鈥楰indergarten鈥� survived the ban on German words
Kindergarten signifies both a garden for children, where they can play, and also a garden of children, where they can grow and develop.
Kindergarten signifies both a garden for children, where they can play, and also a garden of children, where they can grow and develop.
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esearching graduation and mortarboard for last week鈥檚 column, I discovered that schools in the United States hold graduation ceremonies for children as young as 4. There are preschool graduations, kindergarten graduations, first grade and sixth grade graduations, not to mention the more usual eighth grade and high school ceremonies.聽
Looking at this list, the word kindergarten sticks out. Most grades are identified, quite boringly, with everyday English words. Why do 5- and 6-year-olds get to attend kindergarten, with its evocative and obviously German name?聽
In the 1830s, German teacher Friedrich Froebel envisioned a revolutionary type of school for children of 4 to 7 years old. It would nurture development through three key elements: creative play; physical activity and singing; and gardening, which would teach them to notice and appreciate the natural world. To help his ideas spread, he gave his school a catchy name: the Spiel- und Besch盲ftigungsanstalt (Play and Activity Institute). A few years later he changed it, and by the 1870s there were kindergartens across Europe and the U.S. 聽
Kindergarten is formed from two German words, Kinder (鈥渃hildren鈥�) and Garten (鈥済arden鈥�). A website devoted to Froebel鈥檚 work explains that it 鈥渟ignifies both a garden for children, a location where they can observe and interact with nature, and also a garden of children, where they themselves can grow and develop.鈥� The word beautifully sums up Froebel鈥檚 vision.聽 聽
It is such a good name that it survived the wave of anti-German sentiment that swept the U.S. during World War I. German was banned from many schools and public offices 鈥� California, for example, condemned it as 鈥渁 language that disseminates the ideas of autocracy, brutality, and hatred.鈥� Towns changed their names 鈥� Potsdam, Missouri, became Pershing, after Gen. John Pershing, who commanded U.S. forces in Europe 鈥� and the country鈥檚 hundreds of German-language newspapers went bankrupt.聽
German words were also purged from the English language. Sauerkraut became 鈥渓iberty cabbage,鈥� frankfurters turned into 鈥渉ot dogs,鈥� and the Fahrenheit thermometer was viewed with suspicion. There were scattered proposals to Anglicize kindergarten too 鈥� 鈥減lay school,鈥� 鈥渟ubprimary,鈥� and 鈥減reparatory primary鈥� were all candidates 鈥� but they didn鈥檛 catch on. The idea of kindergarten was well established by 1918, and the name had to stay. As teacher Almira Winchester put it, no other word could so 鈥渁ptly and euphoniously鈥� describe it 鈥� as a happy place where children could learn and 鈥渂lossom鈥� through play.