Löwenzahn kindergarten celebrates its 175th anniversary

The municipal kindergarten "Löwenzahn" is celebrating a special anniversary this year: children have been looked after, accompanied and supported here since 1851. This makes the centre one of the oldest of its kind in Bavaria and Germany.

"When I first read that our Löwenzahn kindergarten was turning 175 years old, I paused for a moment. 175 years! Rosenheim was therefore an early pioneer in childcare. The mission was the same then as it is now: to offer our children the best possible conditions for their lives," emphasises Lord Mayor Abuzar Erdogan.

"Kinderbewahranstalt" - that was the name of the facility when it opened 175 years ago. A name that sounds unusual from today's perspective, but was in keeping with the spirit of the times. As industrialisation progressed, the need for workers also grew in Rosenheim - and therefore for reliable care for their children. The order of the "Poor School Sisters of Our Lady" took on this task and characterised the facility for many decades.

The children were initially cared for in different premises, for example in the girls' school built in 1876 in Heilig-Geist-Straße or later in the Stollstraßenschule. As demand increased, further branches were established in the city centre. In 1930, the childcare centre was finally given the name "kindergarten".

In 1960, the centre moved to a new building in Kaiserstraße in the old Kaiserbadpark - where it is still located today. Renovations and extensions followed. Another significant change followed in 2000: with the departure of the School Sisters, sponsorship was transferred completely to the city of Rosenheim. At the same time, the centre was given its current name - the "Löwenzahn" municipal kindergarten.

Today, the Löwenzahn kindergarten stands for modern, inclusive and diverse educational work, including integration groups in which children with special educational needs have been receiving targeted support since 2017. The kindergarten is also a place of living diversity: around a third of the children grow up multilingual. Individual support, learning together and respectful interaction are at the centre of everyday educational life.