The founding of the association had a history. Soon after the end of the war, when the Berlin district of Wannsee was part of the American occupation zone, the Americans, in the interest of their re-education program, sought untainted German partners. They found them among the opponents of the National Socialists, who were committed to the democratic renewal of Germany. Men and women from the two major churches, as well as from political groups and parties suppressed by the National Socialists, came together, wanting to provide German youth with new orientation, democratic values – and a future in a democracy – amidst the turmoil of the post-war period.
The Americans established the “Camp of Wannsee” as early as 1947, where they worked with these people. With the Cold War, the Berlin Blockade, and the founding of two German states, democratic youth work had to focus primarily on the western part of Berlin. Until 1951, they used the clubhouse of the “Girls' Rowing Association” on the Kleiner Wannsee lake in Bismarckstrasse for this purpose. Their educational methods included group and project work, democratic leadership and training for youth group leaders, amateur dramatics, and the promotion of a new relationship between boys and girls (coeducation), as well as square dancing and political education.
From among the German partners, an active, pluralistic group emerged, which in 1951 founded the Wannseeheim Association for Youth Work (Wannseeheim für Jugendarbeit e.V.). The Americans, as reliable partners, entrusted this work to the association, granting it independent responsibility. At the same time, the former Villa Joergers was given to the association as its headquarters. The funds for the purchase of the building and grounds came from the McCloy Fund. Today, a plaque in the entrance portal of the Landhauscommemorates this event.
On July 19, 1951, the "Wannseeheim for Youth Work e.V." (registered association) and its "Youth Leader School" were inaugurated in the former Villa Joerger on Pohlesee by the then Governing Mayor, Ernst Reuter. The focus of its work was on international exchanges, training for youth group leaders, and direct work with young people. Its aims included fostering democratic values through square dancing, singing, theater, group pedagogy, and a focus on high school, vocational school, and university students, as well as East-West seminars. The first chairman of the rapidly developing association was the Catholic youth pastor and chaplain Dr. Stasi-Edmund Szydnik. The first director of the center was the Protestant pastor Hermann Berger.