“Whoa, a Train!”
Studying with a child is day-to-day reality for some students. But where should the child go when it is time for lectures? This is not a new question. In the late 1980s, around 6% of students had children—and the number was increasing.
At the 1989 dedication of the Studentenwerk’s* new daycare center in N6 9, the then President of the university, Otto H. Jacobs, brought along wooden tracks, tiny locomotives, and toy train cars. The Studentenwerk had turned a former facility manager’s apartment into a child-friendly space for 12 to 14 children aged 3+ to make it easier for their parents to study. Because public funds were tight, in his opening speech Jacobs called on Mannheim retail and department stores to donate toys to top up the basic supply the daycare center had available.
That was not the first institution that Mannheim’s Studentenwerk set up to support young parents while they studied, however. Over 50 years ago on 2 November 1972, the university announced: “The university kindergarten is open!” With the sponsorship of the Studentenwerk, which had set up a fund for the kindergarten, four rooms and a kitchen were provided across two floors in building L4 7. At the beginning, a kindergarten spot cost DM 60 per month plus DM 2.70 per day for the meals (breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack). A trained youth leader and three staff members looked after up to 35 children between the ages of three and six either for the whole day or for half-days. The educational goal was to “teach the children in accordance with the latest research on preprimary education.” The idea was that the kindergarten would be a university institution with an educational plan created by the kindergarten’s board of trustees. One major drawback was that there was no yard, but the staff made sure the children got enough exercise with regular times for gymnastics and sports. Field trips to nearby attractions such as Holiday Park, the Wildgehege (a wildlife enclosure), or Heidelberg Zoo were highlights in the kindergarten year.
Today the university continues to offer childcare: In the Mannheim Studierendenwerk’s Kinderhaus in N6, close to campus, children between the ages of one and six are cared for. Students and staff can apply for spots for their children.
*It was not until the third amendment to the higher education act in 2014 that the Baden-Württemberg state government officially renamed all “Studentenwerke” to “Studierendenwerke,” which is why the historically correct name “Studentenwerk” is used here.
Text: Dr. Sandra Eichfelder/