Keeping nature healthy also keeps us humans healthy.
1985–1995: A beginning with far-reaching implications
On 8 March 1985, Christof and Emma Stoll set up the Stoll VITA Foundation in Waldshut. Their aim: to promote scientific research, public healthcare, education, environmental protection and nature conservation. In the years that followed, the foundation’s aims were furthered through regular lecture series, projects and seminars. A cookery book titled “Healthy Wholefoods from the Sedus Kitchen” was published by the foundation, gained great popularity and was reprinted several times.
In 1989, the Stoll VITA Foundation acquired the “Flachshof” farm in Jestetten and had it managed by a tenant as the foundation’s most extensive project to date. Its main purpose was to promote and research organic farming methods. The experimental cultivation of medicinal herbs, oil and protein plants, and heritage grain varieties was also supported, making the work on the Flachshof the basis for many dissertations and doctoral theses in the field of agroecology.
It was always important to him that the company ran well thanks to the work of happy people. One of his key phrases was: ‘If you are ill, you do not like working and you do not work well.
1995–2005: The sphere of activity expands
A core focus of the foundation’s work continued to be guided tours and events at the Flachshof on the practice of organic farming. Thanks to the strong financial performance of Sedus Stoll AG, the foundation’s sponsorship and initiatives were no longer limited to the Waldshut district, but increasingly extended to the whole of Germany. This also included longer-term project-related collaborations with state and university institutions as well as nationwide associations.
2005–2015: Changes for the common good
In 2005, the foundation decided to sell the Flachshof because, with an area of 34 hectares and partly unfavourable natural conditions, it was too small to be managed sustainably and successfully by a tenant.
In 2008, the Stoll VITA Foundation purchased the headquarters of Christof Stoll KG in Waldshut from Sedus Stoll AG. Following the demolition of buildings and the renaturalisation of the open spaces, the site continued to make a lasting contribution to improving the urban climate in Waldshut. The garden area was open to the public and offered nature and recreation for the population to experience daily. At its new location, the foundation organised a wide range of events related to the foundation’s objectives, such as exhibitions, lectures and cultural events. It also made the premises available to associations and non-profit organisations.
2015–2025: Commitment to the youngest
The conversion of the former home of the founders, Christof and Emma Stoll, in Waldshut, into the “Kinder Villa Stoll” represents another milestone in the history of the Stoll VITA Foundation. A private daycare centre was painstakingly built here in 2019 and is now run by a non-profit organisation. It fills the time-honoured building with new life. The foundation’s commitment to children is also reflected in the “Kinder-Lebens-Lauf”, a run organised by the Bundesverband Kinderhospiz e. V., which stops off in Waldshut in 2022.
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