=His First School.=--In 1816 Froebel opened his first school at Griesheim, under the high-sounding title of "Universal German Educational Institute." At first he had his five nephews as his only pupils. Soon after, the school was removed to Keilhau, near Rudolstadt, in the Thueringian Forest. Here he was joined by his old friends Middendorff and Langethal. This institution continued for a number of years with some success, until 1833, when Froebel removed to Burgdorf, Switzerland. The Prussian government, far from giving encouragement to the institution at Keilhau, had regarded it with suspicion. A commission was sent by the government to examine the institution, and although the report was highly complimentary to Froebel's work,[151] the persecution did not cease. In 1851 the government prohibited kindergartens, as forming "a part of the Froebelian socialistic system, the aim of which is to teach children atheism"; and this decree was in force till 1860! Indeed, to this day, Prussia does not regard the kindergarten as an educational institution, nor does she give aid to it as such. The kindergarten is officially recognized as a sort of _day nursery_, its teachers are not licensed,--hence have no official standing,--and "everything that pertains to the work of the elementary schools, every specific preparation for the work of the latter, must be strictly excluded, and these schools can in no way be allowed to take the character of institutions of learning. Especially can neither reading nor arithmetic be allowed a place in them."[152] But Froebel received more encouragement in Switzerland. He admitted children from four to six years of age, and organized a teachers' class to study his theories. Although Froebel did not remain long in Switzerland, that land proved congenial to his ideas, and the kindergarten has flourished there from his time to the present. Great credit is due to this country, which extended its hospitality to the two great educational modern reformers, Pestalozzi and Froebel! =The Kindergarten.=--Mr. Herford says of Froebel's institution at Burgdorf, that, "Here we recognize the rise of the kindergarten, not yet so named."[153] The name came to Froebel a few years later as an inspiration. He had returned to Keilhau and opened a school in the neighboring town of Blankenburg. For a long time he had been pondering over a suitable name for the new institution. "While taking a walk one day with Middendorff and Barof to Blankenburg over the Steiger Pass, Froebel kept repeating, 'Oh, if I could only think of a good name for my youngest born!' Blankenburg lay at our feet, and he walked moodily toward it. Suddenly he stood still as if riveted to the spot, and his eyes grew wonderfully bright. Then he shouted to the mountain so that it echoed to the four winds, 'Eureka! _Kindergarten_ shall the institute be called!'"