Emma Rendtorff

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emma Luise Rendtorff (born June 4, 1894 in Preetz ; † July 31, 1979 in Eisenach ) was a German kindergarten teacher, youth writer, illustrator and director of the Protestant kindergarten teachers' seminar at the Diakonie mother house in Eisenach, Deaconess .

Specialized book on religious education, archived in the Ida-Seele archive
Advertisement for the Eisenach seminar, archived in the Ida-Seele archive

Live and act

Emma Luise Rendtorff was the youngest of four children of the evangel. Theologian Franz Rendtorff and his wife Louise, b. Schlatter. After attending primary school, she switched to a private school in Kiel . From 1912 to 1914 she graduated from the Lyceum of the Association for Family and National Education in Leipzig , founded by Henriette Goldschmidt . There, Rendtorff passed the exam to become a state-certified kindergarten teacher .

For a short time she worked as a teaching representative at an elementary school in Leipzig. In 1915, Rendtorff worked in the Diakonissenhaus military hospital in Leipzig-Lindenau and one year later moved to Bad-Kreuznach as an educator and teacher in a children's home. From 1918 on, Rendtorff taught at the youth leader seminar of the deaconess mother house for Thuringia in Eisenach, where in 1920 she took over the leadership of the kindergarten teachers' seminar, which she held until 1946. In 1946 she joined the Eisenach mother house as a deaconess, which her father had once co-founded as a preacher in Eisenach. From 1946 to 1950, Rendtorff took over the management of the seminar for catechists, which was run by the Eisenach mother house.

For more than 20 years she was responsible for the Christian children's calendar published by the regional church council in Thuringia , for which she wrote many articles and which she illustrated in part with her own drawings. In addition, she worked for the Protestant journal Die christliche Kinderpflege since 1922 , for which she wrote many articles that were shaped by National Socialist ideology from 1933 until the magazine was banned in 1941. For example, in Die christliche Kinderpflege 1940 / H. 5–6, read:

“Intercession also includes prayer for the people and leaders, which we never, never want to miss; this is our most important service to our people, our first thanks for our leader! Every 'Heil Hitler' is a prayer all day long. "

Together with Pastor Hermann Scriba, Rector of the Eisenach Deaconess Mother House, Rendtorff headed the Association of Protestant Day Care Centers of the Thuringian Protestant Church for many years. Although she joined the NSDAP in 1937 and became a member of the NSLB in 1941, she worked to ensure that the Protestant day-care centers (kindergartens, crèches, after-school care centers) remain in the sponsorship of the church and its communities and are not taken over by the NSV. In 1950 she took over the management of the Theodor Fliedner Home.

Works (selection)

  • The tasks of Protestant child care. The practical work. In: Johannes Gehring (ed.): The evangelical child care. Memorandum for their 150th anniversary. Berlin / Leipzig 1929, pp. 224–235.
  • The image of the right “toddler teacher”, as the leaders and promoters of the toddler school thing originally carried in their hearts. In: Die christliche Kinderpflege, 36, 1928, pp. 111–115 u. 137-139.
  • How do I celebrate Christmas with my children in kindergarten? In: Die christliche Kinderpflege, 37, 1929, pp. 280–282.
  • Good toys. In: Die christliche Kinderpflege, 38, 1930, pp. 37–42.
  • Directory of good toy companies. In: Die christliche Kinderpflege, 38, 1930, pp. 42–43.
  • Single images from 100 years of German-Protestant child care. In: Der Armen- und Krankenfreund, 87, 1935, pp. 19–36.
  • The German heroic saga. In: Die Christian Kinderpflege, 43, 1935, pp. 38–50.
  • Our Bible study, the prerequisite for telling biblical stories by children. In: Die Christian Kinderpflege, 43, 1935, pp. 287–294.
  • The Eisenach kindergarten and after-school care seminar of the Evangelical Lutheran. Deaconess mother house for Thuringia in Eisenach. In: Kind Familie Staat, 2, 1936 / H. 8, pp. 24-28.
  • Christmas parties in kindergarten and after-school care center. Kaiserswerth 1930.
  • Biblical stories in kindergarten and after-school care. Dresden / Meissen 1931.
  • Lord help me! In: Christlicher Kinderkalender 1952 , p. 42.
  • Something for clever people. In: Christian children's calendar 1952 , p. 59.
  • We collect - who is involved? In: Christian children's calendar 1952 , p. 63.
  • Let flowers speak. In: Christlicher Kinderkalender 1954 , pp. 31–33.
  • Journeys of the birds. In: Christlicher Kinderkalender 1954 , pp. 34–35.
  • The Christmas tree. In: Christlicher Kinderkalender 1954 , pp. 84–85.
  • There are three of us in the bottom and other stories. Berlin / Jena 1954.
  • Have a look - I'll show you something nice, nature chats with children. Berlin / Jena 1954.
  • Come with me, I'll show you something new. Berlin 1958.
  • Happy family celebrations. Berlin / Jena 1962.
  • Open your eyes, open your hearts. Small observations of nature with drawings. Berlin / Jena 1967.
  • Have a look around. Nature chat with children. Berlin / Jena 1968.
  • My eye looks at what God built. Observations of nature in the course of the year. Berlin / Jena 1970.

literature

  • Manfred Berger : History of the public education of small children in Germany. From the first preschool facilities of the 18th century to daycare. Frankfurt am Main 2016.
  • Rainer Bookhagen: Protestant child care and the inner mission in the time of National Socialism. Volume 2, 1937-1945. Göttingen 2002, pp. 1048-1049.
  • Heidi Mühle: From Political Enthusiasm to Retreat into Biblical Texts. Theory and Practice of Religious Education 1931–1941. In: Egbert Haug-Zapp (Hrsg.): History on current tasks of social education. 100 years of the evangelical journal TPS. Bielefeld 1992, pp. 40-44.
  • Annebelle Pithan (ed.): Religious educators of the 20th century. Göttingen / Zurich 1997, pp. 417-418.
  • City of Eisenach (Ed.): Eisenacher personalities. A biographical lexicon. Weimar 2004, p. 113.
  • Manfred Berger: Sister Emma Rendtorff, in: Kurt Franz et al. (Ed.): Children's and youth literature. A lexicon (60th supplement), Meitingen 2016, pp. 1–16

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cit. n. Mühle 1992, p. 42.
  2. ↑ cf. Bookhagen 2002, p. 533 f

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rendtorff, Emma
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rendtorff, Emma Luise (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German kindergarten teacher, youth writer and deaconess
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Preetz
DATE OF DEATH July 31, 1979
Place of death Eisenach