![ERotten-NewEducationFellowship-cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/ERotten-NewEducationFellowship-cropped.png)
Elisabeth Friederike Rotten (15 February 1882, Berlin - 2 May 1964) was a
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
peace activist
A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...
and
educational progressive.
Life
As daughter to the Swiss couple Moritz and Luise Rotten, she attended the "höhere Mädchenschule Luisenschule" during 1888-1898, later studying at the Victoria-Lyzeum
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
from 1904. In September 1906 she took the Reifeprüfung at the Kaiserin Augusta-Gymnasium
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
. She graduated in her studies in philosophy and German language and literature in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, Berlin,
Marburg
Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...
and
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
. In Marburg she met with
Hermann Lietz
Hermann Lietz (28 April 1868, in Putbus, Dumgenevitz auf Rügen – 12 June 1919, in Haubinda) was a German Progressive education, educational progressive and theologian who founded the German ''Landerziehungsheime für Jungen'' (country boarding s ...
and
Gustav Wyneken
Gustav Wyneken (1875–1964) was a German pedagogue and founder of the Wickersdorf Free School Community. He was also a leader in the German Youth Movement and briefly contributed to school policy during the German revolutionary period after W ...
, which was vital to the future development of her thinking. In 1913 she published her PhD thesis under the title "Goethes Urphänomen und die platonische Idee" (
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
's "Urphänomen" and the Platonic ideal) in Marburg.
In 1913 she began lecturing at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
on German literature. In 1914 she returned to Berlin and worked in the "Auskunfts- und Hilfsstelle für Deutsche im Ausland und Ausländer in Deutschland" with professor
Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze
Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (14 June 1885, in Görlitz – 11 July 1969, in Soest) was a German academic working in theology, social pedagogy and social ethics, as well as a pioneer of peace movements.
Life
After studying at several gymnas ...
. In the same year she co-founded the "
Bund Neues Vaterland
The German League for Human Rights (german: Deutsche Liga für Menschenrechte) was founded on 16 November 1914 as the pacifist group ''Bund Neues Vaterland'' (New Fatherland League) by pacifist activist Lilli Jannasch and others. Among its member ...
", later the "
German League for Human Rights
The German League for Human Rights (german: Deutsche Liga für Menschenrechte) was founded on 16 November 1914 as the pacifist group ''Bund Neues Vaterland'' (New Fatherland League) by pacifist activist Lilli Jannasch and others. Among its membe ...
". In 1915 she travelled as a representative to the 1st International Women's Congress in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
and worked for the foundation of the "Internationalen Frauenliga für Frieden und Freiheit" (International Women's League for Peace and Freedom").
In 1922, together with
Beatrice Ensor
Beatrice Ensor (11 August 1885 – 1974) was an English theosophical educationist, pedagogue, co-founder of the New Education Fellowship (later World Education Fellowship) and editor of the journal ''Education for the New Era''.
Early years
Bo ...
and
Adolphe Ferrière
Adolphe Ferrière (1879 in Geneva – 1960 in Geneva) was one of the founders of the progressive education movement.
He worked for a brief time in a school in Glarisegg (TG, CH) and later founded an experimental school ('La Forge') in Lausanne, S ...
she founded the New Education Fellowship, becoming its vice-chair for German-speaking countries and editor of its German-language journal, which eventually came to be called ''Das Werdende Zeitalter''.
From 1922 she was associated with the school farm, Schulfarm Insel Scharfenberg, begun by Wilhelm Blume in Berlin and was a frequent visitor to the
Odenwaldschule
The Odenwaldschule was a German school located in Heppenheim in the Odenwald. Founded in 1910, it was Germany's oldest '' Landerziehungsheim'', a private boarding school located in a rural setting. Edith and Paul Geheeb established it using ...
founded in 1910 by the educational reformer
Paul Geheeb
Paul Geheeb (1870–1961) was a German pedagogue in the German rural boarding school movement known for co-founding the boarding schools Wickersdorf Free School Community, Odenwaldschule, and Ecole d'Humanité
The Ecole d'Humanité is an i ...
.
In 1925, Rotten and Adolphe Ferrière became the first deputy directors of the
International Bureau of Education
The International Bureau of Education (IBE-UNESCO) is a UNESCO category 1 institute mandated as the Centre of Excellence in curriculum and related matters. Consistent with the declaration of the decision of the 36th session of the General Confer ...
(IBE), where they provided support to director
Pierre Bovet
Pierre Bovet (born on 5 June 1878 in Grandchamp (commune of Boudry); died in Boudry on 2 December 1965) was a Swiss psychologist and pedagogue.
Bovet took up the translation of '' Scouting for Boys'' and other Scout books, to make it the firs ...
.
She was also a friend of the anarchist,
Gustav Landauer
Gustav Landauer (7 April 1870 – 2 May 1919) was one of the leading theorists on anarchism in Germany at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. He was an advocate of social anarchism and an avowed pacifist.
In 1919, he ...
, who was Minister of Culture in the short-lived Munich Soviet (or “Council Republic”) of 1919 before being murdered after it was violently suppressed.
From 1926 until 1932, Rotten shared the editorship of the journal ''Das Werdende Zeitalter'' with Karl Wilker, an exponent of social pedagogy who transformed the Lindenhof in Berlin. The title of this journal was inspired by that given to a collection of essays by Landauer, which his friend, the philosopher
Martin Buber
Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 –
June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism c ...
, published in 1921.
In 1930, Rotten co-founded a school at
Hellerau
Hellerau is a northern quarter ''(Stadtteil)'' in the city of Dresden, Germany, slightly south of Dresden Airport. It was the first garden city in Germany. The northern section of Hellerau absorbed the village of Klotzsche, where some 18th cent ...
just outside Dresden, where a garden city was established shortly after 1900 as part of a reform movement advocating modern housing.
[Brehony, K. J. (2004). "A New Education for a New Era: Creating International Fellowship Through Conferences 1921-1938." Paedagogica Historica 40(5 & 6): 733-755.]
See also
*
List of peace activists
This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work ...
Bibliography
* Dietmar Haubfleisch: ''Schulfarm Insel Scharfenberg. Mikroanalyse der reformpädagogischen Unterrichts- und Erziehungsrealität einer demokratischen Versuchsschule im Berlin der Weimarer Republik'' (=Studien zur Bildungsreform, 40). Frankfurt u.a. 2001.
Inhaltsverzeichnis und Vorwort des Herausgebers der Reihe "Studien zur Bildungsreform"* Dietmar Haubfleisch: ''Elisabeth Rotten (1882 - 1964) - eine (fast) vergessene Reformpädagogin''. In
Inge Hansen-Schaberg
Inge Hansen-Schaberg (born 11 March 1954) is a German educational researcher.
Life
Born in Flensburg, Hansen-Schaberg studied German and biology at the from 1974 and passed the state examinations in 1980 and 1983. She then worked at a West Ber ...
(ed.): ''„etwas erzählen“. Die lebensgeschichtliche Dimension in der Pädagogik. Bruno Schonig zum 60. Geburtstag''. Baltmannsweiler 1997, S. 114-131. - Überarb. Ausg. unter Weglassung der Abb.: Marburg 1997:
http://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/sonst/1996/0010.html* Dietmar Haubfleisch: ''Elisabeth Rotten (1882 - 1964) - ein Quellen- und Literaturverzeichnis''. Marburg 1997.
* Das Werdende Zeitalter (Internationale Erziehungs-Rundschau). Register sämtlicher Aufsätze und Rezensionen einer reformpädagogischen Zeitschrift in der Weimarer Republik. Zusammengestellt und eingeleitet von Dietmar Haubfleisch und Jörg-W. Link (=Archivhilfe, 8), Oer-Erkenschwick 1994; Auszug der Einleitung (S. 5-16) wieder in: Mitteilungen & Materialien. Arbeitsgruppe Pädagogisches Museum e.V., Berlin, Heft Nr. 42/1994, S. 97-99; Einleitung in leicht korr. Fassung u.d.T.: 'Dietmar Haubfleisch und Jörg-W. Link: Einleitung zum Register der reformpädagogischen Zeitschrift 'Das Werdende Zeitalter' ('Internationale Erziehungs-Rundschau')' wieder: Marburg 1996:
References
External links
* (1)
* (2)
Lebenslauf, ausgewählte Quellen und Literatur zu Elisabeth Rotten bei paed.comElisabeth Rotten im Frauenwiki*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rotten
1882 births
1964 deaths
Swiss Quakers
Converts to Quakerism
Swiss academics
German women writers
Swiss anti-war activists
Swiss educational theorists
Swiss Christian pacifists
Academics of the University of Cambridge
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom people