Johannes Pahn, Rostock
The “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprach- und Stimmheilkunde” (DGSS, German Society of Speech and Voice Pathology) was founded on May 18, 1925 on the basis of an initiative of Rudolf Schilling, Helmut Loebell, Emil Froeschels, Miloslav Seemann, Max Nadoleczny, and Richard Luchsinger with all those physicians and individuals scientifically working in the field of speech and voice pathology and phonetics or those members of the civil service engaged in practical work being entitled to become full members. (Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, Munich/Berlin 1925).
Due to the fact that the educationalists were more interested in practical-therapeutic topics, the otorhinolaryngologists separated and founded their own society of phoniatry and pedaudiology for the purpose of dealing with scientific topics on their annual conferences, both, however, taking place in close co-ordination of time and place with the society of otorhinolaryngology.
With the growing importance of such scientific fields as education, logopedics, psychology, phonetics, linguistics, speech and voice training accompanied by the foundation of corresponding societies this practice, however, proved to be inhibiting to those who had founded the German Society of Speech and Voice Pathology.
From 1996 onwards, therefore, the society decided to break away its conferences from this scope and to create a distinctive image of its own by setting up a holding society where all those societies and associations interested in speech and voice therapy are represented as co-operating rnembers in the advisory committee, viz. the German Society of Phoniatry and Pedaudiology, the Professional Association of German Educationalists for Persons with Hearing Loss, the German Society for Speech Healing Education, the German Professional Association of Logopedics (registered association), the Society of Applied Linguistics, the Association of Clinical Speech Scientists (registered association), the Section of Clinical Psychology in the Professional Association of German Psychologists, the German Society of Children and Youth Psychiatry, the German Committee of Psychosomatic Medicine, the German Society of Music Therapy, the German Society of Music Physiology and Music Medicine (registered association), the Association of German School Musicians.
In consideration of the annual conferences held by these societies, the German Society of Speech and Voice Medicine decided as a holding association to switch over to a 2-year rhythm of conferences, simultaneously extending their meetings to two days with papers, lectures and seminars presented under the topical framework of general interest. So, the 70-th anniversary conference took place in Münster from 14 - 15 March, 1997 in memory of Max Nadoleczny with the topic ,,Support at the Age of 0 - 3 Years”. The 71-st conference was held in Berlin from 12 - 13 March, 1999 in memory of Hermann Gutzmann senior and junior with the main topic ,,Speech and Music”.
In 1999 an educationalist in the person of Kurt Bielfeld was elected for the first time as a secretary in the committee. Besides, Frau Lamprecht-Dinnesen holds the post of a managing secretary and Frau Keilmann that of a treasurer. In addition, it was possible to publish one volume of conference papers each for the first time in 1999.
Artistic performances were an essential contribution to enhancing the value of conferences. At the beginning these performances were presented by children of regional speech healing schools and the evening programmes by artists such as Hans Bauer in Münster and in Berlin by members of the Rostock College of Music and Theatre with a melodrama produced by Frau Elke Pahn.
Courses of further education for members, with a considerable discount in costs being granted to them, and a reduction of membership fees for students by 50 % represent another valuable contribution to members of the society.