Given away by their own parents: This is the fate of many Salzburg “adopted children”. On Friday, November 1st, the ORF landing studio will show contemporary witnesses from Pinzgau and Pongau who tell their moving life stories with the documentary “Annehmkinder” – The Children Who Were Too Much.
SALZBURG. “Adopted children” are children who have been given away by their biological parents. This was a common practice, particularly in the Alpine regions of Austria, until the early 1960s.
The documentary film “Annehmkinder” – The Children Who Were Too Much, from the ORF regional studio in Salzburg, will take its viewers on a journey into the last century next Friday. Contemporary witnesses from Pinzgau and Pongau tell their moving life stories, the reasons why they were given away by their biological parents and how this shaped their future lives.
Children given up out of shame or poverty
The reasons for the practice of “adopting children” were varied. Poor families with many children gave up their youngest children because they could no longer feed them. The children were often taken to wealthier farmers or relatives, where they were given accommodation and food, but in return they had to work as farmhands or maids.
Even children born out of wedlock, who were considered disgraceful at the time, were often not raised by their own parents. Instead, relatives or foster parents looked after them. Until 1989, unmarried mothers in Austria were not allowed to decide for themselves whether they could raise their illegitimate child alone. In such cases, the youth welfare office had a say.
Watch the documentary with contemporary witnesses from Salzburg
“Accepting children” – The children who were too much
Datum: Friday November 1st, 2024
time: 10:20 p.m. in ORF 2
and
Datum: Monday November 4th, 2024
time: 11.50 a.m. on ORF 2
Design: Gabi Kerschbaumer
Camera: Fabian Kapo, André Leubner, Andreas Steger
Ton: Jacqueline Krenka, Fabian Kapo
cut: Fabian Head
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