Spitz receives the Staufer Medal

The head of ProKids is the first resident of Schwenningen to receive this exclusive award. The entrepreneur works tirelessly for his foundation. His baby hatch has already saved five young lives.

When he realized that not every family in this country could afford a hot school lunch for their child, Joachim Spitz took action. He collected donations, tied on an apron with the then-mayor, Dr. Rupert Kubon, and cooked spaghetti at the kindergarten. That was almost 15 years ago.

Now, the enterprising Schwenningen businessman is receiving one of the highest awards of the state of Baden-Württemberg for his commitment – the Staufer Medal.

Only about 120 carriers

It is valuable because it is awarded relatively rarely. Only individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the common good receive it. To date, there are only about 120 recipients, among them figures such as the entrepreneurs Carl Herzog von Württemberg, Reinhold Würth, Ewald Marquardt, astronaut Ernst Messerschmid, and the late Swiss television presenter Kurt Felix.

This makes the Staufer Medal even more exclusive than the State Order of Merit, which is limited to 1,000 living recipients and awarded approximately 30 times a year – although it is the highest honor the state can bestow. The State Badge of Honor is also highly regarded, finding around 400 new recipients annually. Spitz is one of the few residents of the twin cities to receive this prestigious award. Previously, the Staufer Medal had only been awarded to figures such as conductor Gernot Laufer, former District Administrator Dr. Rainer Gutknecht, and honorary citizen Ewald Merkle.

Active for many years

Anyone who, like Joachim Spitz (52), is decorated with the Staufer Medal must have acquired merits which – according to the wording of the award guidelines – “beyond the actual professional duties, were acquired within the framework of a generally voluntary, social or civic engagement and have been provided over many years.”

This undoubtedly applies to the chairman of the ProKids Foundation; since Spitz founded it in 2010 as a personal initiative, the owner of a printing company in Schwenningen has worked tirelessly to help impoverished children and their families. For this, the gifted networker has already garnered numerous social awards; the Staufer Medal, which Mayor Jürgen Roth will present to him in January at the Neckar Hall, is certainly the crowning achievement of his work. Spitz is exceptionally resourceful; just recently, he commissioned the creation of an online volunteer platform that helps to systematically connect existing willingness to help with those in need. With similar pragmatism, he also – seemingly out of the blue – built a street workout park for Schwenningen's youth at the Vorderer See lake and established a shared apartment for teenage mothers.

However, the core of the foundation's work remains the provision of hot school meals and the ProKids meeting place, a point of contact for families in need.

Baby hatch of the “Lighthouse”

The flagship project of the foundation's work – and Spitzer's favorite project – is the baby hatch he had installed in the Franziskusheim on Neckarstrasse a few years ago. It has already presumably saved the lives of five newborns left there. Joachim Spitz is particularly proud of this.

The baby hatch clearly illustrates how the designated recipient of the Staufer Medal operates: He knows everyone and everything and approaches people to win them over to his cause. He's good at it, and he almost always succeeds.



He doesn't just let others do the work for him; alongside his entrepreneurial activities, he himself undertakes an immense amount of voluntary work – you'd be hard-pressed to find a more efficient social manager. This is appreciated not only by numerous private donors but also by business owners who admire what this man with the gray beard, the driving force behind his foundation, accomplishes.

Mothers exchange ideas at the ProKids Foundation's parents' café in the drilling tower.

Jumping around in the ball pit together, visiting a playground – the toddlers enjoy themselves on the upper floor of the municipal youth center during the weekly meeting of the Pro-Kids Foundation's parents' café at the Bohrturm youth center in Bad Dürrheim. It's been just over a year since Joachim Spitz from the Pro-Kids Foundation in Villingen-Schwenningen, along with some mothers, opened the parents' café in Bad Dürrheim. Every Thursday afternoon, mothers meet informally at the Bohrturm between 3 and 6 p.m.

Jenny Leber and Isabell Auer are handling the local organization. Fathers are also welcome, but so far none have dared to attend. While the women could meet in a regular café, the little ones are naturally very lively, and it can sometimes get noisy. The women can chat and keep an eye on the children while they talk.

Toys from the foundation

Upstairs in the municipal youth center, they always have plenty of toys and can crawl or walk around on the floor. A ball pit and blankets on which fabric building blocks or toys can be spread out provide variety. Child-friendly musical instruments are also available.

Occasionally, one of the little ones gets a diaper change, is breastfed, or given a bottle, while the older children receive a snack brought from home or rice cakes donated by the Pro-Kids Foundation. Especially for children still in kindergarten, such meetings with peers are beneficial for their development and the fostering of social skills.

Over coffee and pretzels, the mothers talk about their daily lives, their children's situations, or discuss their chances of securing one of the coveted kindergarten places later on. They also meet like-minded women with whom they can sometimes socialize outside of kindergarten. Thanks to the financial assistance from the Pro-Kids Foundation for basic supplies, nothing is lacking, and even when consumables like diapers, wipes, or durable toys need to be purchased, the women can turn to Joachim Spitz for help.

The parents' café is intended for parents with children up to three years old, who are brought along. Once the children are in kindergarten, however, the need for such a meeting is no longer as great.

After the parents' café was founded, the mothers' activities were restricted by the Corona pandemic, so they sometimes met outside at a playground. But not only that: "We met at the youth center and took a rapid Corona test beforehand," one woman reported.

Not only mothers with their children are welcome, but also pregnant women. Even in summer, the parents occasionally meet outdoors. Sometimes the children don't even notice when the mothers meet because they are asleep – especially if they are still infants.

Invite speakers

In a discussion with the mothers, youth worker Jessica Gälle, and Joachim Spitz, it was agreed that speakers would occasionally be invited to the parents' café or evening events, for example, on topics such as diabetes, children's nutrition, kite making, educational content, or first aid for children. The youth center's trainee can also be involved.

The parents' café is definitely open to collaborations and welcomes new participants – "everyone is welcome," says city youth worker Jessica Gälle. In recent months, at least five to six mothers with their children have attended the meetings, but usually more.

At one meeting, 15 mothers with a total of 16 children, ranging from infants to older children, were counted. The possibility of forming a second group has already been discussed. A WhatsApp group was set up to facilitate better communication. According to the mothers, the parent group definitely fills a gap; they appreciate "that parents with children of different ages can meet here."

Dürrheim family-friendly

Jessica Gälle is happy to provide the room in the youth center: "This is a good opportunity for the women to exchange ideas with each other."

One topic that keeps coming up in the mothers' conversations is kindergarten places. "I had no trouble getting a place," said Jenny Leber, for example, though she suspects it's because she runs a small business.

Isabell Auer attests that the town of Bad Dürrheim is "very child- and family-friendly," and this also applies to the creation of new kindergarten places. Not only senior citizens, but also mothers with strollers benefit, for example, from lowered sidewalks and the infrastructure.

One mother suggested there could be more babysitters in town who could look after children by the hour, especially if the grandparents don't live nearby – but perhaps something will come up at the youth center?