Healthcare and recreation: the infrastructure of summer colonies for children in Lithuania in 1918-1940

ENOn balance, children’s summer colonies were merely one of the many activities of societies and state institutions in the field of child social care, but most tellingly, they demonstrated a change in the attitude of society and the state towards children as a promising future. The realisation that children needed not only medical care but also recreation marked a qualitative breakthrough in the development of infrastructure for children’s recreation. Children’s summer colonies in Lithuania, which began to be established in the early 1920s, were initially set up in unsuitable buildings, although resort-type locations were looked at from the beginning. Despite sporadic attempts by the authorities, the colonies were mainly created by various voluntary associations, which received part of the funds for the colonies from the municipalities. The situation changed in the 1930s, when, in addition to the societies, state institutions became actively involved in establishing colonies. This decade marked not only a quantitative but also a qualitative leap in children’s colony establishment. The expanded infrastructure of children’s summer colonies throughout Lithuania was supplemented by modern buildings, the design and construction of which was not only based on the ideas of architectural modernism, but also on hygiene and health protection criteria. In turn, the buildings were designed to better absorb the natural environment and thus have a positive impact on children’s health. [Extract, p. 258]

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