"Punch was my nanny": Head of the first hour of the evangelical kindergarten

Created: 01/12/2022 09:06

Old times: Thea Schulze takes a look at things from the past together with the self-made puppet, which served her well in raising children in the old days.

It shows her surrounded by a group of children.

© Photo: cless-wesle

The evangelical kindergarten celebrated its 60th birthday on the first Sunday in Advent.

A good reason to meet up with Thea Schulze, who has been the manager from the very beginning.

Gauting – For her “formers” like former mayor Ekkehard Knobloch, the director of the school of fantasy Rosemarie Zacher or church councilor Robert Rapp, she is simply “Aunt Thea”.

Because Thea Schulze (93), the first head of the Protestant kindergarten founded in 1962, was and is an institution in Gauting.

Generations of children drew their first pictures here, heard biblical stories or applauded the Punch and Judy show.

And that's how it happened.

"I came to the West before the Wall was built in 1954," says the native of Radeberg.

First she worked in the refugee camp Geretsried.

One day the then Gautingen pastor Robert Preuss offered her the management of the Protestant kindergarten.

So in 1962 she moved to the newly built low-rise building next to the Christ Church in Gauting.

Thea Schulze has the best memories of her parents, most of whom were her age at the time

"In the early years I was pretty much on my own," she says.

In the mornings alone, 25 children had to be cared for.

The self-made Kasperl did her a lot of service.

"He was my nanny." Because when the girls and boys hadn't cleaned up again, she pulled him out.

Punch and Judy then said: "How's it looking here?" And the children got to work.

She has the best memories of her parents, most of whom were her age at the time.

"They were fantastic," recalls the petite senior.

For these women and men - some of whom had returned from the war, but also refugees or young mothers and fathers who had moved to Gauting with their children after studying or vocational training - the Protestant kindergarten was the first point of contact.

"These Gautingen parents were happy that they had survived the war and that they could entrust their children to me," the teacher recalls.

In the post-war period there was a housing shortage.

Therefore, she initially had to make do with the empty children's room in the vicarage.

Later she had her own small apartment in the newly built kindergarten.

"Although I was a stranger, I immediately felt at home in the Gauting parish."

At least ten church leaders emerged from parenthood in Thea Schulze's time

At least ten church leaders have emerged from parenthood during her time.

For example Robert Rapp, whose son Christoph looked after "Aunt Thea".

The team spirit was great: "The Protestant community with a pastor, church council, parents' council and kindergarten were all one," says the educator in retrospect.

The kindergarten with a focus on theater and handicrafts has always had a good reputation.

"Also among my successors, who still take care of me to this day."

"Tante Thea's" Kasperl theater performances are legendary: once a year, the educator had her puppets dance for her "formers", including children with Down Syndrome, at festivals organized by the Gautingen disabled association "Unser Club".

Even when her pupils had long since reached adulthood.

The fact that the kindergarten, which she played a key role in building, is being outsourced after 60 years, makes her a little wistful.

On January 1st, the parish handed over the two-group kindergarten next to the Christ Church to the Bavarian Red Cross as the new sponsor.