Band 81, Heft 4

The ›Bahnhofsmissionen‹ developed in the context of the tradition of Christian non-profit welfare work in Germany. Through their supporting organisations, they belong to the associations of the Protestant Diakonie and the Catholic Caritas, which have held a dominant position in social work in German society for many decades. The ›Bahnhofsmissionen‹ are highly respected by the public but nontheless work under permanently precarious financial conditions. Without the large number of volunteers, the persistence of their work would not be safeguarded. This makes their 125-year history all the more astonishing, interrupted only by bans during the National Socialist era (between 1939-1945) and the German Democratic Republic (between 1956 and 1990).

In the field of Practical Theology, the article locates the issue of ›Bahnhofsmission‹ both in terms of diaconia theory as well as poimenics and ecclesiology. The central question is if and to what extent ›Bahnhofsmission‹ can also be regarded as a local church in a theological sense, even if the staff and the clientele do not see themselves as church members. For this purpose, Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopias is referred to and railway stations are described as socially functionalised places that are transformed by church presence.

This article examines the question of why the ›Bahnhofsmission‹ is suitable as a seismograph of social change, how it performs this function, what it can achieve with it and where the limits of its possibilities lie. This is done with the help of self-reflection from the practice of the ›Bahnhofsmission‹ and with the help of practical examples. The seismograph function is described as a task of the station mission that goes beyond the individual case assistance and is of benefit to society as a whole. This involves drawing attention to changes at an early stage in order to identify structures of poverty and injustice as causes of need for help and exclusion and to contribute to their elimination. Due to their location at the station and their open, low-threshold concept, station missions have an excellent seismographic potential. Where they succeed in raising this potential, they can become incubators for innovation.

Railway stations are special places and important elements in urban life. They exist in a dual function of place and node, which is reflected in their service structure. In the station, the station mission provides support and assistance for people in certain life situations. This raises the question of the connection of the station mission as a social service to the church. The place of the »in-between« could hold a development potential for the interaction of parishes and new church places. The railway station mission could, thus, move from a marginal position in the church to a node in the network of church services. At the same time, as an explorative field for inclusion, it could contribute important experiences to inclusion processes.

This article examines the questions of why the ›Bahnhofsmission‹ is suitable as a seismograph of social change, how it performs this function, what it can achieve and where its limits lie. This is done with the help of self-reflection of the practice of the ›Bahnhofsmission‹ and by unfolding practical examples. The seismograph function is described as a task of the ›Bahnhofsmission‹ that goes beyond the core of individual case assistance and is of benefit to society as a whole. This involves drawing attention to changes at an early stage in order to identify structures of poverty and injustice as causes of need for help as well as of exclusion and to contribute to the elimination of those structures. Due to their location at the station and their open, low-threshold concept, ›Bahnhofsmissionen‹ have an excellent seismographic potential. Where they succeed in raising this potential, they can become incubators for innovation.

In this contribution, the railway mission (Bahnhofsmission) is conceived of as an object of research in interdisciplinary diaconic science. To that end, several perspectives are employed: the analysis of the multiple logics/ rationalities of a social organisation; theological hermeneutics of diaconic practice and its religious rationality; and, finally, the question of the location of religion within modern society, for which the railway mission shows to have a paradigmatic meaning.

An empirical study of the current practice of ›Bahnhofsmission‹ requires a research strategy that succeeds in taking the diversity of individual places and activities seriously. The ethnographic approach seeks out people in the execution of their practices and accompanies them over a longer period of time. The praxeological research perspective understands practice as a sensual human activity that is characterised by materiality, corporeality and temporality. This approach succeeds in depicting ›doing Bahnhofsmission‹ as a concatenation of diverse social practices.