A journey to the economic miracle era

On a time travel into the past the kindergarten st. Lukas in ketschendorf at the celebration of his 60th anniversary on saturday took his guests with him. The children from the kafer group dared to make the biggest leap back in time, bringing the economic miracle era back to life with their dance. To cornelia froboess’ well-known earworm "pack your bathing trunks …" they replayed a bathing fun from the 50s – the foundation time of the ketschendorf kindergarten.
And the journey through time continued with the strolchen, knirpsen and sternen (that’s the name of the kindergarten groups) up to the present day. There were then discoqueens sighted and a mini-edition of johnny depp’s pirate jack sparrow from "pirates of the caribbean".
Priest rolf robteuscher had in the devotion a freely interpreted version of the meeting of jesus with the children on the situation of the children of ketschendorf umgemunzt. Many of the guests felt reminded of their own childhood and youth during the journey through time, because many parents and even grandparents had attended the kindergarten in ketschendorf themselves as children.
The facility opened its doors in 1953. From 1960 the legendary "aunt edith" was in charge (edith oertel) the institution. Together with two helpers she looked after 62 children at that time. At the time, parents had to pay a weekly fee of 7.50 marks. The supporting organization was the inner mission (diakonisches werk). In 1969, the newly founded parish of st. Coburg took over the building. Lukas coburg/ketschendorf the operating carrier. The city of coburg has always been the owner of the house and land.
Important construction and expansion measures took place in 1969/1970 and 1987 (gymnasium), among others. In 1987, the courtyard was remodeled and several group rooms were prepared for the reception of small children. Until 1991, edith oertel was at the helm of the kindergarten. She was followed by rosemarie ehrlicher. Heike hofmann has been the head of the kindergarten since 1998.
"Our pedagogical work is focused on the holistic development of the children with education for independence and personal responsibility", emphasize director heike hofmann and her team. "It is important to us that all children feel safe and accepted by us."
The ketschendorf kindergarten sees itself as an institution of the protestant church firmly rooted in christian tradition. But it also includes openness and tolerance towards other cultures and religious traditions. The children and their families come from many parts of europe, from russia, poland, syria, finland, slovakia, turkey and kosovo. Children with a migration background become familiar with the german language by being together in a group.
Currently, about 70 children attend the kindergarten st. Lukas. They are divided into two regular groups, the kafer group and the star group, as well as the toddlers’ area, the knirpse and the kleine strolche. The team includes five educators, five nursery nurses and one pre-student.
The kindergarten team in ketschendorf attaches great importance to good cooperation with parents. This also includes joint activities, such as work in the house and garden or excursions and festivals. Also important is the good contact to the elementary school ketschendorf, which is only a few meters away. There are joint handicraft and gymnastics lessons or simply the popular schoolhouse discovery tour.