Margarethe Schurz

Molly Meyer-Schurz (born Margarethe Meyer; also called Margaretha Meyer-Schurz or just Margarethe Schurz; born 27 August 1833 in Hamburg; died 15 March 1876) opened the first German-language Kindergarten in Watertown, WI (in the United States.)

Margarethe Meyer-Schurz was born in Hamburg as the youngest daughter of Heinrich Christian Meyer, on August 27, 1833. Her mother died only a few hours after her birth. Her father encouraged education and the arts. In Hamburg, she studied under educators influenced by the creator of the “kindergarten” concept, child advocate Friedrich Froebel. Her father died when she was 15 years old. Through her older sisters Amalie and Bertha, she came into early contact with the "Society of German Catholics" and later attended the "School for the Female Sex". After her older sister Bertha divorced her husband Friedrich Traun, she entered a new marriage with the excommunicated priest Johannes Ronge, the founder of German Catholicism.

After the failed revolution of 1848, Bertha followed Johannes Ronge into exile in London. In 1849, Margarethe and her sister Bertha met Froebel. Bertha Meyer spent 1850 and 1851 advancing the concept, opening Kindergartens across the German States. In 1851, Bertha and her spouse, Johannes Ronge, opened the England Infant Garden in Tavistock Place, the first Kindergarten in the English-speaking community. Margarethe Meyer taught at the England Infant Garden before moving to Watertown, Wisconsin with her husband Carl Schurz. In fall of 1851, Bertha became seriously sick and desperately needed help in the household. Because of this, Margarethe traveled to London as well. There she met Carl Schurz who (like Ronge) had to leave Germany for political reasons. Margarethe and Carl entered a civil marriage and traveled soon thereafter to the United States. Both were members of the Irving Literary Society. In Watertown, Wisconsin, they started a small farm, where Margarethe's gift for financial affairs put them at an advantage.

Margarethe Meyer brought Froebel's ideas to America. She spent 2 years in New York then went west.She employed Froebel's philosophy while caring for her daughter, Agathe Schurz, and four neighborhood children in Wisconsin, leading them in games, songs and group activities channeling their energy and preparing them for primary school. Other Wisconsin parents were impressed and prevailed upon Schurz to open a Watertown kindergarten, the first in the United States. And like most of the early kindergartens in the United States, the class was conducted in the German language. The Watertown kindergarten continued until the outbreak of World War I, when it was closed due to opposition to the German language’s use [Notation; the Watertown Kindergarten was in operation from fall of 1854 to fall of 1856, when Margarethe Schurz and her family relocated to Milwaukee, WI for the winters-returning to Watertown only in the summers*. In 1856 the mortgage on her home was foreclosed as a result she moved back to Hamburg in June of the same year. After a year or so she returned to America. She settled in Missouri The School did not continue after 1856 until it was brought back into public education [date unknown].

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