Adventists Inaugurate Daycare and Community Center in Germany

By: Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany News (APD) & Adventist Review

The Seventh-day Adventist Church recently opened a new daycare and community center in Bad Aibling, Bavaria, Germany. In a festive inauguration ceremony followed by an open house, the local congregation also celebrated the opening of renovated premises. The “Haus Wittelsbach” retirement home also operates onsite, which can house up to 194 elderly and dependent people. The combination of parish, daycare, and retirement home makes the property a cross-generational campus.

“Church connects these generations,” said Bad Aibling mayor Felix Schwaller in his words of welcome during the inauguration service. “My wish is that in this place, old and young may live well together and show mutual respect.”

Bad Aibling Advent Children’s Home

The congregation center is structurally connected to Advent Children’s House, which began to operate in December 2017. Conceptually, the Children’s House is based on the guidelines of the Bavarian Education and Training Plan. In addition to an intergenerational approach, special emphasis is placed on the wholistic education of children (health, exercise, and nutrition), the promotion of creativity and Christian values. The daycare center includes a crèche group for twelve children and a kindergarten group of up to 25 children.

Bad Aibling Advent Children’s Home is part of the Advent Welfare Organization (AWW), the social work network of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany. AWW has been active for 120 years now. Besides the Bad Aibling facilities, AWW includes other facilities for children in Berlin, Fürth, Munich, one special needs daycare center (Neuburg, Danube) and one family center (Penzberg, Bavaria). About 200 preschool children are cared for in those facilities.

Bad Aibling Adventist Church

The Bad Aibling Seventh-day Adventist Church building was built in the 1960’s and should have been renovated a long time ago. The final plans were finalized in 2016, the funds needed were raised, and applications were approved. The renovation process took 18 months, as the Building Association of the Southern Germany Conference (SDBV) region-sponsored project saw the original hall completely renovated and the new premises, including the daycare center, built.

With an investment of 4.2 million euros (almost 5 million US dollars) which resulted in 16,000 square feet (1,500 square meters) of built and renovated space, the new community center is the largest construction project of the regional church in recent years, said SDBV managing director Alexander Bauer.

Bad Aibling Seventh-day Adventist Church pastor Peter Zaiser expressed his hopes that the new facilities become a place for every member and supporter to come together. “[This building] should become a meeting place for all generations,” he said.