On the origins and history of the Foundation

In 1983, the Foundation for International Child Health of the German Society for Child and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ) e.V. (formerly the Hermann Mai Foundation) was founded and its content was supervised by the Working Group on Tropical Paediatrics, which at that time was a working group of the DGKJ. In 2003, this working group became a registered association, later renamed the Society for Tropical Paediatrics and International Child Health (Gesellschaft für Tropenpädiatrie und Internationale Kindergesundheit (GTP) e.V.), which aims to improve child health worldwide, especially in countries with limited resources.

The DGKJ established the foundation with the aim of preparing doctors, usually from Germany, for assignments in paediatrics and to promote children’s health in developing and emerging countries. In addition, projects were to be supported that serve the prevention and therapy of common diseases in resource-poor countries and the further training of local doctors and other health professionals. The starting point was the great need at that time (and still persisting today) for further training in paediatrics for work in development cooperation.

The foundation was endowed by the DGKJ with a foundation capital of 50,000 DM. The university children’s hospitals in Tübingen, Gießen, Heidelberg and Hanover were initially involved. A total of 31 doctors were supported between 1983 and 1997 to learn about everyday paediatric ward life, especially neonatology and infection ward, emergency care and paediatric techniques such as child examination, venipuncture and lumbar puncture.

From 1997 onwards, support for child health projects came to the fore: most funding went to projects implemented in places where they complemented study or training projects by German paediatricians. Another development was the professional promotion of colleagues from developing and emerging countries, for example for further training stays at paediatric clinics in Germany and further training in their home or neighbouring countries.

Due to the expertise in content, the foundation was transferred from the sponsorship of the DGKJ to the GTP in May 2022. The name was shortened to ‘Foundation for International Child Health’. For the detailed history of the Foundation and the name change, see below the section ‘On the history of the Foundation’s name’ on this page and the articles in the Monatsschrift Kinderheilkunde 2016, 2018 and 2022 [1, 2, 3].

Structure of the foundation

The Foundation is managed by the Board of Directors, consisting of the Chairperson and the Secretary. The GTP Board of Directors serves as the Advisory Board, and up to five personalities from paediatrics and adolescent medicine, global health work and public life serve as the Foundation Board. The Foundation is under the supervision of the Regional Council in Tübingen and has been recognised as a non-profit organisation since its establishment.

Chairmen

1983–1985        Prof. Jürgen Bierich (Tübingen) †

1985–2000        Prof. Helmut Wolf (Gießen) †

2000–2022        Prof. Michael Krawinkel (Gießen)

2022 – heute     PD Dr. Carsten Krüger (Ahlen)

Secretaries

1983–2012        Dr. Rolf Huenges (Villingen-Schwenningen)

2012 – heute     Dr. Benno Kretzschmar (Eisenach)

Board members

2001–2015         Board of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Tropenpädiatrie (ATP)

2016 – heute     Board of the German Society of Tropical Paediatrics and International Child Health (GTP) e. V.

Foundation board

2011–2022         Prof. Peter Hoyer (Essen), Prof. Hans-Iko Huppertz (Bremen), Prof. Kurt Ullrich (Hamburg)

2022 – today PD Dr. Carolin Kröner (München), Prof. Dominik Schneider (Dortmund), Prof. Hans-Iko Huppertz (Bremen), Prof. Walter Bruchhausen (Bonn), NN

In accordance with the statutes, the foundation supports projects or persons that meet the following criteria:

• • Charitable purpose
  • Aims at improving the health situation of children and adolescents as well as their families living in resource limited settings
  • The project or the individual’s engagement will ultimately benefit paediatric health services in resource limited settings
  • Work in the field or preparation for imminent work or other training in paediatrics and child health for people from countries with limited resources.

As a rule, the Foundation awards funds upon the proposal or application of experts or paediatricians who provide humanitarian aid or are involved in development cooperation. Applications from local experts are also possible.

The applications (a specific format is not specified) must show that the situation of the children and young people on site will be concretely improved. The foundation is not a foundation for research funding. In general, projects and programmes carried out by other organisations that themselves work on a donation basis are not eligible for funding.

As the Foundation has only limited funds at its disposal, it will give preference to supporting projects in which an effect for the children and young people on site can be achieved through an average funding amount of approximately 1,500-2,500 Euros. Examples of successful funding are summarised in the table below. They show the broad spectrum of projects that have been funded and should encourage you to approach the Foundation accordingly. We will be happy to advise you on any questions you may have.

By accepting funding, applicants undertake to account for the factually and mathematically correct use of the funds in accordance with the statutes. Geförderte Projekte sollen auf einer nachfolgenden Jahrestagung der GTP vorgestellt werden.

More information regarding your application to the foundation are to be found here. We are looking forward to your application.

Funding applications

please direct to the secretary

Dr.med. Benno Kretzschmar

Head of the paediatric department at „Dr. Siegfried Wolff“ hospital

Mühlhäuserstr. 95

D-99817 Eisenach

Fax: +49 3691 – 6987260

kretzschmar(a)stgeorgklinikum.de

or to the chairman

PD Dr. med. Carsten Krüger

Head of the paediatric department at St. Franziskus-Hospital

Robert-Koch-Str. 55

59227 Ahlen

Fax: +49 2382 – 858923

carsten.krueger(a)sfh-ahlen.de

Selected (partial) promotions of the Foundation (1983-2022)

Banking details

Stiftung für internationale Kindergesundheit e.V.

Wartburg-Sparkasse

BIC: HELADEF1WAK

IBAN: DE 45 8405 5050 0012 0298 31

Please state your complete contact details so that we can send you a tax-deductible donation receipt. Since its establishment, the Foundation has been recognised by the tax office as a non-profit organisation.

Financially, the long-time treasurer Dr. Rolf Huenges and his successor Dr. Benno Kretzschmar succeeded in successfully investing the Foundation’s capital of DM 50,000 (later EUR 25,000), so that it has remained stable to this day despite the strong fluctuations on the capital market.

The history of the Foundation’s name

The name of the Foundation was chosen when it was established in 1983 because Prof. Hermann Mai had personally been strongly committed to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambarene/Gabun and had also worked there before and after his retirement as head of the University Children’s Hospital Münster.

After individuals had already pointed out the National Socialist involvement of Hermann Mai, who gave the Foundation its name, this problem has been dealt with more intensively and systematically since 2012, professionally by Dr. Sascha Topp, a private lecturer from Berlin/Gießen, with financial and non-material support from the Foundation itself. Sascha Topp published the results of his studies in 2016 and documented with numerous details that Hermann Mai was not only a convinced National Socialist who, among other things, was at least a candidate for the SS Security Service. Hermann Mai volunteered as an assessor at the Munich Hereditary Health Court, where he was involved in judgements on the forced sterilisation of at least 12 women and men. Among the so-called reasons for judgement, ‘spirit of contradiction’ was cited there [1].

These findings led to the start of a discussion process in 2016/2017, first in the GTP and then in the Historical Commission of the DGKJ, which finally came to a conclusion with the renaming of the Foundation. For this reason, the statutes of the Foundation for International Child Health now begin with the preamble:

“In 1983, the Foundation named after the paediatrician Prof. Dr. Hermann Mai was established by the German Society for Paediatrics. It aims to support child health care in developing countries. In 2017, the foundation was renamed after recent research showed that Hermann Mai not only actively supported Nazi ideology, but in particular took an active role in procedures for the forced sterilisation of women and men. This must be judged as medical misconduct and also remembered.”

References

1. Topp S (2016) „Und jetzt nach Lambarene“ Hermann Mai – Direktor der Universitäts-Kinderklinik Münster (1943) 1950–1970. Monatsschr Kinderheilkd 164(S1):34-40
2. Krawinkel M (2018) Stiftung für internationale Kindergesundheit der DGKJ. Monatsschr Kinderheilkd 166:172-173
3. Krüger C (2022) Stiftung für internationale Kindergesundheit. Monatsschr Kinderheilkd 170:853-856