heinrich Wiepking or the former minister of Agriculture and Federal President Heinrich Lubke. German description: Zwischen 1961 und 1979 nahmen Dorfer uber 40.000 Mal am Wettbewerb Unser Dorf soll schoner werden teil. Kein anderes Programm erreichte den landlichen Raum in dieser Breite und Intensitat. Dabei war der Wettbewerb von Anfang an mehr, als ein simpler Blumenschmuckwettbewerb, bei dem es nur darum ging, dass die Dorfbewohner ihre Heimat moglichst schon oder - wie manche Kritiker auch meinten - kitschig ausschmuckten. Seit 1961 war der Wettbewerb vor allem ein zentrales Mittel, um die Neuordnung des landlichen Raumes voranzutreiben und zu gestalten. Dies alles zu einer Zeit, zu der eine Welle der Modernisierung uber das Land hinwegging und sich der landliche Raum in einem Ausmass veranderte wie seit Jahrhunderten nicht mehr: Der Wettbewerb begleitete und beforderte das Ende einer bauerlichen Volkskultur, die bis in die 60er Jahre hinein das Leben auf dem Lande bestimmt hatte. Gleichzeitig trug er wesentlich zur Etablierung eines modernen, funktional ausdifferenzierten landlichen Raumes mit bei. Auch abgelegene landliche Gebiete wurden nun als Wirtschafts-, Wohn- und Erholungsraum in die Bundesrepublik integriert. Um dieses Ziel zu verwirklichen, fanden sich hochst unterschiedliche Experten, Politiker und Funktionare zusammen. Personlichkeiten wie Graf Lennart Bernadotte von der Insel Mainau pragten den Wettbewerb ebenso entscheidend wie der NS-Landschaftgestalter Heinrich Wiepking oder der ehemalige Landwirtschaftsminister und Bundesprasident Heinrich Lubke.