First Kindergarten
919 Charles St., Watertown, Wisconsin
Photos
America's First Kindergarten
The concept of a Kindergarten (literally, "Children Garden") was developed in Germany by Frederich Froebel in 1837 in Blankenburg, Germany. The Prussian government, that didn't care much Froebel, banned the Kindergarten in 1851 but by then, the concept had already spread to the rest of Europe. Margarethe Schurz, wife of pioneer conservationist and former Secretary of the Interior, Carl Schurz, opened her first Kindergarten in this building in 1856.
Because of the significance of the German-speaking Kindergarten, the building was moved to this location as a part of the Watertown Historical Society's park here, site of the Octagon House.
Photo taken by J.R. Manning
National Register information
- Status
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on February 23, 1972
- Reference number
- 72000055
- Area of significance
- Education
- Level of significance
- National
- Evaluation criteria
- A - Event; B - Person
- Property type
- Building
- Historic function
- School
- Current function
- Museum
- Period of significance
- 1850-1874
- Significant year
- 1856
Sources
- J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
- National Register database - Reference number 72000055
© Copyright 2002-13, James Baughn and contributors.
This page's URL is http://landmarkhunter.com/131961-first-kindergarten/
This page's URL is http://landmarkhunter.com/131961-first-kindergarten/