According to the Vegetarier Bund Deutschland the first Dresden Vegetarian Society was founded in 1881. There was also a sanitarium in the city at that time as this extract, from The Vegetable Passion by Janet Barkas (New York, 1975), shows:
“Another influential figure in these early days of the movement was Dr. Heinrich Lahmann .... One of the first German physicians to use natural healing methods, Lahmann called animals his brothers and refused to use them for his experiments. Instead, he used himself as a guinea pig. His regime consisted of fruits and vegetables, and fresh air. Water was endorsed for its strengthening powers, and loose and porous clothing were recommended so that air might circulate freely. To provide goods that followed his progressive ideas, he designed shoes, boots, and clothing for all ages. He also recommended pillows filled with plants, rather than feathers.”
An article for The Vegetarian Messenger (UK) in 1908 refers to four vegetarian restaurants in Dresden, suggesting quite a lot of local interest. In 1900, Dresden was the 4th largest city in the German empire, and a major centre for cultural activities. We also know that the Dresden Hygiene Museum was the main national centre for 'nature cure' therapies, and held an exhibition in 1911 which attracted thousands of visitors.
The International Scene
The first Vegetarian Society was founded in England in 1847, followed by the first German organisation in 1867. In 1888 the German vegetarian leaders suggested an International Congress of all the British and German groups. This was held in Cologne in September 1889 and became the first ever international gathering of vegetarians.
Some of the British groups had begun to create a 'Vegetarian Union' of the local British societies, and following the Cologne event declared that it would cover the whole world as the Vegetarian Federal Union (VFU). Groups in other English speaking countries, including the USA, Australia and Ireland soon joined. In 1892 the Deutscher Vegetarier-Bund (DVB) was created, connecting local groups in the German speaking region. The DVB did have some form of membership of the London-based VFU, but there was never any significant involvement.
Also during this time the newly formed French and Belgian Vegetarian Societies began publishing a joint magazine for all Francophiles. They eventually persuaded the British to hold the annual VFU Congress in Paris in 1900 (the others had all been in London, apart from Chicago in 1893). It was then agreed, so some thought, to hold the next one in Brussels in 1901 - but the VFU publicised the next Congress for London as usual. The arguments that followed saw the original Manchester-based Vegetarian Society support the Continental Europeans, and that was effectively the end of VFU.
Over the next few years there was some discussion about creating a more genuinely democratic international vegetarian organisation, with all countries having equal input. In 1907 the Vegetarian Society in Manchester, UK, celebrated its diamond jubilee (60 years) by inviting the leaders of all known vegetarian societies to an international gathering. At that meeting Dr. Danjou, Deputy President of the French Vegetarian Society, proposed a new International Vegetarian Federation, and that the 'mother society' should take the initiative in setting up a meeting.
So why Dresden?
The easiest option would have been to arrange another meeting in Manchester, but the British Society had also had some involvement with VFU and would have been very aware that the Europeans were sceptical about more British domination.
The solution almost certainly came from Mr. J. Arthur Gill, a prominent Esperantist at the diamond jubilee meetings. Vegetarians and Esperantists had quite a lot in common at a time when Europe was largely divided by linguistic barriers, both groups having an interest in universal brotherhood. It would have been Mr. Gill who mentioned that the Esperantists were holding their annual conference in Dresden the following year - which meant that many vegetarians would be in the city.
This was the ideal political solution, a Vegetarian Congress proposed by the French, organised by the British, and held in Germany. Albert Broadbent, the British secretary, wrote to all the Vegetarian Societies around the world inviting them to meet in Dresden on August 18, 1908, during the week of the Esperantist Conference.
Ultimately only the German, British and Dutch Societies were there in person, along with some locals and Esperantists, but groups from 14 other countries sent messages of goodwill and support. During the meeting they adopted the title of the International Vegetarian Union. The photo of the assembly:
The same week saw the creation of the 'International Union of Esperantist Vegetarians' - still active today as TEVA (Tutmonda Esperantista Vegetarana Asocio) and still a member of IVU. For the full reports published at the time see: www.ivu.org/congress/wvc08
This original version of this article appeared in The Vegetarian (UK), Winter 2007, and was the basis of a Powerpoint presentation at the opening ceremony of the Centenary IVU Congress, in Dresden, 2008.
For vegan history, see my free e-book: ‘World Veganism – past, present and future.” You can download it for free, or replace your existing copy at: www.ivu.org/history/Vegan_History.pdf (7mb)
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At the vegan party I had briefly met Sundara DeSilva, but we met up again a few days later in Canberra where he was setting up the projector for my talk on ‘Veg*ism from a World Perspective’ for the ACT (Canberra) vegsoc (
Then to the Green Path eco-hotel for lunch, as most of us were staying there that night. In the afternoon to an organic farm, out in the countryside an hour to the west of Bangalore.
The MVS had arranged for me to give a talk in the room upstairs at the local Loving Hut restaurant, all videoed by SMTV. We got a good audience who responded well.
4 - Veg*ism in China
12 - Were there Vegans in the Ancient World?
Some of those traditional societies are already being run by people who are too old to understand what is really happening in the youth culture (and I have to admit that includes me, but at least I’m aware of it, it seems some others are not…)
5 – a further rise of Asian led spiritual/business organisations. The most dramatic example can now be seen in the Loving Hut restaurant chain – currently 207 eateries in 29 countries (up from 166 in 19 countries two years ago), by far the biggest vegan restaurant chain the world has ever seen and still expanding rapidly. The Loving Huts are run by the followers of Supreme Master Ching Hai. Along with other examples, this Asian style combination of business and religion is having a significant impact globally.
When I was in China, with my friend Susianto from Indonesia. I showed him the logo in my shoes -"I don't suppose you get these in Indonesia" - "no, but I buy mine online from them too" - which kinda put me in place, the age of the internet knows no boundaries...
Above is a slice of Gardener Street, Vegetarian Shoes on the left - and here's Laura selling me some new shoes.
A couple of years ago Brighton elected the first ever British Green Party MP (Member of Parliament) - Caroline Lucas who has represented Brighton at the European Parliament since 1999. They have lots of Green politicians in Europe but the antiquated UK electoral system is designed to keep the establishment in power, and they have clung on to it.
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Saturday 6 – to the Golden Gate Park for the San Francisco VegSoc’s annual veg festival – 
In the evening we’re over to a nearby high school for a (vegan) fundraising comedy pro-celebrity basketball match - PCRM Food Fighters vs Harlem Wizards.
Sunday 14 – day two of the Expo, more great presentations expected - Jeff Novick MS RD. (right); Michael Klaper, MD ; Neal Barnard, MD ; Caldwell Esselstyn MD ; John McDougall, MD ; Brenda Davis, RD ; John Robbins and more amazing fun and serious speakers over the weekend.
As IVU Manager, I try to treat all religions with equal respect as they are an inevitable, and indeed essential part of promoting veg*ism worldwide. My research into the history of vegetarianism has countless crossovers with the history of all religions, so I try to have some basic understanding of them all.
Asian Veg Congress.
The Saturday was made up of some fairly serious, and very interesting, talks from academic theologians - the last one speaking about Hinduism for comparison - and all rounded off in the evening with a lot of fun at Hansa's Gujarati veg restaurant a mile or two down the road.
including some disturbing accounts of the open hostility they often receive from flesh-eating Christians.
On the website I've tried to look at the connections between all these people - who knew who, and how they influenced each other. Later classical composers and musicians were influenced towards veg*ism by Theosophy and eastern religions, along with all the usual reasons we have today. (photo right is American composer Philip Glass)
The second section deals with Jazz musicians - Texas in 1949 seems an unlikely place for a long-haired African-American vegetarian, but that's where Ornette Coleman came in, age 19. Many more 'modern' jazz veg*ns soon followed, reaching a peak in the 1960s, after which it gets increasingly difficult to separate all the musical genres, with a lot of fusions going on. (photo left: Ornette Coleman)
The third group is blues, country, rock, pop etc. - we can trace veg*ism among those musicians back to 1940s USA as well, but most of the early veg rock musicians were in England. Very soon there were huge numbers of them on both sides of the Atlantic. The biggest problem with this group is their inconsistency, many were veg*n at some point but didn't always stick to it for long. (photo right: George Harrison)
Cecil Sharp (1859-1924) is not as famous as Gandhi of course, but still suffered the same treatment. The original biography, written by his friend of 22 years in 1933, just about managed to mention his vegetarianism twice. The revised edition, re-written by his former assistant in 1967, left out one of those - making it look like his vegetarianism was merely an inconvenient necessity for his health. The comment that was deleted stated quite clearly that he was 'vegetarian by conviction' - which makes far more sense when we see what else he was involved in.
Springs, North Carolina)
If you want to try it for yourself, search for ‘Foraging for Food’ on google, and you should find some articles and books for your own country and in your own language.