Germany

Map of groups

Key figures

  • First organisation 1959
  • Member organisations 3
  • Trial members 2

Stephan Drechsler met Abbé Pierre during his conference on the development of Europe, held in Verviers, Belgium in December 1956. He was then invited by Emmaus in 1957 to take part in the ‘friendship camp’, run by former Resistance fighters in Belgium for abandoned German children. With a group of young Catholics in Cologne, in late December he took part in the big Emmaus collection in Verviers and sent his impressions to a Cologne-based newspaper. Several other newspapers then published his article. The group of young people, who didn’t have any resources at their disposal, then began receiving many requests to collect goods. The general secretary of Emmaus in Belgium helped them organise their first collection in Cologne on 1 March 1959, a date that marks the birth of Emmaus in Germany. Shortly afterwards, a community of volunteers was set up.

Member organisations

Trial groups

Anstoss e.V. - Emmaus Punto