Account of Nelly Wolffheim's experience

The author was probably Nelly Wolffheim- a reference is made to a book which she wrote: Psychoanalyse und Kindergarten. The following biographical information is taken from Kindergartenpädagogik- Online Handbuch, published by Martin R. Textor.

Nelly (Elenore) Wolffheim was born on 29 March 1879, the second and youngest child from a relatively well to do family in Berlin. Her older brother was always the favourite. Nelly describes herself as having a disturbed relationship with her 'extremely neurotic' mother.

Nelly was, in the main, taught privately on account of serious childhood illness. At the end of the 19^th century she graduated from 'Pestalozzi-Fröbelhaus', a kindergarten teacher training school. She went on to work in a number of other training schools. Renewed illness meant that she had to spend the following several years in various sanatoriums.

In 1914 she opened a private kindergarten in Hallensee, Berlin, which was run according to the philosophy of the Fröbel school, the central idea of which was to treat the school like a large family.

In 1921 Nelly Wolffheim suffered another serious set back regarding her health. Thereafter she commenced psychoanalysis and after several years of training, she began running the first kindergarten in Germany on the lines of depth psychology. She developed an interest in the study of infant sexuality, and was disappointed by the lack of interest shown by anyone else in the field on the subject.


She had to stop running the kindergarten again in 1930 on account of her health, but also because she felt too old to work with small children. After the nazi seizure of power Nelly had to give up her publishing activities and discontinue her lecture tours. From 1934 to 1939 she ran the only remaining Jewish Kindergärtnerinnenseminar, of which the document in this collection is an account.

In 1939 she came emigrated to England and lived in Oxford and London. She published works again in Germany after the war, in particular her book Kinder aus Konzentrationslagern was well received.

She died in London on 2 April 1965.

The provenance of this account of a training school for Kindergarten teachers is not known.