ABSTRACT
The rebirth of the Volksbühne societies in West Germany from 1945 was generally easier than in Berlin and the East, as there was no conflict with Communist Party ideas. The refounded societies kept in touch and the Federation was re-established in May 1948 in Hamburg with Nestriepke as chairman. In 1951 it moved its headquarters to Berlin, being the first major national organisation to do so. A policy statement in 1954 re-expressed in contemporary terms the principles enunciated in 1890 and 1925. By 1955 there were seventy-five affiliated societies with three hundred and fifty thousand members, 26 per cent of whom were in Berlin. But after reaching the maximum growth in 1963 the movement steadily declined both in membership and in the number of affilliated societies.
