For 22 years, Rolf Hafke from Cologne led the fortunes of the Association of German Transport Amateurs (VDVA). He has served as chairman since 2002 and organised his first conference in Cologne and the Rhineland in 1997, with a visit to the Siemens test centre in Wegberg-Wildenrath. He has organised a total of 25 conferences, including 2 short conferences, in Bremen in 2006 and in Salzburg in 2008. During his time in office, the number of members grew from around 120 to over 165, including several clubs and associations. His greatest achievement was the granting of a non-profit status in 2016, which required 100 per cent approval from all members for the change of purpose – a lengthy endeavour.
New Executive Board
Following the retirement of Rolf Hafke and the previous Treasurer Bertold Schulz, the following new Executive Board was elected at the members’ meeting on 5 August in Rostock: Lars F. Richter moved up from Deputy Chairman to 1st Chairman. He has been known to many hobbyists for a long time; for example, he reorganised the VDVA’s short conferences in 2018, usually over a long weekend in Eastern European tram cities. He is also still the VDVA webmaster. Dr Engelbert Linnenberg is now Deputy Chairman. The new treasurer is Dr Christoph Levin. Dr Peter Bell was confirmed as Secretary and Axel Reuther as Archive Advisor.
Rolf Hafke was appointed honorary chairman by the general meeting for his many years of service and has offered to continue his involvement in the organisation for some time to come.
Charitable aims
The association was founded in 1956 to provide a ‘home base’ for local transport and tramway associations – at that time there were only a few organised groups of friends. Inter-regional exchange of experience and the corresponding excursions at the annual conferences became the main purpose of the association. As a non-profit organisation, the VDVA pursues the goal of preserving history, which actually sounds simple. The very extensive photo archive is mainly filled with photos from various eras, starting with glass plate photos, black and white photos and slides in various formats. The photo archive contains well over 50,000 processed images. Over the years, numerous photo collections have been acquired from local transport enthusiasts from all over the world, not just from members. A database with preview images is available on the website.
The conferences
Since 1951, regular conferences have been organised and we visit companies and facilities in a specified region, so-called annual conferences. Since 1966, these have been held alternately in Germany and then abroad. Short conferences have been added since 2018.
Upcoming anniversaries
VDVA is organising its 75th conference next year, with a visit planned to the coastal tram in Belgium, Antwerp and Ghent. The pre-conference will take us to Luxembourg, while the anniversary will be celebrated in Liège. In 2026, the VDVA will have been in existence for 70 years. Another book is planned for this occasion: ‘Straßenbahnen in den siebziger Jahren – Trams in the seventies’.
Further information on the homepage www.vdva.de , please send enquiries by email to info@vdva.de or rolf.hafke@vdva.de .
02.10.2024
