Bertha von Petersenn

Bertha von Petersenn (born October 4, 1862 in Hottingen ; † October 2, 1910 in Kreuzlingen ) was a Swiss reform pedagogue and head of the first German rural education home for girls (DLEHfM).

Live and act

Bertha Helene Ferdinande (nanny) von Petersenn was the eldest of four children of the important pathologist Prof. Eduard von Rindfleisch ( raised to the personal nobility status by Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria in 1890 ) and his wife Helene, nee. Rostosky. The father's academic career led the wealthy family from Zurich to Bonn, and later to Würzburg. Eduard von Rindfleisch founded the anatomical institute in the latter city.

As was customary at the time in higher circles, Bertha was tutored at home by private tutors. To complete her education, she attended the elegant Katharinen-Stift in Stuttgart , a “boarding school for daughters of the higher classes”. From early childhood the girl received private piano lessons, among others from Georg von Petersenn , who came from the Baltic States . The teacher and student married on April 11, 1882. The marriage, which was considered to be happy, had a child: daughter Jutta (* April 8, 1888 in Berlin, † June 17, 1975 ), who in 1911 met the reform pedagogue Hermann Lietz , the founder of the first German state education home, the powder mill founded in 1898 near Ilsenburg in the Harz, married.

The educational home founded by Bertha von Petersenn in Gaienhofen today

In 1884 the couple moved to Berlin . There Georg von Petersenn received a professorship at the Royal University of Music (today merged with the Berlin University of the Arts ). Bertha von Petersenn was extremely dissatisfied with the upbringing and education of girls at the time. Above all, she criticized the upbringing, which placed emphasis on outward appearances, but ignored the girls' characters. While searching for educational alternatives, she met Hermann Lietz through Moritz von Egidy in Berlin , who advertised his educational ideas in the elegant salons of the Reich capital. She was immediately fascinated by Lietz's concept of upbringing, but regretted that it was aimed exclusively at boys. That is why Bertha von Petersenn founded a private school for girls in a villa in Groß-Lichterfelde with the support of Hermann Lietz. The first DLEHfM was born, which soon moved to a more spacious house in the forest on the Stolper See, between Berlin and Potsdam (today: Wannsee / Zehlendorf district). The isolated location in nature should promote the health of the body and mind . The children should experience a holistic upbringing taking into account the individual characters and wishes and be brought up under simple living conditions in a child-friendly form in order to later become efficient adults.

In 1903 the private educational institution was about to move again. After difficult negotiations, the choice fell on Gaienhofen Castle in Gaienhofen on Lake Constance, initially leased by the Counts of Bodman. Advantages over the Berlin domicile were the large and numerous rooms, extensive gardens, its own meadows and playgrounds, but also the seclusion of the village and its rural, original environment. Georg von Petersenn bought the property in 1905. School operations began in 1904 with 14 students, four years later there were already 33 students.

Bertha von Petersenn died on October 2, 1910 during an appendix operation in the hospital in Kreuzlingen. She was buried a few days later on the school grounds. The institution she founded and managed until her death still exists today under the name Evangelisches Internatsgymnasium Schloss Gaienhofen - Ambrosius-Blarer-Gymnasium .

The grave on the school premises was dismantled in autumn 2014 and the tombstone was placed on the school premises. The Petersenns' remains were cremated and buried in the Hemmenhofen cemetery.

Fonts

Rural education home for girls at the Stolper See. In: Journal of Philosophy and Education. 8/1901, pp. 70-71.
The first year in the DLEH for girls. In: Hermann Lietz (Ed.): The third year in the German Landerziehungsheim near Ilsenburg in the Harz region. Berlin 1901, p. 82 ff.
The second year in the DLEH for girls in Stolpe am Stolpersee near Wannsee. In: Hermann Lietz (Ed.): The fourth year in German rural education homes. Berlin 1902, pp. 42 ff. And 95 ff. Online here: [1]
Easter 1904 to Easter 1905 in the food retail trade in Gaienhofen on Lake Constance. Our first year in the new food retailer in Hermann Lietz (ed.): The seventh year in German rural education centers. Bieberstein and Haubinda Castle, Voigtländers Verlag, Leipzig 1905. Online here: [2]
DLEH Gaienhofen 1906-07. In: Hermann Lietz (Ed.): Deutsche Landerziehungsheime. The ninth year (1906/1907). Leipzig 1910, p. 93 ff.
German state educational home for girls . In: Hermann Lietz: The first and second year in the German state educational home near Ilsenburg in the years 1898/1899. 2nd Edition. Leipzig: R. Voigtländers Verlag 1910, pp. 82–86.

literature

Manfred Berger : Bertha von Petersenn. In: Christ and Education. 40, issue 10, 2003, p. 35.
Manfred Berger: "True upbringing, that means building the heart". Bertha von Petersenn: Pioneer of the first German Landerziehungsheim (DLEH) for girls. A biographical and educational sketch. In: Zeitschrift für Erlebnispädagogik. 24, No. 11, 2004, pp. 49-68.
Manfred Berger: Bertha von Petersenn. A pioneer of modern experiential education? Lueneburg 2008.
Kathrin Spitzbarth, Sonja Mück: Bertha von Petersenn (1862–1910). In: Hans-Ulrich Grunder, Karin de la Roi-Frey (ed.): Reform women of the school. A reader. Baltmannsweiler 2005, pp. 48-63.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Petersenn, Bertha von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swiss reform pedagogue
DATE OF BIRTH	October 4, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hottingen
DATE OF DEATH	October 2, 1910
Place of death	Kreuzlingen