The vision of a precious childhood

The Ebeneser Foundation is named after the Ebeneser House, designed by architect Wivi Lönn. The foundation’s activities originated from The Institutions of Hanna Rothman and Elisabeth Alander in 1890. With the new Foundation Act, the association was converted into a foundation in 1932, and its official name was established as Hanna Rothmans och Elisabeth Alanders anstalter – Hanna Rothmanin ja Elisabeth Alanderin laitokset, reflecting its bilingual Swedish-Finnish identity. Over the decades, as the foundation’s activities evolved, its official name was changed to the Ebeneser Foundation in 1991.

The Ebeneser Foundation represents the history of early childhood education and teacher training for early childhood education in Finland. Its purpose is to support early childhood education and parenting, as well as to preserve the cultural and historical significance of kindergarten work. To fulfill its mission, the foundation promotes and supports research and education in early childhood education and participates in general educational activities. The foundation also maintains the Kindergarten Museum.

The foundation and the museum aim to advance valuable childhood, honoring the foundations purposes regarding early childhood. The previous translates to seeing childhood as equal, polyphonic, inclusive, communal, and functional. Childhood can be seen as a realized, lived and remembered childhood at different times in history, and as a childhood today and in the future. We want to build a bridge between the childhoods of different eras of time and to participate in creating innovations inspired by history for the present and the future.