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Friedrich Froebel time line

21 June 1852, Marienthal

at half past six in the evening Friedrich Froebel after a short illness departed this life.

back to life of Friedrich Froebel

1855

Charles Dickens visited a Kindergarten in London and after observing the children wrote: "By cutting paper, patterns are produced in the Infant Garden that would often, though the work of very little hands, be received in schools of design with acclamation."

1856

The first American kindergarten was established at Watertown. Margarethe Schurz brought the concept of kingergarten with her from Germany. Margarethe employed Froebel's philosophy while caring for her daughter, Agathe, and four neighbor children, leading them in games and songs and group activities that channeled their energy while preparing them for school. Other parents were so impressed at the results that they prevailed upon Schurz to help their children, so she opened a small kindergarten, the first in the United States.

1861

American educator Elizabeth Palmer Peabody opened one of the first kindergartens in the United States in Boston.

1865

The Grand Duchess Helene, a princess memorable for her intellectual gifts, arranges for three Russian women to be trained in the Froebel Method in Berlin. In 1866 there was a Kindergarten in Odessa.

1869

Milton Bradley published America's first book on kindergartens, Paradise of Childhood, by Friedrich Froebel. Bradley's interest in childhood and children's education continued. In addition to selling the Froebel gifts he printed a series of kindergarten manuals, newsletters, and children's books.

1871

Baroness von Marenholtz-Buelow arrived in Florence to start a Kindergarten and teacher training school, that became a model of Froebelian purity.

1873

Froebel's former student, Henriette Schrader-Breymann (1827-1896), founded a kindergarten training institution, the Pestalozzi-Fröbel Haus, in Berlin.

Applying Friedrich Froebel's theories, Susan Blow opened the United States' first successful public kindergarten at St. Louis' Des Peres School. Blow taught children in the morning and teachers in the afternoon. By 1883 every St. Louis public school had a kindergarten, making the city a model for the nation.

Froebel Society founded in Manchester, England

1874

A Froebel Society was founded in London to promote kindergarten education and the Education Institute followed in 1892. Records relating to the Society including material on child development and infant education are held at The Froebel Archive for Childhood Studies

1876

Philadelphia Centennial, Frank Lloyd Wright's mother attends and purchases Froebel materials for her son.

Tokyo, first Japanese kindergarten

1877

In Russia there are kindergartens in St Petersburg (also a Froebel Society and teacher training college), Moscow, Kiev, Omsk, Riga and Dorpat.

1883

St. Louis - Every public school had a kindergarten, making the city a model for the nation.

Toronto - Through the efforts of Dr. James L. Hughes and his wife, Ada Marean Hughes, the Froebel kindergarten was introduced into the Toronto public schools; Toronto was the second city in the world to do so.

1885

The Education of Man, by Friedrich Froebel translated into English by Josephine Jarvis with an introduction by Elizabeth Peabody

1892 London

The Froebel Educational Institute was founded in London in 1892 to train teachers in accordance with the ideas of Friedrich Froebel, and moved to its present Roehampton location in 1921.

Now a non-denominational college within the University of Surrey Roehampton, Froebel College provides one of the most beautiful educational settings in the country, with an academic community of nearly 1500 full-time students and 100 academic staff. A delightful Georgian building, Grove House, is surrounded by both formal and wild gardens and a lake, and within the grounds there is student living and social accommodation as well as a cafe, bar and dining complex, and an internationally respected on-site nursery.

Froebel respected children as individuals with rights and responsibilities according to their ages and abilities, and his philosophy has profoundly affected educational policy and practice around the world. Roehampton Institute's Faculty of Education and Academic Support Offices are now based in the College, which also houses the unique The Froebel Archive for Childhood Studies, an archive covering the history of early childhood provision and containing a wealth of material by and about early educational pioneers such as Johann Pestalozzi, Maria Montessori and Susan Isaacs as well as Friedrich Froebel himself.

1892 Saratoga Springs, New York

Formation of International Kindergarten Union. In 1931 it merged with the National Council for Primary Education (established in 1916), and formed the Association for Childhood Education. The Association added "International" to its name in 1946 as an indication of its concern for children throughout the world. ACEI publishes a variety of materials, including books, pamphlets, bibliographies of children's literature, the ACEI Exchange monthly, Childhood Education five times a year, and the Journal of Research in Childhood Education biennially. ACEI is the oldest professional association of its type in the United States. The ACEI Book Collection includes works of German educator Friedrich Froebel. The Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) is an organization of teachers, parents, and other adults interested in promoting good educational practices for children from infancy through adolescence. Description of the holdings of the ACEI Archives

1894

The Oberlin Kindergarten Training School (OKTS) was founded at Oberlin, Ohio for the purpose of instructing young women to teach kindergarten according to the methods of German educator Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852). The Oberlin Kindergarten Association, a group of 13 women, developed plans for the school, drew up a constitution, hired the first teacher, and organized several free kindergartens in Oberlin Village where OKTS students could fulfill practice teaching requirements.

1900

200 kindergartens in Japan

1904

A Short History of Education published with an interesting section on Froebel and the Gifts

1909

There were seventy two kindergartens in Vienna.

1911

The state of Prussia acknowledged the value of the kindergarten by establishing a statewide qualifying examination for kindergarten teachers

1920

kindergartens were included in public schools in most parts of the United States.

1924

Walter Gropius of the Bauhaus commissioned to design "a national monument for the greatest friend of children and educator of mankind". Friedrich Froebelhaus was planned for Bad Liebenstein to mark the 75 anniversary of the death of Froebel, 21 June 1852. Although never built, many of the ideas for the project were included in the new buildings at Dessau for the Bauhaus

1949

German stamp with picture of Friedrich Froebel.

1971

National Froebel Foundation closed its London office and deposited historical material in The Froebel Archive for Childhood Studies

1974 - 75

Restoration of Dessau Bauhaus, which have since 1996, been listed by UNESCO as sites of world-wide cultural importance. Now the Bauhaus Complex houses the Dessau Bauhaus Foundation and old parts of the building are used by the Anhalt Technical College. Today the cultural inheritance of the Bauhaus is preserved and carried forward by the Dessau Bauhaus Foundation which also devotes itself to the design of today's living environment. This work is divided into the workshop, the collection and the academy. The stage is again used for cultural events and exhibitionsmay be visited.

1997

a new book about Froebel, Inventing Kindergarten by Norman Brosterman.

Synopsis: Invented in the 1830s by German educator Friedrich Froebel, kindergarten was designed to teach young children about art, design, mathematics, and natural history. Inventing Kindergarten uses extraordinary visual materials to reconstruct this successful system, which grew to become a familiar institution throughout the world by the end of the 19th century. 130 illustrations, 55 in color.

Froebel Societies in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan.

2002

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Inventing Kindergarten uses extraordinary visual materials to reconstruct this successful system, to teach young children about art, design, mathematics, and nature read more

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