Anna Essinger
Encyclopedia
Anna Essinger was a German-Jewish educator. At the age of 20, she went to finish her education in the United States, where she encountered Quakers and was greatly influenced by their attitudes, adopting them for her own. In 1919, she returned to Germany on a Quaker war relief mission and was asked by her sister, who had founded a children's home, to help establish a school with it. She and her family founded a boarding school, the Landschulheim Herrlingen in 1926, with Anna Essinger as headmistress. In 1933, with the Nazi threat looming and the permission of all the parents, she moved the school and its 66 children, mostly Jewish, to safety in England, re-establishing it as the Bunce Court School
. During the war, Essinger established a reception camp for 10,000 German children sent to England on the Kindertransport
s, taking some of them into the school. After the war, her school took many child survivors of Nazi concentration camps. By the time Essinger closed Bunce Court in 1948, she had taught and cared for over 900 children, most of whom called her "Tante" (Aunt) Anna, or TA, for short. She remained in close contact with her former pupils for the rest of her life.
, the oldest of six girls and three boys, to a non-observant Jewish couple, Fanny (née Oppenheimer) and Leopold Essinger. Her grandfather was David Essinger (1817–1899), a doctor. Leopold Essinger had an insurance business and served in World War I
in Verdun
, France. While in the imperial German army
, he became convinced that there was widespread anti-semitism
among the officers.
In 1899, at the age of 20, Essinger went to the United States to live with her aunt in Nashville, Tennessee. While in Tennessee, she became acquainted with Quakers, becoming deeply impressed and beginning a life-long association with them. She graduated college with a degree in German studies
, financing her education by teaching German and by running a private students' hostel, which she founded. She later received an M.A.
in education at the University of Wisconsin, became a teacher and lectured at the university in Madison, Wisconsin
. Working with Quaker-sponsored humanitarian aid, she returned to Germany in 1919. Her task was to convince mayors, teachers and school rectors to set up kitchens so that children could have a hot meal once a day. She also collected food and clothing.
In 1912, using her dowry
, her sister, Klara Weimersheimer, founded an orphanage in Herrlingen, where she cared for problem children, as well as those mentally unstable and retarded
. In 1925, as her own children and many of the children in care came of school age, she got the idea to turn the orphanage into a Landschulheim (boarding school). Several members of the Essinger family became involved, paving the way for it to open a year later. The Landschulheim Herrlingen opened on May 1, 1926 as a private
boarding school
with 18 children ranging in age from 6 to 12. Anna Essinger became headmistress and her sister Paula (1892-1975), a trained nurse, became the school nurse and its housekeeper.
. She ran Landschulheim Herrlingen like a Montessori program, placing high value on communal living, mutual respect and a shared sense of responsibility for the school. Each and every one, whether teacher or pupil, was to feel responsible to the community. The school was non-denominational, accepting children from all religions, coeducational and the pupils were on a first name basis with the teachers, who also lived at the school.
Essinger was described as a "formidable figure", "stout and stern" and as having the children's welfare at heart. She was a strict disciplinarian with both staff and pupils, but provided a loving, family environment. Most staff and pupils called her "Tante Anna" (Aunt Anna) or just TA, for short.
The children learned two languages from the first day of school on, with emphasis on the spoken, rather than the written word. Essinger believed that children should have physical exercise before breakfast. and great emphasis was placed on physical exercise. Learning was accomplished through living, whether from daily walks in the woods, from the tasks required of the children in and around the building, or at meal time, where there were "English" and "French" tables and those sitting at them would speak in those languages during the meal. The arts were also offered. In addition to painting, drawing, singing and drama, the children learned to play music. In the evening, Anna Essinger read a story and then gave each child a "good night kiss" before sending them off to bed. A 1927 report by the Ministry of Science, Art and Education (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Kunst und Volksbildung) described Essinger as "extremely competent" and her teaching as "skillful, fresh and stimulating".
's rise to power and the growing Nazi threat were viewed ominously by Essinger, who immediately went about quietly boycotting the Third Reich. All public buildings were ordered to fly the Nazi flag with its swastika on Hitler's birthday in 1933, so Essinger planned a day of hiking for the pupils, leaving the flag to fly over an empty building. Essinger said, "Atop an empty building, the flag can neither convey nor harm as much." She was denounced within the Nazi Party and the Nazi authorities' attitude toward the school became increasingly negative. It was recommended that an inspector be installed at the school. Essinger, realizing that her school had no future in Germany, and encouraged by her father to leave the country, began to look abroad for a new home for the school. After looking in Switzerland and the Netherlands, she found a property in southern England. The children's parents were informed and gave their approval for Essinger and her teachers to take 66 children out of Germany. Essinger arranged a well-disguised trip for the group and on September 5, 1933, they arrived in southern England. Astutely, Essinger did not formally close the school, but turned it over to Hugo Rosenthal. It became a home for Jewish children and a center for Jewish life in southern Germany, with an enrollment of more than 100 children.
An old manor house
dating from the time of Henry VIII was found in the village of Otterden
near Faversham
, in the County of Kent. The house was large, with extensive grounds, making it ideal for a boarding school. Funds were meager, so work on the property was done by the staff and pupils, causing British education inspectors to view the new school unfavorably at the outset. In 1933, England was still secure and war had not yet broken out and people were not aware of what was going on in Germany and why Essinger and the school had left. Within a year or two, however, enough improvements had been made that local officials realized the school was quite special; Essinger won the respect of the local authorities and had advocates from all areas of public life. She sought English host families for children to visit on weekends; and at the school, held concerts, theatrical programs, sports contests and an annual "Open Day", involving the children in English life and the community with the school.
After Kristallnacht
, on November 9–10, 1938, Essinger was asked to set up a reception camp in Dovercourt
for 10,000 German children who would be arriving on the Kindertransport
s. Essinger, then nearly 60 years old, worked with three teachers, her cook and six of the older pupils to establish the camp, taking some of them into her school. With this, she also sought out families and homes to care for refugee children. Local British committees sought out placements for the children and tried to match children with families where they would fit in. However, the manner in which it was done appalled Essinger, who likened it to a "cattle market", where attractive children were chosen, but less attractive ones were not, lowering morale. The experience of running the reception camp and placing the children was so difficult, that afterward, Essinger refused to talk about it.
In 1940, the school again had to evacuate when southern England became a defence area. Essinger and about 100 children and teachers relocated the school to "Trench Hall" in Shropshire
. They were not able to return to Bunce Court until 1946. Having finished her life's work, Essinger closed the school in 1948 and retired.
After she closed her school, Essinger spent her remaining years living at Bunce Court, and maintained correspondence with her former pupils. She helped both children and adults in distress with her motto, "Give children a hand, give them a chance".
, Leslie Brent
, Gerard Hoffnung
, Frank Marcus
, Peter Morley
, and Helmut
and Richard Sonnenfeldt
. Bunce Court alumni returned at every opportunity while the school was still in existence; after it closed, they held reunions for 55 years.
In 1959, in honor of Essinger's 80th birthday, Bunce Court alumni planted a grove of trees in Israel that was named after her.
In 1990, a realschule
in Ulm and a Kuhberg gymnasium (secondary school) were named for Anna Essinger. Some of her personal papers are archived at the Ida Seele Archive in Dillingen an der Donau. The archive is devoted to research of the history of education and social pedagogy. In July 2007, the original Bunce Court school bell was retrieved from California, where it had been saved and stored by Ernst Weinberg, a former pupil, and was reinstalled on top of the schoolhouse. A plaque honoring Essinger and the school was erected at the same time.
In 2004, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography added an entry for Essinger, unusual for someone who became a naturalized British citizen late in life. Also in 2004, the city of Ulm celebrated its 1,150th anniversary and along with it, the birthdays of Anna Essinger and Albert Einstein
, both born there. The celebration for Essinger lasted a week and was attended by family members from the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as Germany; and former students.
Bunce Court School
The Bunce Court School was an independent, private boarding school in the village of Otterden, in Kent, England. It was founded in 1933 by Anna Essinger, who had previously founded a boarding school, Landschulheim Herrlingen in the south of Germany, but after the Nazi Party seized power in 1933,...
. During the war, Essinger established a reception camp for 10,000 German children sent to England on the Kindertransport
Kindertransport
Kindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...
s, taking some of them into the school. After the war, her school took many child survivors of Nazi concentration camps. By the time Essinger closed Bunce Court in 1948, she had taught and cared for over 900 children, most of whom called her "Tante" (Aunt) Anna, or TA, for short. She remained in close contact with her former pupils for the rest of her life.
Early years
Essinger was born on Hafengasse ("Harbor Lane") in UlmUlm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
, the oldest of six girls and three boys, to a non-observant Jewish couple, Fanny (née Oppenheimer) and Leopold Essinger. Her grandfather was David Essinger (1817–1899), a doctor. Leopold Essinger had an insurance business and served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
, France. While in the imperial German army
German Army (German Empire)
The German Army was the name given the combined land forces of the German Empire, also known as the National Army , Imperial Army or Imperial German Army. The term "Deutsches Heer" is also used for the modern German Army, the land component of the German Bundeswehr...
, he became convinced that there was widespread anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
among the officers.
In 1899, at the age of 20, Essinger went to the United States to live with her aunt in Nashville, Tennessee. While in Tennessee, she became acquainted with Quakers, becoming deeply impressed and beginning a life-long association with them. She graduated college with a degree in German studies
German studies
German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...
, financing her education by teaching German and by running a private students' hostel, which she founded. She later received an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in education at the University of Wisconsin, became a teacher and lectured at the university in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
. Working with Quaker-sponsored humanitarian aid, she returned to Germany in 1919. Her task was to convince mayors, teachers and school rectors to set up kitchens so that children could have a hot meal once a day. She also collected food and clothing.
In 1912, using her dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
, her sister, Klara Weimersheimer, founded an orphanage in Herrlingen, where she cared for problem children, as well as those mentally unstable and retarded
Mental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
. In 1925, as her own children and many of the children in care came of school age, she got the idea to turn the orphanage into a Landschulheim (boarding school). Several members of the Essinger family became involved, paving the way for it to open a year later. The Landschulheim Herrlingen opened on May 1, 1926 as a private
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
with 18 children ranging in age from 6 to 12. Anna Essinger became headmistress and her sister Paula (1892-1975), a trained nurse, became the school nurse and its housekeeper.
Educational reform
While in the United States, Essinger learned about and became influenced by progressive education, then a new pedagogyPedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
. She ran Landschulheim Herrlingen like a Montessori program, placing high value on communal living, mutual respect and a shared sense of responsibility for the school. Each and every one, whether teacher or pupil, was to feel responsible to the community. The school was non-denominational, accepting children from all religions, coeducational and the pupils were on a first name basis with the teachers, who also lived at the school.
Essinger was described as a "formidable figure", "stout and stern" and as having the children's welfare at heart. She was a strict disciplinarian with both staff and pupils, but provided a loving, family environment. Most staff and pupils called her "Tante Anna" (Aunt Anna) or just TA, for short.
The children learned two languages from the first day of school on, with emphasis on the spoken, rather than the written word. Essinger believed that children should have physical exercise before breakfast. and great emphasis was placed on physical exercise. Learning was accomplished through living, whether from daily walks in the woods, from the tasks required of the children in and around the building, or at meal time, where there were "English" and "French" tables and those sitting at them would speak in those languages during the meal. The arts were also offered. In addition to painting, drawing, singing and drama, the children learned to play music. In the evening, Anna Essinger read a story and then gave each child a "good night kiss" before sending them off to bed. A 1927 report by the Ministry of Science, Art and Education (Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Kunst und Volksbildung) described Essinger as "extremely competent" and her teaching as "skillful, fresh and stimulating".
Nazi era
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's rise to power and the growing Nazi threat were viewed ominously by Essinger, who immediately went about quietly boycotting the Third Reich. All public buildings were ordered to fly the Nazi flag with its swastika on Hitler's birthday in 1933, so Essinger planned a day of hiking for the pupils, leaving the flag to fly over an empty building. Essinger said, "Atop an empty building, the flag can neither convey nor harm as much." She was denounced within the Nazi Party and the Nazi authorities' attitude toward the school became increasingly negative. It was recommended that an inspector be installed at the school. Essinger, realizing that her school had no future in Germany, and encouraged by her father to leave the country, began to look abroad for a new home for the school. After looking in Switzerland and the Netherlands, she found a property in southern England. The children's parents were informed and gave their approval for Essinger and her teachers to take 66 children out of Germany. Essinger arranged a well-disguised trip for the group and on September 5, 1933, they arrived in southern England. Astutely, Essinger did not formally close the school, but turned it over to Hugo Rosenthal. It became a home for Jewish children and a center for Jewish life in southern Germany, with an enrollment of more than 100 children.
An old manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
dating from the time of Henry VIII was found in the village of Otterden
Otterden
Otterden is a village on the Kent Downs in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England.-History:Otterden is mentioned in the Domesday Book under Kent in the lands belonging to Adam FitzHubert...
near Faversham
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
, in the County of Kent. The house was large, with extensive grounds, making it ideal for a boarding school. Funds were meager, so work on the property was done by the staff and pupils, causing British education inspectors to view the new school unfavorably at the outset. In 1933, England was still secure and war had not yet broken out and people were not aware of what was going on in Germany and why Essinger and the school had left. Within a year or two, however, enough improvements had been made that local officials realized the school was quite special; Essinger won the respect of the local authorities and had advocates from all areas of public life. She sought English host families for children to visit on weekends; and at the school, held concerts, theatrical programs, sports contests and an annual "Open Day", involving the children in English life and the community with the school.
After Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
, on November 9–10, 1938, Essinger was asked to set up a reception camp in Dovercourt
Dovercourt
For the neighbourhood in Toronto see Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-JunctionDovercourt is a small seaside town in Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in the Domesday Book of 1086...
for 10,000 German children who would be arriving on the Kindertransport
Kindertransport
Kindertransport is the name given to the rescue mission that took place nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Kingdom took in nearly 10,000 predominantly Jewish children from Nazi Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Free City of Danzig...
s. Essinger, then nearly 60 years old, worked with three teachers, her cook and six of the older pupils to establish the camp, taking some of them into her school. With this, she also sought out families and homes to care for refugee children. Local British committees sought out placements for the children and tried to match children with families where they would fit in. However, the manner in which it was done appalled Essinger, who likened it to a "cattle market", where attractive children were chosen, but less attractive ones were not, lowering morale. The experience of running the reception camp and placing the children was so difficult, that afterward, Essinger refused to talk about it.
In 1940, the school again had to evacuate when southern England became a defence area. Essinger and about 100 children and teachers relocated the school to "Trench Hall" in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
. They were not able to return to Bunce Court until 1946. Having finished her life's work, Essinger closed the school in 1948 and retired.
Later years
Over the course of 22 years, Essinger cared for and taught over 900 children. As the Nazis extended their reach, the children came first from Germany, then Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia and England. The last years were particularly difficult. Her eyesight was failing, but more significantly, the last children to arrive at her school were Nazi concentration camp survivors who no longer knew what normal life was like and sometimes, found it very difficult to adjust to it.After she closed her school, Essinger spent her remaining years living at Bunce Court, and maintained correspondence with her former pupils. She helped both children and adults in distress with her motto, "Give children a hand, give them a chance".
Legacy and honors
Many of the Essinger's pupils went on to distinguished careers, including Frank AuerbachFrank Auerbach
Frank Helmut Auerbach is a painter born in Germany although he has been a naturalised British citizen since 1947.-Biography:Auerbach was born in Berlin, the son of Max Auerbach, a patent lawyer, and Charlotte Nora Burchardt, who had trained as an artist...
, Leslie Brent
Leslie Brent
Leslie Baruch Brent , born Lothar Baruch, in Köslin, Germany , to German-Jewish parents, is a British immunologist and zoologist....
, Gerard Hoffnung
Gerard Hoffnung
Gerard Hoffnung was an artist and musician, best known for his humorous works.- Early years :Born in Berlin, and named Gerhard, he was the only child of a well-to-do Jewish couple, Hildegard and Ludwig Hoffnung...
, Frank Marcus
Frank Marcus
Frank Marcus was a British playwright, best known for The Killing of Sister George.-Life:Frank Ulrich Marcus was born 30 June 1928 into a Jewish family in Breslau . They came to England as refugees in 1939...
, Peter Morley
Peter Morley (filmmaker)
Peter Morley, OBE is a German-born British television producer and documentary filmmaker. As a nine-year old child, he fled Nazi Germany with his elder siblings and moved to England, where he has lived ever since...
, and Helmut
Helmut Sonnenfeldt
Helmut Sonnenfeldt is an American foreign policy expert.Born in 1926 in Berlin, Germany to Drs. Walther and Gertrud Sonnenfeldt, he spent his childhood in Gardelegen, Germany, where his parents had a family medical practice. In 1938, Sonnenfeldt was sent to Anna Essinger's Bunce Court School in...
and Richard Sonnenfeldt
Richard Sonnenfeldt
Richard W. Sonnenfeldt - was a Jewish-American engineer and corporate executive most notable for being the U.S...
. Bunce Court alumni returned at every opportunity while the school was still in existence; after it closed, they held reunions for 55 years.
In 1959, in honor of Essinger's 80th birthday, Bunce Court alumni planted a grove of trees in Israel that was named after her.
In 1990, a realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
in Ulm and a Kuhberg gymnasium (secondary school) were named for Anna Essinger. Some of her personal papers are archived at the Ida Seele Archive in Dillingen an der Donau. The archive is devoted to research of the history of education and social pedagogy. In July 2007, the original Bunce Court school bell was retrieved from California, where it had been saved and stored by Ernst Weinberg, a former pupil, and was reinstalled on top of the schoolhouse. A plaque honoring Essinger and the school was erected at the same time.
In 2004, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography added an entry for Essinger, unusual for someone who became a naturalized British citizen late in life. Also in 2004, the city of Ulm celebrated its 1,150th anniversary and along with it, the birthdays of Anna Essinger and Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, both born there. The celebration for Essinger lasted a week and was attended by family members from the United Kingdom and Israel, as well as Germany; and former students.
Manuscripts
- Anna Essinger, Goethe and Saint-Simon (1917) Hathi Trust Digital Library. Original from the University of Wisconsin.
See also
- Else HirschElse HirschElse Hirsch was a Jewish teacher in Bochum, Germany and a member of the German Resistance against the Third Reich. She organized transports of Jewish children to the Netherlands and England, saving them from Nazi deportation to concentration camps and death...
– helped organize 10 Kindertransports to the Netherlands and England
External links
- Archival materials relating to Anna Essinger Leo Baeck Institute. "Guide to the Susan Ehrlich Losher Family Collection, 1929-2007". Retrieved October 16, 2011