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Spiritual Motherhood: German Feminists and the Kindergarten Movement, 1848–1911

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2017

Ann Taylor Allen
Ann Taylor Allen*
Affiliation:
History Department of the University of Louisville
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Extract

The aim of kindergarten founder, Henriette Schrader-Breymann—“to exalt women to spiritual motherhood, as mothers to society and not just to their own households”—was supported by the overwhelming majority of German feminist leaders during the nineteenth century. “The educational calling of women,” insisted another kindergarten advocate, Henriette Goldschmidt, “should no longer be left merely to instinctive feelings and behavior, but, like the male professions, demands scientific training.” When fully trained, feminists argued further, woman's special talent for nurture would benefit not only her immediate family but a society which they perceived as sorely in need of the enlightened and compassionate female influence. The doctrine of “spiritual motherhood” (as this general view of the female mission may conveniently be termed) grew out of nineteenth century women's search for autonomy, defined as a complementary but equal female role and often contrasted to emancipation, the assimilation of male behavior and values. Although the ideology of spiritual motherhood was invoked in support of a great variety of causes, it was most systematically developed by the kindergarten movement which was concerned from the outset not only with preschool children but with the education and status of the women to whom their care was entrusted. “Women and children are the most oppressed and neglected of all,” remarked Friedrich Froebel, founder of the kindergarten movement, in 1848. “They have not yet been fully recognized in their dignity as parts of human society. If progress and a greater degree of freedom depend largely upon the degree of universal culture, then it is women, to whom God and Nature have pointed out the first educational office in the family, on whom this progress depends.”

Type
Articles
Information
History of Education Quarterly , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , Fall 1982 , pp. 319 - 339
Copyright
Copyright © 1982 by History of Education Society 

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References

Notes

NOTE: These footnotes are intended chiefly to identify direct quotations. For the sake of brevity, extensive discussions of secondary literature have not been included. German editions of some of the works cited are difficult if not impossible to find in this country; therefore English translations have sometimes been quoted. I should like to thank the staffs of the Hamburg Staatsarchiv, the Pestalozzi-Froebel-Haus, the Pestalozzi-Froebel-Verband and the Helene-Lange-Stiftung for their very willing and generous assistance.Google Scholar

1. Lyschinska, Mary, Henriette Schrader-Breymann: Ihr Leben aus Briefen und Tagebüchern zusammengestellt, 2 vols. (Berlin and Leipzig, 1922), II, 238; Goldschmidt, Henriette, “Tochterschule oder Fachschule?,” Der Frauen-Anwalt, 1874, 187; Froebel, Friedrich, quoted in von Marenholtz-Bülow, Bertha, Reminiscences of Friedrich Froebel, trans. Mann, Mary (Boston, 1895), p. 142.Google Scholar

2. Gervinus, Georg, Leben von ihm Selbst (Leipzig, 1893), p. 239, quoted in Sheehan, James J., German Liberalism in the Nineteenth Century (Chicago, 1978), p. 14. For diverse views of changing status of middle class women see Gerhard, Ute, Verhältnisse und Verhinderungen: Frauenarbeit, Familie und Recht der Frauen im neunzehnten Jahrhundert (Frankfurt, 1978) and (for a comparative perspective) Douglas, Ann, The Feminization of American Culture (original edition, New York, 1977, paperback edition 1978), pp. 50–94. Educational attitudes of Vormärz liberals are described in Sheehan, , Liberalism, pp. 5–18. One discussion of increased concern with child-rearing in the nineteenth century is Shorter, Edward, The Making of the Modern Family (New York, 1975), pp. 168–204.Google Scholar

3. Witte, Karl Heinrich Gottfried, The Education of Karl Witte or The Training of the Child (reprint Arno Press, 1975); passim. Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich, “Bericht an die Eltern,” in Sämtliche Werke, 21 vols. (Zurich, 1964), XXI, pp. 31–33. Pestalozzi's educational views are discussed in Silber, Kate, Pestalozzi: the Man and his Work (New York, 1973), pp. 37–52.Google Scholar

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5. Froebel, Friedrich, Pedagogics of the Kindergarten, trans. Jarvis, Josephine (New York, 1904), pp. 8–9 (original edition: Froebel, , Die Pädagogik des Kindergartens, ed. Wichard Lange, Berlin, 1861). Froebel, Friedrich, Letters on the Kindergarten (German edition 1887; English translation Syracuse, 1896), p. 222. Biographical works on Froebel are numerous; one English-language biography is Downs, Robert B., Friedrich Froebel (Boston, 1978). Froebel's autobiographical writings are contained in Froebel, Friedrich, Autobiography, trans. Michaelis, E. and Moore, H. K. (London, 1908), passim. A discussion of Froebel's educational theories in historical context is Bollnow, Otto Friedrich, Die Pädagogik der deutschen Romantik (Stuttgart 1952), passim.Google Scholar

6. Froebel, Friedrich, Entwurf eines Planes zur Begründung und Ausführung eines Kindergartens (Leipzig, 1840), p. 29, 11, 1. His opinion about the status of women was widely quoted, for example in Goldschmidt, Henriette, Bertha von Marenholtz-Bülow: Ihr Leben und Wirken im Dienste der Erziehungslehre Friedrich Froebels (Hamburg, 1896), p. 5. Origins of the kindergarten are also discussed in Heinsohn, Gunnar, Vorschulerziehung in der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft (Original edition 1971; paperback edition 1974), pp. 50–62.Google Scholar

7. von Meysenbug, Malwida, Memoiren einer Idealistin, 2 vols. (Stuttgart, 1922), I. p. 194. Biographical information on Johanna Goldschmidt in “Johanna Goldschmidt,” Frauen-Zeitung, Dec. 7, 1894; biographical information on Henriette Goldschmidt in Muller, Maria, Frauen im Dienste Friedrich Froebels (Leipzig, 1928), pp. 137–161.Google Scholar

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9. Lyschinska, , Henriette Schrader-Breymann, I, p. 80. For another account of feminism and the 1848 Revolution see Zucker, Stanley, “German Women and the Revolution of 1848: Kathinka Zitz-Halein and the Humania Association,” Central European History, 13, 3 (September, 1980):237–254.Google Scholar

10. Text of petition given in Hoffmann, Erika, Vorschulerziehung in Deutschland: Entwicklung im Abriss (Witten, 1971), p. 97. Middendorff, Wilhelm, Die Kindergarten: Bedürfnis der Zeit, Grundlage einigender Volkserziehung. Der deutschen Nationalversammlung zur Würdigung vorgelegt (Blankenburg bei Rudolstadt, 1848), p. 26, 44.Google Scholar

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12. Account of ban on Prussian kindergartens in Hoffmann, , Vorschulerziehung, pp. 37–38 and in von Marenholtz-Bülow, Bertha, Recollections of Friedrich Froebel, pp. 197–201; Kladderadatsch, 3 (1851):36, 142.Google Scholar

13. Goldschmidt, Henriette, Bertha von Marenholtz-Bülow, p. 41; Marenholtz-Bülow, , Recollections of Friedrich Froebel, pp. 130–131.Google Scholar

14. Marenholtz' ideas on Volkskindergarten and training for industrial work are expressed in von Marenholtz-Bülow, Bertha, Die Arbeit und die neue Erziehung (Berlin, 1864), p. 53. Quotation on motherly mission of upper-class women in von Marenholtz-Bülow, Bertha, Froebel's Infant Gardens (London, 1855), p. 86. On development of liberalism at mid-century see Sheehan, , Liberalism, pp. 79–94.Google Scholar

15. von Marenholtz-Bülow, Bertha, Woman's Educational Mission: Being an Explanation of Froebel's System of Infant Gardens (London, 1855), p. 3; Marenholtz-Bülow, , Froebel's Infant Gardens, p. 80.Google Scholar

16. An account of Marenholtz' travels is in Goldschmidt, Henriette, Berthe von Marenholtz-Bülow, pp. 43–53. Information on the development of the kindergarten movement in the German states is in Galdikaité, Monika, Die innere und äussere Entwicklung des Kindergartens (Kaunas, 1928), pp. 17–29 and Hoffmann, , Vorschulerziehung, pp. 39–43.Google Scholar

17. An account of competition between confessional nurseries and Froebel kindergartens is in Hoffmann, , Vorschulerziehung, pp. 37–38 and Krecker, Margot, Aus der Geschichte der Kleinkindererziehung: Quellentexte (Berlin, 1959), pp. 120–149. The Bavarian government memorandum is quoted in Krecker, , Vorschulerziehung, p. 118. The 1892 survey of kindergartens and training seminars is in Morgenstern, Lina, Frauenarbeit in Deutschland (Berlin, 1893), pp. 206–230. The Pomeranian incident is described in Liebknecht, Wilhelm, Wissen ist Macht, Macht ist Wissen und andere bildungspolitische Aufsätze, ed. Brumme, H. (Berlin, 1968), p. 123.Google Scholar

18. Account of founding of Deutscher Froebelverband in Hofmann, , Vorschulerziehung, pp. 42–43. Quotation from Johanna Goldschmidt in “Jahresbericht des Hamburger Froebelvereins,” Der Frauen-Anwalt, 1873, p. 93. Materials on the Hamburger Froebelverein, including yearly reports and a newspaper clipping file, are held in the Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Boxes 861–862.Google Scholar

19. Kohler, August, Winke für angehende Froebelvereine (Weimar, 1872), p. 3; Goldschmidt, Johanna, Bericht uber die Tätigkeit des Hamburger Froebelvereins (Hamburg, 1882), p. 4 (Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Box 861). Description of seminar curriculum in the same report, 6. More information on the activities of the various Froebel societies may be found in the archive of the Pestalozzi-Froebel-Verband in West Berlin. Response to petition quoted in Hoffmann, , Vorschulerziehung, p. 44.Google Scholar

20. Quotations from Henriette Schrader-Breymann are in Lyschinska, , Henriette Schrader-Breymann, II, p. 114 and Schrader-Breymann, Henriette, Kleine pädagogische Schriften in Kleine pädagogische Texte, 5 vols. (Berlin, 1930) V, p. 25. Account of founding of Pestalozzi-Froebel-Haus in Lyschinska, Henriette Schrader-Breymann, II, pp. 1–5 and in Müller, , Frauen im Dienste Friedrich Froebels, pp. 124–135.Google Scholar

21. Schrader's own account of the activities of the Pestalozzi-Froebel-Haus is in Schrader-Breymann, Henriette, Der Volkskindergarten im Pestalozzi-Froebel-Haus (Berlin, 1890), pp. 1–15. On Soziale Frauenschule see Chronik der sozialen Frauenschule: Wohlfahrtsschule Pestalozzi-Froebelhaus, 1899–1929 (Berlin, 1929), passim. This report as well as a great deal more material on the activities of the Pestalozzi-Froebel-Haus are held in its archive, which also owns several volumes of the Vereins-Zeitung des Pestalozzi-Froebel-Haus and Kindergarten magazine. Accounts of visits of Friedrich and Victoria in Lyschinska, , Henriette Schrader-Breymann, II, pp. 31–55.Google Scholar

22. Quotation from Schrader in Lyschinska, , Henriette Schrader-Breymann, II, p. 184. Lesson suggestions in Hamminck-Schepel, Annette, Ausführliche Bearbeitung der Vier Monatsgegenstände im Pestalozzi-Froebel Haus (Berlin, 1893), pp. 33–37 and Schrader-Breymann, Henriette, Volkskindergarten, pp. 35–38. Quotations on purpose of Haus, Pestalozzi-Froebel in Lyschinska, , Henriette Schrader-Breymann, II, p. 187 and 255. On social views of left-wing liberals of the late nineteenth century see Sheehan, , Liberalism, pp. 123–141.Google Scholar

23. Quotation from Henriette Schrader in Lyschinska, , Henriette Schrader-Breymann, II, p. 16 and 245–246. On Addams' idea of settlement-house worker see Levine, Daniel, Jane Addams and the Liberal Tradition (Madison, 1971), pp. 34–73.Google Scholar

24. Quotations from Schrader are from a series of articles in Die Nation: “Zur Frauenfrage,” Die Nation, 7 (1889):569, and “Weibliche Erziehung,” Die Nation, 7 (1889): p. 629 and 631. Schrader's role in formation of Freisinn is described in Gilg, Peter, Die Erneuerung des demokratischen Denkens im wilhelminischen Deutschland (Wiesbaden, 1969), pp. 88–137. On pessimistic attitude of liberals see Sheehan, , Liberalism, pp. 254–255.Google Scholar

25. Quotations from Henriette Schrader is in Lyschinska, , Henriette Schrader-Breymann, II, p. 237 and 345. Opinion of Karl Schrader in Die Nation, 7 (1889):18, quoted in Gilg, , Erneuerung, p. 114.Google Scholar

26. Quotation from Henriette Schrader is in Lyschinska, ; Henriette Schrader-Breymann, II, p. 14. Text of petition from Die hohere Mädchenschule und ihre Bestimmung: Begleitschrift zu einer Petition an das preussische Unterrichtsministerium und das preussische Abgeordnetenhaus (Berlin, 1887), p. 19. Quotation from Lange in Der internationale Frauenkongress in Berlin, 1904 (Berlin, 1905). Quotation from Liebknecht in Liebknecht, Wilhelm, Wissen ist Macht, Macht ist Wissen und andere Bildungspolitische Aufsätze, ed. Brumme, H. (Berlin, 1968). Beetz' pamphlet is summarized in Hoffmann, , Vorschulerziehung, p. 50.Google Scholar

27. This issue of girls' secondary education, including the Frauenschule, was extensively discussed in the periodical Frauenbildung for example: Hilger, Lina, “Die Frauenschule,” Frauenbildung (1907):301–305. Quotation from debate in transcript reprinted in Frauenbildung (1909):295.Google Scholar

28. Quotation from Kindergarten (1911):122. The statistics on the growth of German kindergartens are from Galdikaité, , Entwicklung des Kindergartens, p. 31. The information on seminars is from Handbuch der Frauenbewegung, 5 vols. (Berlin, 1906), IV, p. 189. Information on Hamburg enrollments is from Jahresberichte des Hamburger Froebel-Vereins (Hamburg, 1909).Google Scholar

29. Statistic on the number of children enrolled in kindergartens is from Heinsohn, , Vorschulerziehung, p. 67. Statistics on enrollment in Hamburg kindergartens are in Jahresbericht über die vereinigten Bürgerkindergärten (Hamburg, 1880 and 1909). Statistics on American kindergartens, along with a discussion of their incorporation into public school systems are in Ross, Elizabeth Dale, The Kindergarten Crusade: The Establishment of Preschool Education in the United States (Athens, Ohio, 1976), pp. 83–103. The letter from Eleonore Heerwart is in the Third Report of the International Kindergarten Union, Fifth Annual Meeting (Philadelphia, 1898), p. 47.Google Scholar

30. On the incorporation of kindergarten training into Teachers College curriculum see Ross, , Kindergarten Crusade, p. 57. Complaint about competition of untrained workers is in “Die XIV Hauptversammlung des deutschen Froebel-Verbandes,” Kindergarten (1910):9. Quotation from Goldschmidt is in “Bericht über die Tätigkeit des Froebel-Vereins, Hamburger, “Der Frauen-Anwalt (1873): p. 149. Examples of working conditions are from Die Hilfe, (April 5, 1903) and Bericht Über die Tätigkeit des Hamburger Froebel-Vereins (Hamburg, 1882), p. 5.Google Scholar

31. Data on kindergarten wages is in Handbuch der Frauenbewegung, IV, p. 189. Data on women's industrial wages is in Kucynski, Jürgen, Studien zur Lage der Arbeiterin in Deutschland von 1700 bis zur Gegenwart (Berlin, 1963), pp. 143–173. Quotation is from Handbuch der Frauenbewegung, p. 189.Google Scholar

32. Dahrendorf, Ralf, Society and Democracy in Germany (New York, 1967), p. 299.Google Scholar