Austrian Roots, Global Impact 

SOS Children's Villages from 1949 to Present 

An Austrian Origin and Postwar European Success

Hermann Gmeiner at founding of SOS Childrens Village Innsbruck Austria Hermann Gmeiner lays the first stone at the founding of SOS Children's Villages in Imst, Austria

In 1949, Hermann Gmeiner laid the stone foundation for the first SOS Children's Village in Imst where 40 Austrian children would find a new home.  Six years later, villages had blossomed all over Austria, Germany, France and Italy.

SOS Children's Villages did not set out with lofty goals to change either Austria or the world.  The mission was to provide orphaned children a mother, a house, brothers and sisters, and a supportive village community.  In the beginning, operations were as small as the 40 shillings in founder Hermann Gmeiner's pocket. 

An International Presence

Hermann Gmeiner with children at an SOS Village in South KoreaGmeiner with children in the first South Korean Village

By the early 60s, one Austrian's mission had exploded into a worldwide movement involving thousands of sponsors, social aid workers, and abandoned children. With publicity from each opening event spurring the next, new Villages were developed quickly across Western Europe and into Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Eastern Bloc.

Today, SOS Children's Villlages operates over 2,000 total facilities including 500 Villages in 132 countries.  SOS has had a presence in the Middle East since the 1980s and in North America since 1993.  Over time, the organization has grown to include SOS Youth Facilities, Kindergartens, Hermann Gmeiner Schools, Vocational Training Centers, Social Centers, Medical Centers, and Emergency Relief Programs.  And, most importantly, sponsorship has grown internationally as organizational partners, corporate and celebrity sponsors, and private donors from all over the world have taken action to support SOS Children's Villages' one million beneficiaries.

A Future for Orphaned Children - Bright with Infinite Possibility

Children lean over a wall in an SOS Village in Africa
Children in an SOS Children's Village in Africa

In 2006, SOS Children's Villages returned to Austria to build the first urban village.  It was located in the heart of Vienna.  More than setting goals and breaking ground, the new facility renewed a promise that SOS Children's Villages would continue to adapt and follow the original principles established by Hermann Gmeiner - to provide each orphaned child wtih:

  • a mother,
  • a home,
  • brothers and sisters, and
  • a supportive village community.

To help carry on the legacy of Hermann Gmeiner, sponsor an SOS child today.