Ulf Sauerbrey – författare

Friedrich Froebel, the ‘father of kindergarten’, is one of the most influential pedagogues of the 19th century. However, relatively little is known about his life, his successes and failures, and his personal relationships. Based on many untranslated and unknown letters, this new biography presents Froebel as a brilliant but also flawed man. Beginning with his childhood and the early death of his mother, as well as his difficult relationship with his father and stepmother, we see the early seeds of Froebel’s interest in children and the training of early childhood practitioners. While Froebel lacked basic academic knowledge due to his poor early education, he was able to overcome these deficits and found an educational institute, and develop ground-breaking educational theories about play and pedagogy. He authored multiple books, including his most famous work The Education of Man. The focus of this book, though, is not on Froebel’s educational theories but on his complicated relationships with his family, the Keilhau community, and the mother of one of his pupils, Caroline von Holzhausen, whom he called the “rune of his life”. After many personal and professional disappointments, Froebel finally came up with the idea that made him famous until today: kindergarten. In the last decade of his life, he became a salesman of this new idea and worked tirelessly for the establishment of the kindergarten movement. However, when the Prussian government banned kindergarten shortly before his death, Froebel was broken – even if kindergarten lives until today.

Friedrich Froebel, the ‘father of kindergarten’, is one of the most influential pedagogues of the 19th century. However, relatively little is known about his life, his successes and failures, and his personal relationships. Based on many untranslated and unknown letters, this new biography presents Froebel as a brilliant but also flawed man. Beginning with his childhood and the early death of his mother, as well as his difficult relationship with his father and stepmother, we see the early seeds of Froebel’s interest in children and the training of early childhood practitioners. While Froebel lacked basic academic knowledge due to his poor early education, he was able to overcome these deficits and found an educational institute, and develop ground-breaking educational theories about play and pedagogy. He authored multiple books, including his most famous work The Education of Man. The focus of this book, though, is not on Froebel’s educational theories but on his complicated relationships with his family, the Keilhau community, and the mother of one of his pupils, Caroline von Holzhausen, whom he called the “rune of his life”. After many personal and professional disappointments, Froebel finally came up with the idea that made him famous until today: kindergarten. In the last decade of his life, he became a salesman of this new idea and worked tirelessly for the establishment of the kindergarten movement. However, when the Prussian government banned kindergarten shortly before his death, Froebel was broken – even if kindergarten lives until today.

Friedrich Froebel, the ''father of kindergarten'', is one of the most influential pedagogues of the 19th century. However, relatively little is known about his life, his successes and failures, and his personal relationships. Based on many untranslated and unknown letters, this new biography presents Froebel as a brilliant but also flawed man. Beginning with his childhood and the early death of his mother, as well as his difficult relationship with his father and stepmother, we see the early seeds of Froebel''s interest in children and the training of early childhood practitioners. While Froebel lacked basic academic knowledge due to his poor early education, he was able to overcome these deficits and found an educational institute, and develop ground-breaking educational theories about play and pedagogy. He authored multiple books, including his most famous work The Education of Man. The focus of this book, though, is not on Froebel''s educational theories but on his complicated relationships with his family, the Keilhau community, and the mother of one of his pupils, Caroline von Holzhausen, whom he called the “rune of his life”. After many personal and professional disappointments, Froebel finally came up with the idea that made him famous until today: kindergarten. In the last decade of his life, he became a salesman of this new idea and worked tirelessly for the establishment of the kindergarten movement. However, when the Prussian government banned kindergarten shortly before his death, Froebel was broken – even if kindergarten lives until today.

Friedrich Froebel, the ''father of kindergarten'', is one of the most influential pedagogues of the 19th century. However, relatively little is known about his life, his successes and failures, and his personal relationships. Based on many untranslated and unknown letters, this new biography presents Froebel as a brilliant but also flawed man. Beginning with his childhood and the early death of his mother, as well as his difficult relationship with his father and stepmother, we see the early seeds of Froebel''s interest in children and the training of early childhood practitioners. While Froebel lacked basic academic knowledge due to his poor early education, he was able to overcome these deficits and found an educational institute, and develop ground-breaking educational theories about play and pedagogy. He authored multiple books, including his most famous work The Education of Man. The focus of this book, though, is not on Froebel''s educational theories but on his complicated relationships with his family, the Keilhau community, and the mother of one of his pupils, Caroline von Holzhausen, whom he called the “rune of his life”. After many personal and professional disappointments, Froebel finally came up with the idea that made him famous until today: kindergarten. In the last decade of his life, he became a salesman of this new idea and worked tirelessly for the establishment of the kindergarten movement. However, when the Prussian government banned kindergarten shortly before his death, Froebel was broken – even if kindergarten lives until today.

Das Buch vermittelt grundlegendes Wissen über das Spielen in der frühen Kindheit für Fachkräfte in der beruflichen pädagogischen Praxis, aber auch für Eltern, Studierende und für die wissenschaftliche Fachöffentlichkeit. Durch interdisziplinäre und pädagogisch zugespitzte Perspektiven werden u.a. Spielformen und Spielorte kleiner Kinder thematisiert. Zudem wird auf die Bedeutung von Dingen und Medien im Kinderspiel aufmerksam gemacht. Durch das Buch zieht sich dabei eine Auseinandersetzung mit dem Grundproblem jeder spielpädagogischen Praxis, die sich immer im Spannungsfeld zwischen "angeleiteten" und "freien" Spielarrangements bewegt.

Das Buch vermittelt grundlegendes Wissen über das Spielen in der frühen Kindheit für Fachkräfte in der beruflichen pädagogischen Praxis, aber auch für Eltern, Studierende und für die wissenschaftliche Fachöffentlichkeit. Durch interdisziplinäre und pädagogisch zugespitzte Perspektiven werden u.a. Spielformen und Spielorte kleiner Kinder thematisiert. Zudem wird auf die Bedeutung von Dingen und Medien im Kinderspiel aufmerksam gemacht. Durch das Buch zieht sich dabei eine Auseinandersetzung mit dem Grundproblem jeder spielpädagogischen Praxis, die sich immer im Spannungsfeld zwischen "angeleiteten" und "freien" Spielarrangements bewegt.

Fröbel, das Spiel und der Kindergarten sind untrennbar miteinander verbunden. Der vorliegende Band wirft mit seiner Auswahl an bisher weitgehend unveröffentlichten Quellen Blicke auf die frühe Geschichte einzelner Kindergärten und auf die Spielpädagogik Friedrich Fröbels. Als zentraler Akteur in Hinsicht auf die Konzeption und Verbreitung des Kindergartens sowie als Vermittler der von ihm ausgebildeten Kindergärtnerinnen und Spielführer stand Fröbel historisch am Beginn einer heute weltweit verbreiteten Bildungseinrichtung.

Friedrich Fröbel ist als Entdecker des ersten Kindergartens und Entwickler von Spielgaben zwar durchaus bekannt. Wie seine Spielpädagogik jedoch als System beschaffen ist, was in dieser die ›Pflege des kindlichen Spiel- und Beschäftigungstriebes‹ bedeutet und wie Fröbels elementardidaktische Ideen im Laufe seines Lebens überhaupt entstanden sind, ist außerhalb der Fröbelforschung bislang kaum bekannt.Der Band richtet sich an Interessierte aus Wissenschaft und Praxis, besonders jedoch an Studierende der pädagogischen Fächer und Disziplinen. Sein Ziel ist die Bereitstellung grundlegender Kenntnisse über pädagogische Zäsuren in Fröbels Biografie, die seine Spielpädagogik beeinflussten. Im Zentrum steht die Beschreibung der Fröbelschen Spielpädagogik als Ideengerüst und Handlungskonzept. Ergänzt wird dieser historische Zugang um einen gegenwartsbezogenen Brückenschlag, der die bislang ungebrochene Aktualität der Spielpädagogik Fröbels exemplarisch aufzeigt.