Austrian Scouts and Girl Guides
Austrian Scouts and Girl Guides (German Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs, PPÖ) is the largest national scouting organization in Austria. There are more than 300 troops (local units) with more than 85000 scouts nationwide.
The badge for the PPÖ is dark red with a white lilly (for the boys) and a shamrock (for the girls).
History
Scouting was first brought to Austria early in the 20th century. In 1910, the first scout-like group was founded in Wiener Neustadt. In 1912, Emmerich Teuber began the first Scouting group in Vienna. The Catholic Church simultaneously founded the Pfadfinderkorps St.Georg. The first camps were held in 1913.
As the movement spread, girls joined and troops were founded all over the country. The national organization, the Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund, was founded in April 1914. Scouting programs expanded, including cub scouts in 1920 and Rovers in 1921. Austria's movement also gained in international renown, attending an international conference in 1922 and hosting one in 1931 (in Baden). The Girl Guides association grew more prominent with the foundation of the Österreichischer Pfadfinderinnenbund, which was part of the national organization and was led by Marie Antoinette Hofmann; this was followed by an independent girls association, formed in 1929, called Bund der Helferinnen.
Beginning in 1934, there was a non-scouting youth organization run by the state which provided competition for Austrian scouts. With the arrival of the Nazis and World War 2, however, scouting in Austria ended. In 1938, a number of scout leaders were arrested and scouting went underground, becoming associated with the Red Cross for example. At the first celebration of the end of World War 2, there were scouts in uniform on the streets.
Following the way, the national organizations combined to form the Pfadfinder Österreichs, which hosted the 7th World Jamboree in Bad Ischl in 1951. The first national Austrian jamboree occurred in 1961, and continued every ten years. There were a number of girl's slinter organizations following the war, including Charlotte Teuber-Weckersdorf's Bund österreichischer Pfadfinderinnen and eventually the Östereichischer Pfadfinderinnenverband St.Georg. The boys and girls associations were finally merged again in 1976, forming the modern Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs.
Divisions
There are nine geographical divisions of the PPÖ, each with their own badge:
- Bregenz – cloth banner on a white field
- Innsbruck – red eagle on a white field
- Salzburg – red yellow lion on white
- Linz – red and white stripes with a yellow eagle on a black field
- St. Poelten – blue field with five yellow eagles
- Graz – green field with a white panther
- Klagenfurt – white field with three red yellow lions on the left side
- Eisenstadt – yellow field with a red eagle on a stone
There are four age divisions of the PPÖ.
- Age 7 – 10 – Wichtel (girls) and Wölflinge (boys)
- Age 10 – 13 – Guides (girls) and Späher (boys)
- Age 13 – 16 – Caravelles (girls) and Explorers (boys)
- Age 16 – 20 – Rangers (girls) and Rovers (boys)
Programs
The Light of Peace from Bethlehem is a program inauguarated in 1989. It has gone to more than 20 countries in Europe, as well as North America.