Milestones
1996 was an important year of anniversaries for several orchid groups: The American Orchid Society had their 75th, the Orchid Digest Corporation had their 40th and around the country, several orchid societies celebrated their 25th anniversary. 1996 was also the year when the German Orchid Society (D.O.G.) celebrated their 50th anniversary. Of course, we all congratulated each other and are very proud of our accomplishments. This 50th anniversary of the German O.S. is a bit misleading, because the beginnings of the German Orchid Society go back a lot farther.
During the late 1800s and early 1900s, all of Europe was one large fraternity of plant (and orchid) enthusiasts. England was a leader among other European nations, but the orchids, their collection, culture and classification had become an important part of all European horticulture. For one large exhibition in England, the Russian Czar had sent a complete train full of orchids; just imagine: one long train full of exhibition orchids! That was only one country’s submission. Dutch, Belgian, French, Swiss, Swedish and German exhibitors added their contributions – what wonderful shows those must have been! How nice if we could have videos of them!
It was during those halcyon days, when the formation of a German Orchid Society was discussed in Berlin, the capital city. The names of the persons at this inaugural meeting read like Who is Who of orchid (and plant) history: Barnard, Beyrodt, Fuerstenberg, Kraenzlin, Link, Pfitzer, Schlechter and others. On May 10th, 1906, the “German Society for Orchidology” was officially established. Even though at the start, the membership count was only 241, their publication “Orchis” was a superlative magazine and through it, as well as the many excellent orchid shows and other doings, that society was well on its way. Then World War I happened, after that the Great Depression and then World War II. All these calamities, but particularly this last one had absolutely disastrous consequences, even for orchids, but we must not dwell on that. When it was all over and most of Germany in ruins, the Allied Forces occupied the country. Then fourteen stalwart orchidists in Hamburg determined that they would make another, new start. On September 14th, 1946 they decided to apply to the military government for a permit to establish a German Orchid Society. Fortunately, the commander in Hamburg was British and of course we know that (almost) all British are horticulturally inclined. Permission was granted and today the D.O.G. is one of the major orchid associations of the world.
The 100th anniversary of the founding of the first German Orchid Society was happily celebrated at the 2006 Orchid Show in Dresden.
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander - Canadian Orchid Congress