Welfare nurse - Elisabeth Kitzinger

Elisabeth Kitzinger, born on April 2, 1881 as Elisabeth Rahel Merzbacher, daughter of Eugen Merzbacher,well-known numismatist far übeyond the borders of Bavaria and Rosa Merzbacher, née Jaffè.Elisabeth had two more siblings, Siegfried, born in 1883 and Luise, born in 1886. Early on, after graduating from the noble High School and working in the parental household - supporting her mother in all matters - the young woman noticed a desire to become socially involved in the concerns and needs of children and young people from impoverished families. The initial concern with children soon became the Merzbacher private kindergarten for young children. She was supported by her friend Ida Kohnstamm and her sister Luise, who had trained as a kindergarten teacher at the renowned Pestalozzi-Frübelhaus " in Berlin. The Müncher city council recognized the kindergarten, but under the condition that children of all denominations would be admitted. Financial support from the city, however, was denied. In order to make it possible for impoverished parents to attend kindergarten, no fees were charged. In the search for a financially secure foundation for the kindergarten, Elisabeth Kitzinger advocated that the social institution be taken over by the Israelitische Frauenhilfe e.V. (Jewish Women's Aid Association), which was also responsible for the care of young people in the city of Munich. She was also a member of the Jüdische Müncher Frauenverein. On August 22, 1905, Elisabeth married the lawyer Dr. Wilhem Nathan Kitzinger. Four children were born of this marriage - Eugen (1906), Margarete (1908), Richard (1911) and Ernst (1912). An after-school care center for school children was added to the kindergarten. For evenings, a girls' club was established. In 1912, an adjacent second apartment was rented in addition.1914 a third apartment with a Aufnahmemöglichkeit of 150 children.