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The Seminarium Fredericianum or Bergen Daycare () is located at Asylplass 2 in
Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...
's
Bergenhus Bergenhus is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of ...
district and today it houses Norway's oldest
preschool A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...
.


History

The Seminarium Fredericianum was established in 1750 by Bishop Erik Pontoppidan as a more secular education alternative for the children at the
Latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Other terms used include Lateinschule in Germany, or later Gymnasium. Latin schools were also established in Colon ...
. In addition to teaching classical languages and the Bible, boys at the Seminarium Fredericianum also studied mathematics, physics, literature, moral philosophy, German, and French. The aim of the school was to professionalize the city's business community. Around 1780, the curriculum was expanded to include navigation and geography for the needs of tradesmen.Hardtvet, Gunnar H. 1994. ''Bergen byleksikon''. Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. The name of the school honors King
Frederick V of Denmark Frederick V (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Frederik V''; 31 March 1723 – 14 January 1766) was King of Denmark–Norway, Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 6 August 1746 until his death in 1766. ...
, who approved the plans in January 1750. The building dates from 1752 and is Bergen's largest wooden building from the 1700s. The school was funded by the jurist Melchior Falch, in gratitude for which he was made the district magistrate for
Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...
in 1754. Initially, twelve boys were granted tuition, room, and board at the school. The school never had a large attendance, and until 1778 only two or three boys studied there. In 1808 there were no students at all and the school was closed. The school's book collection, which initially numbered 1,300 volumes, was donated to the Latin school because of the closure. For the next four years, the building was used as a military hospital. In 1812 the building was purchased by the Bergen Secondary School (), which operated there until 1846. From 1825 to 1831 the building was also used as storage for the collection of the
Bergen Museum The University Museum of Bergen () is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. The museum features material related to anthropology, archaeology, botany, geology, zoology, art, and cultural history. History The University Museum of Bergen was fo ...
. A private girls' school also used the building from 1849 to 1851.


Bergen Daycare

In 1851, the Bergen Daycare foundation took over the building. The foundation had been created 11 years earlier by Bishop
Jacob Neumann Jacob Neumann (13 July 1772 – 25 January 1848) was a Norwegian bishop. Personal life He was born in Strømsø as a son of Hans Neumann (1745–1789) and Annechen Johanne Blom (1754–1773), and a grandson of Jakob Hansen Neumann. He was also ...
for children below school age. Sales of a publication connected with the inauguration of the new Bergen Cathedral School allowed the bishop to raise 800 spesidaler in 1841 for its operation. In November the same year, the municipality launched the daycare activity in the old Latin school building. The Bergen Daycare was intended to provide education to children from poor homes or to children whose parents had to work outside the home all day. There were up to 150 children two to seven years old at the center. The children were supervised by volunteers, mostly women from the families of civil servants. Altogether, 48 women worked in pairs caring for the children. Teaching at the center was mostly performed by teachers that worked for free. The girls received training in sewing and singing, and the boys in reading, writing, singing, and physical education. Enrollment at the child care center cost two skilling a day. For poor children, it was possible to be "adopted" by wealthier citizens that paid for their stay. The West Norway Museum of Decorative Art also used the building for exhibitions from 1889 to 1896. The building received cultural heritage protection in 1927. Today the Bergen Daycare is a private daycare with full-time accommodation for 81 children.Skotheim, Liv, Krister Hoaas, & Camilla Aadland. 2011. Bergens Barneasyl konkurstruet. ''Bergens Tidende'' (31 May).
/ref> The building is owned by the Seminarium Fredericianum foundation.


References

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External links


Bergen: Seminarium Fredericianum
Cultural heritage of Norway Childhood in Norway Early childhood education Education in Norway