October 29, 2021

Pastor Klaus Nentwich blessed the new building at Wilhelm-Röpke-Straße 4A, which will be the second home of 40 children for the next two years...

On Friday, October 29, 2021, the time had finally come: the St. Peter and Paul Interim Kindergarten was ceremoniously inaugurated in the presence of families and staff. Pastor Klaus Nentwich blessed the new building at Wilhelm-Röpke-Straße 4A, which will serve as a second home for 40 children for the next two years. The old St. Peter and Paul Parish Kindergarten on Biegenstraße will be demolished and expanded to accommodate three groups as part of the new construction.

The last few weeks and months have been exciting and labor-intensive for everyone involved; the schedule is tight, and the imponderables are numerous. Now that everything is in place and the operating permit has been granted, we can finally get started. The children could hardly wait for the move. While they had mixed feelings about saying goodbye to their familiar surroundings at Biegenstrasse 18, their joy at the new quarters outweighs this. This is undoubtedly thanks to the teachers and kindergarten director Bernadette Baumgarten, who prepared the children for the move with great sensitivity and play. "The children were involved in many decisions. For example, we discussed together which furniture we wanted to move and what the new rooms should be called so that everyone could find their way around the still unfamiliar surroundings. The children demonstrated a great deal of creativity," says Bernadette Baumgarten. The transitional kindergarten will have an imagination building room, a knick-knack room, and a cuddle and book room.

Numerous plants from the old garden were also selected to be moved with the new garden. Strawberries, mint, lemon balm, grass from the playground, a tiny birch tree, and various flowers will beautify the garden in the new neighborhood. "We also want to plant a small apple tree, which will move back to the new kindergarten on Biegenstrasse in 2024," says Baumgarten.

The children especially enjoyed the woodpecker activity, where they were able to hack a piece of the kindergarten out of the wall with small hammers and take the stone home in a souvenir box.

The children have also been out and about a lot in recent weeks. They regularly visited the construction site on Wilhelm-Röpke-Straße and saw how the temporary kindergarten was being built. It was very exciting to see the yellow excavators moving earth, the containers being placed, and the pipes being laid. In turn, they will also visit the construction site on Biegenstraße to "check that everything is in order."

Numerous kindergarten children and their families attended the inauguration on Friday. Klaus Nentwich, pastor of St. Peter and Paul, also attended the celebrations and blessed the kindergarten. The new willow teepee and birdhouse were not forgotten.

The interim kindergarten will be open from Monday, November 1, 2021, and everyone is very excited about the new rooms, where only the names are known so far.

Only one person present will not be moving to the new kindergarten. Elfi Wünsche is retiring after 38 years as a kindergarten teacher at St. Peter and Paul. She was warmly bid farewell by everyone involved. She will certainly be a welcome guest at Wilhelm-Röpke-Straße 4A from time to time.