Ole Meldgaard Ole Meldgaard Kofoed’s School The HistoryKofoed’s Kofoed’s School The History Ole Meldgaard is a journalist and cand. theol. from University of 1928 - 2005 Copenhagen. He has been an employee at Kofoed’s School since 1986, first as a teacher, “Unemployment created new types of men. Men, who under different since as information worker, circumstances would have prospered, created value, and provided for department leader and head of Kofoed’s School the youth hostel HNU. themselves, became cheaters living off people’s compassion. … They Currently, Ole Meldgaard is the lost their self-respect and by-and-by their faith in society, and they Chief Consultant of the school, 1928 - 2005 1928 did not expect much of their future.” The History and works with the school’s organisational, national and From the first chapter, this story is a living and fascinating tale of 1928 - 2005 international development. the compassion and idealism of Kofoed’s School for unemployed in Copenhagen, Denmark. The school was founded by Hans Christian Ole Meldgaard has written several books about the meth- Kofoed in 1928. Kofoed saw the destructive force of unemployment ods of Kofoed’s School and the ruin men and their families. He wanted to help – but not in the tra- lives of the students who have ditional way of handing out warm soup and bread to the miserable- attended the school over the looking. Instead, he wanted to help these men rebuild their lives. So years. he started a school of life, where “students”, as he called the unem- ployed who came to him, were taught practical, mental and physical He is known in many NGO networks as a keen and seri- skills, to gain self-confidence and finally a job. ous spokesman for the socially marginalised, the poor and the This philosophy exists at Kofoed’s School today, where the school in unemployed, always looking to Copenhagen has more than 150 educational courses and workshops, improve the role and the results attended by 3.000 students every year. The students are still unem- of social work. ployed and socially marginalised citizens. Kofoed’s School is today an international organisation, with schools and projects in many Euro- pean countries, as well as in many Danish locations. Ole Meldgaard Kofoed’s School The History 1928 – 2005 Kofoed’s School. The History. Copyright: Kofoeds Skole / Ole Meldgaard Editor: Christina Berg Johansen Design: Tandem Design Camp Photos: Kurt Bennike Larsen, Lars Bech, Anders Kavin and Susanne Borg Pedersen Print: Kofoeds Skoles Trykkeri Numbers issued: 1.500 ISBN: 87-87192-18-7 KOFOED’S SCHOOL The self-governing institution Kofoed’s School works on a Christian and popular basis, giving help to self-help to people with social problems. Kofoeds Skole Nyrnberggade 1 2300 København S Denmark Phone: (+45) 3268 0200 www.kofoedsskole.dk Translated into English by Margit Berg Johansen Ole Meldgaard Kofoed’s School The History 1928 – 2005 Kofoed’s School. The History. Contents Meeting the unemployed 7 Kofoed’s own youth 12 A modest start 16 The purpose of the school 20 The oil mill 26 The naval hospital 31 Money 37 The Staff 40 Education 43 The Kofoed System 47 The Homes 54 The Training School 58 A New Type of Students 63 Work and Education 67 The migration from country to town 73 Night raids 76 A cultural centre 79 Activities outside the school 82 Dronningensgade 84 Kofoed’s death 89 The students in the 1950’s 92 Youth hostel 100 Full employment - and a high intake of students 102 The workshop course 109 Contents The alcohol clinic 112 Longer opening hours 115 A new director 117 Drug abusers 119 The street drunkards 126 The Finns 128 Louisestiftelsen 130 The move to Nyrnberggade 132 A school at street level 138 The school economy 141 New group of students 145 A new director 150 Unrest at the school 153 Pedagogic reform 158 The new poverty 171 Structural changes 174 Applied pedagogy 176 New projects 183 Foreign contacts 190 New schools in Denmark 198 The learning organization 202 The school today 205 Epilogue 210 Kofoed’s School. The History. Meeting the unemployed Meeting the unemployed Kofoed’s School was started in 1928 during the recession in an attempt to help young unemployed men to get back to society as active and valid citizens. After World War One and the following two decades, unemploy- mency became a vast and seemingly invincible evil which cast a long shadow over thousands of families. Endless rows of men were daily forming lines at the checkpoints, and an understandable bit- terness against society spread within the realm of the unemployed. They were not idlers, nor anti-socials, but young men and family fathers feeling unneeded by society, because society had no work for them. They longed for a job, so that they might provide for them- selves and their families. Morning after morning they lined up at the factories, and were sent home again at the cry: “no more today” when the shop steward had picked the few, he needed. The unemployed felt let down by the politicians and their own trade leaders. Some became angry and bitter, others became introverts or felt dejected, but they all experienced that the energy and the in- citement to find work diminished as days and months went by with- Kofoed’s School. The History. out anything happening. An inferiority complex had far too easy terms to develop. The jobless were too often left in a humiliating and often desperate situation. As unemployed they would in the best case receive a social subsidy for approximately two months. When this subsidy stopped, they had only two possibilities left: - to receive the humiliating poor relief, - or to turn to the just as humili- ating begging at people’s doors. Those were severe conditions for a man, who still had self-respect. But you had to live! The situation left traces on the unemployed. Unemployment cre- ated new types of men. Men, who under different circumstances would have prospered, created values, and provided for themselves, became cheaters living off people’s compassion. They learnt by experience that those, who understood to present themselves the most miserable and creeping, got the most – but they paid dearly for this experience and the few coins they would pocket. They lost their self-respect and by-and-by their faith in society, and they did not expect much of their future. Meeting these men who by no fault of their own had been denied the right to a job and with that their livelihood, inspired parish clerk Kofoed to establish a school for the unemployed with the sole pur- pose of giving them back their self-respect and a hope for their fu- ture. In the mid-1920’s, Kofoed himself had stood in line for a job at Co- penhagen factories, and he knew from the inside the psychology of being unemployed. He too had for a moment been twisted by hopelessness and melancholy, when after several attempts he still had no job, and money for food became scarce. He understood the desperation that hungry people are exposed to, and which can lead to a humiliation of themselves below their normal dignity in order to get a little money, especially parents who had to put their chil- dren to sleep crying with hunger. In 1927, Kofoed got a job as parish clerk at Christianskirken (kirke = church) in Christianshavn, Copenhagen. However, his thoughts kept circling about the unemployed and their families. “I predicted Hans Christian Kofoed (1 – 152). 10 Kofoed’s School. The History. that sooner or later they would become unfit to re-enter as worthy citizens in a society. Could society really afford to let them go on in this way?” Kofoed never had illusions about being able to solve the unemploy- ment problem by starting a school. The problem had been created by society, and had to be solved by society, but each citizen had the duty, he felt, to do their best to help the unemployed young people, so that they did not go under during the recession. “The usual ex- cuse that the public must handle the problem, is of no use here. I found this case a common cause, and it cannot be solved till each individual undertakes his share of obligation.” As parish clerk, Kofoed was responsible for parish work, and as there were many unemployed in Christianshavn, he soon contem- plated some form of employment and teaching, which could fill in the unemployed’s idle hours, raise their interest for doing some- thing useful, and improve conditions in their homes. After much consideration he decided to start an advanced course of handicraft in the winter of 1928. However, he had neither capital, rooms or tools to realise his plan. He presented his idea to the vicar of the church, reverend Holmer. He immediately liked the suggestion and paid out of his own pock- et 120 kroner to start working on the plan. Kofoed was permitted to use the basement of the parish hall in Ovengaden oven Vandet No. 6 for six afternoons each week. From the handicraft society he borrowed two carpenter’s benches and some tools and with money from his own pocket he bought the most necessary articles for the course. The basement was organized to the best, providing a shoe-repair shop, a small carpenter’s shop, a basket maker’s shop, and provid- ing space for brush-making and carving. His next step was to get the unemployed interested in the work- shops. He called on the families, who had applied for financial aid at the parish charities, and he talked to them about the project.