Katrin Schmidt bears responsibility for almost 500 employees as the managing director of the AWO (Workers’ Welfare Association) in Auerbach. She emphasises that a humane attitude is important to her, because she performs her work in a special way. And she happily looks back on her time as a nursery school teacher, when she helped children in homes to develop their own prospects for their lives.

Katrin Schmidt does not want to do without two things: adequate rest periods, when she can read good books, and the large red punching bag in her office, which comes into action from time to time. She can make good use of both of them, because she has to perform a balancing act in her professional daily life as the managing director of the AWO in Auerbach.

“A social centre should be self-sustaining, as things often get very emotional. I have to balance up sober facts and empathy towards people.”

She is familiar with both sides of the coin. She worked with children for many years, because that was her chosen profession. “The work is never superficial, but often affects you personally. There are setbacks too, but if you really manage to help someone, it’s the greatest experience possible,” the 51-year-old says.

Initially she decided not to study teaching as a young person. “My parents wanted me to learn a real job. So I first trained to sell shoes. Despite everything, it was a good time.” She supplied her friends with the latest shoe creations in her home town of Reichenbach. “I can still remember that Jesus sandals and sandals with wooden high heels were popular.” However, she believed her calling lay elsewhere. “After this, I completed my training as a nursery school teacher near Chemnitz” – despite the fact that she had a family of her own by this time.

“I’m a typical Eastern German woman – I married young and had children and still managed to continue developing my career.”

This was not to change during the next few decades: a huge folder full of qualifications and certificates indicates how seriously Katrin Schmidt was about her preferred profession. In addition to countless courses and training sessions, she initially completed her studies in outdoor education and finally in health management.  

Following her time as a nursery school teacher, she became a child care worker. “That was a particularly intense time. You share in the lives of these children to a far greater degree and can point them in a new direction. Deep relationships develop.” She can remember the Christmas evenings when she peeled oranges and cracked nuts with the children. Or how she cuddled the young children in a blanket or read them fairy tales. “It’s wonderful then to accompany them when they start school or to be there during the birth of a child or to celebrate the completion of their training with them.”

Katrin Schmidt has been working for the AWO in Auerbach for 20 years and she has been the managing director for six years – not just being responsible for the children’s and young people’s work, but also the old people’s and nursing operations, the advisory centres and the bistro, catering and “meals on wheels” business.

“The work with the old people is similar to the work with children. We want to make their everyday lives worth living. That takes a lot of energy, but it’s very fulfilling.”

Her own children have also chosen careers in the social services: her son is a care manager and her daughter a social education worker. As a grandma of two, she says,

“I’m very down-to-earth and rooted in my home region. I have a reputation as a keen defender of the Vogtland region. The feeling of togetherness is great; you know your contact partners and know that all are trying to pull in the same direction.”

And just in case things get a bit rough, Ms Schmidt still has her large, red punching bag.