The story
Hans Mohl (1928-1998), a ZDF journalist and long-time presenter of the ZDF show Gesundheitsmagazin Praxis (first aired on 3 January 1964), founded the charitable organisation after the Thalidomide scandal had inspired him to host a relief action. The sleeping pill, marketed under the trade name of Contragan in West Germany, had caused fetuses to develop birth defects. Subsequent public pressure resulted in Contergan being withdrawn from the market in 1961. From 1957 on, a total of 5000 Contergan children were born in West Germany. Extensive coverage in news media resulted in great public interest which permanently removed the taboo surrounding the issue of disability. Thus, disability was no longer considered merely a private or individual fate, but also a challenge for the whole community. The lottery was initiated by Mohl in order to improve the quality of life for disabled children.
ZDF supports this endeavour by regularly broadcasting TV shows promoting the association and conducting the lottery. The revenue helps finance projects and is augmented by charitable donations. The TV show Vergißmeinnicht ("forget-me-not"; hosted by Peter Frankenfeld) ran from 1964 to 1970, followed by the two successor formats Drei mal Neun ("three times nine"; from 1970 to 1974) and Der Große Preis ("Grand Prix"; from 1974 to 1993, both hosted by Wim Thoelke). All shows were a success during this period. But when Der Große Preis failed to arouse public interest with new hosts after Thoelke's departure in late 1992 the show was ultimately cancelled at the end of 1993. Follow-up formats such as Goldmillion (1995), Das Große Los ("The Jackpot"; from 1996 to 2000), Jede Sekunde zählt ("every second counts"; from 2000 to 2001) and once again Der Große Preis (from 2002 to mid-2003) also failed to repeat the success of previous years and were removed from the broadcast schedule before long. Thomas Gottschalk became involved with Aktion Mensch in October 2003. From January 2012, acting as the new volunteer “ambassador”, Jörg Pilawa announced the lottery winners on ZDF until Rudi Cerne took over in January 2014.
The association's perspective on disability changed drastically during its Respect-Campaign in 1995: People with a disability were no longer presented as pitiful beneficiaries of charity, but became confident individuals willing to represent their campaign. The main objective was to kick-start a shift in community awareness regarding disability. For this reason, the association's statutes were expanded to include “clarification” among its most important goals in 1997. Everyone agreed that supporting projects wasn't enough to raise public awareness of the issue of disability and to trigger general re-evaluation. New campaigns as well as accessible information and a comprehensive message were necessary to gain public attention and reach a larger target audience. The primary purpose was to bridge the gap between their beneficiaries and the audience to strengthen not just tolerance, but the feeling of community.
In 1999, the annual general meeting decided to rename the association “Aktion Mensch”, taking effect on 1 March 2000. This new name was intended to symbolise not only the expanded range of tasks, but also the change in public perspective when dealing with disabled people.
On 1 January 2003, the association launched its newly prioritised welfare service for children and teenagers, supporting more than 120 projects with roughly 12 million euros in its initial year. This was planned as a long-term commitment, as young people face increasing difficulties when trying to organise their own lives, whether they are handicapped or not. Furthermore, children's and young people's welfare service providers don't have the necessary means to offer adequate programs.
In 2014, Aktion Mensch celebrated its 50th anniversary with the slogan “Much achieved, but more to come”, hosting numerous events.
From Wikipedia’s article on Aktion Mensch, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5