Let us raise a healthy youth: The construction of the first kindergarten in interwar Belgrade

Abstract

The modernization of Yugoslav society gave rise to an increase in the number of women in employment, which thus brought to the fore the issue of daily care for the children of families where both parents were employed. In particular, recognition of the importance of caring for socially disadvantaged children was essential to their wellbeing and upbringing. The issue of child welfare in Belgrade was addressed, as well as to a lesser extent by the City of Belgrade municipality, by numerous humanitarian associations, which were responsible for the construction of the majority of the earliest kindergartens in the city. Despite an insufficiently developed social policy, around 15 kindergartens were built in Belgrade during the interwar period, six of which still successfully serve their original purpose today. A number of such kindergartens are to be considered architectural exemplars, both in the context of the typology of preschool institutions and within the opuses of their authors. In addition to their aesthetic qualities, the earliest Belgrade kindergartens stand as a valuable testimony to the efforts to improve the standards of child welfare to a modern level.

Keywords

• kindergarten
• belgrade
• architecture
• child welfare