About us

Our roots

Who we are

Hermann Gmeiner founded the SOS Children's Villages Hermann Gmeiner Academy in 1981, in order to provide the employees of SOS Children's Villages with a common space for encounters and education. The Hermann Gmeiner Academy is a place of intercultural encounter for employees from all over the world across all cultural, religious, political and hierarchical realities.

In warm hospitality, it is also open to the many friends of the SOS Children's Villages and other social organizations. The Hermann Gmeiner Academy works on behalf of its association's own board and is a member of the umbrella organization of SOS Children's Villages International.

Our mission

We offer

As a seminar house, we create a space and atmosphere for encounters, the exchange of experiences, reflection and the opportunity to take a break from everyday working life. Our guests should feel comfortable with us, that's what's important to us. The good cuisine, the quiet environment and the infrastructure in the house support this.

We document the development of the SOS Children's Villages from its roots to its present and make it available to a broad audience. Within our own events we address social and child-related topics. On behalf of our sponsoring organizations, we develop educational offers and thus also contribute to the further education program of SOS Children's Villages. Mostly in co-operation with other organisations we work and publish content on relevant topics according to scientific criteria.

 

We connect

As a place for intercultural social work, we provide spaces for professional exchange. The results are accessible to SOS staff and an interested audience. We promote and support the cooperation of SOS Children's Villages with other organizations.

 

We move

We bring people together with our events. Through the content and the way in which they meet in these events, the participants develop new perspectives and thus contributions to make the world a bit different tomorrow than today.

Our values

Trust

We stand for
• appreciative, open and respectful encounter
• solidarity and loyalty
• a protected framework for an open exchange

Responsibility

It is our responsibility that we
• take the space for reflection in the careful fulfillment of our mission
• handle our resources carefully
• are capable of pracitizing constructive criticism

Reliability

Over the years, we have succeeded in
• staying in constant contact with clients and customers
• providing guests with a place to meet, exchange and regenerate

Courage

We have the courage to
• rise to meet new challenges
• admit mistakes and learn from them
• develop and change

Our vision

Each child grows up in a family: loved, respected, and cared for. We've changed the world through our commitment to the well-being and rights of children along with others, making that vision a little bit more real every day.