A short desciption of the institution

Boys Town Buchhof was founded in May 1947 to take care of male warorphans between 13 and 19 years of age. The fact that selfgovernmental structures were established there to teach these boys democracy after the breakdown of the nazi-regime made it a very special institution. The young citizens of Boys Town Buchhof had their own constitution, elected mayors and put up a court whith their own judges. Situated 30 km in the south of Munich it also offered them vocational training.

Vocational training in Buchhof (between 1948 and 1951) The new mayor speaking after winning the election (1949)

Inspired by Edward J. Flanagan´s wellknown Boys Town, Nebraska U.S. Air Force men had the idea to establish this german Boys Town as a project of the official "German Youth Activities" program. They asked the "Arbeiterwohlfahrt" (a german welfare organization) to manage it for them but until 1951 GYA-officers controlled the place. In the beginning it was mainly financed by donations. First the troops from air depot Oberpfaffenhofen sponsored it and in the early fifties the Neubiberg Air Base supported the institution. Around 1951 the Boys Town was completely handed over to the "Arbeiterwohlfahrt" and a few years later the selfgovernmental structures were knocked down by the german management.

The Buchhof-management (1948-1951), from left to right:
Müller (vize-director), Zielinski (director), Sgt. Roybal (GYA-officer)