With the LEADER project "Women's Trails in the Saarpfalz District", the Saarpfalz District Women's Office is breaking new and exciting ground. At a press conference in the Homburg Forum, women's representative Birgit Rudolf, her deputy Dr Susanne Nimmesgern and project manager Helen Tepper presented the project to the public.
As the title suggests, the aim is to track down women from the region who have played a significant role in society, either professionally, culturally, socially, religiously or politically. Birgit Rudolf admits that this idea is not something she came up with herself. She first became aware of the topic years ago through colleagues in the West Palatinate region and was met with a positive response from her own employees. Dr Susanne Nimmesgern finally began developing an initial concept during the pandemic, when seminars and courses at the Women's Office had to be put on hold. Her main idea was to integrate tourism, for example by means of city tours, explained Dr Susanne Nimmesgern, who is herself a city and landscape guide in the Saarpfalz district and in Saarbrücken.
The decisive factor for the secure realisation of "Women's Trails in the Saarpfalz District" was the funding commitment via LEADER, specifically the assumption of personnel costs.
"This enabled us to create a dedicated position for the project, for which we were able to recruit Helen Tepper from a large number of applications. She joined our team on 1 May and we are all very happy that we can contribute to concrete information and education with historical women's stories. This should not only benefit the general public, but also schools, clubs and cultural organisations,
emphasised women's representative Birgit Rudolf.
Torsten Czech, Managing Director of the Bliesgau Biosphere Reserve Local Action Group (LAG), which is responsible for LEADER applications, said that although it is not usual for a staff position to be funded, this is very much appreciated when it comes to discovering and processing new things. It also makes sense to have a direct contact person on site for this type of project.
So what are the aims of the project? "We want to make our regional women's history visible," Helen Tepper summarised, adding: "I will take up biographies from the 19th and 20th centuries that have already been compiled, as well as researching as yet unknown women's stories from other eras. I want to make sure that all towns and communities in the district are represented."
District Administrator Frank John is delighted with the two-year initiative:
"We have a wonderful opportunity here to highlight the lives of women from our homeland and emphasise their value to society, the economy and culture. I am very excited to see which biographies will play a role here and also what insights we can draw from the historical context. The opportunity for women and girls living today to identify with the programme is undisputed. I wish Helen Tepper and the team at the Women's Office much joy and success in their research and in the realisation of the project."
Names were also mentioned at the press conference, for example Edith Aron. She was a German writer who grew up in Homburg as the child of Jewish parents. She died in London in 2020 at the age of 93. She is probably better known among the population of the Saar Palatinate than, for example, Katharina Loth, a German entrepreneur in the coal and steel industry who died in St. Ingbert in 1762.
The project manager already has a clear idea of how the results will be presented: "We are planning a travelling exhibition, a brochure and public tours, which have already taken place in Homburg. A dedicated website will also provide information on the topic. In addition, I would like to explore further tourism measures with Saarpfalz-Touristik."
Wolfgang Henn, Managing Director of Saarpfalz-Touristik, welcomed the cooperation in this project. This would create valuable synergetic additions to the existing tourism portfolio, which in turn would be an enrichment for the local population as well as for guests from outside, said Wolfgang Henn.
Helen Tepper is grateful that cooperation partners were quickly found for her extensive work. These include the municipal archives in Homburg, Blieskastel and St. Ingbert, the women's representative of the district town of Homburg, Saarpfalz-Touristik, the cultural management of the Saarpfalz district, the Siebenpfeiffer Foundation and the Museum für dörfliche Alltagskultur. The project manager is also endeavouring to collaborate with Saarland University, where she also completed her Master's degree.
She is just as keen to get in touch with citizens who in turn would like to share their knowledge of phenomenal women with her.
Helen Tepper can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected].