A red lantern with a special meaning hangs on the new building of the Heraeus Education Foundation.

It does not mean that the foundation could be at the bottom in any way, but for the opposite: In the early post-war period, the lantern was made from material donations from the neighborhood and painted red.

It is a sign of hope, confidence and progress in difficult times, as Beate Heraeus, CEO of the Foundation, says.

Therefore, after the extensive renovation of the house, the lantern was hung back in its original place not far from the company headquarters.

Luise Glaser-Lotz

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Kinzig district.

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The non-profit foundation, one of three in the company, has been committed to education for over 55 years, with the current focus on elementary schools.

So far, the foundation's events and seminars have taken place in the rooms of an impersonal office floor, but with the acquisition and renovation of the house, an architectural gem with atmosphere and flair has now been created for participants and freelance lecturers.

In the spacious garden there are tree stumps of different heights, they symbolize the concern of the foundation: People should treat each other with respect and at eye level, as happens when people of different sizes choose the right tree slices and then look at each other from there.

Not a new beginning, but a departure

The building on Stresemannstrasse, near the State Drawing Academy, is of particular importance to the Heraeus family of entrepreneurs. It was built in 1923 as a residence for the Canthal family. Getrud Canthal was the granddaughter of the Hanau company founder Wilhelm Carl Heraeus. Werner Canthal, Gertrud's husband, acted as managing director and then chairman of the supervisory board of Heraeus Holding and Quarzlampen GmbH. Kathinka Platzhoff, a sister of Gertrud, also lived in the house from time to time. She is co-founder of the Bertha Heraeus and Kathinka Platzhoff Foundation, today's Heraeus Education Foundation.

The move to the new and at the same time old house does not represent a new beginning for the foundation, but a departure into another time with new tasks.

This includes Beate Heraeus climate change and the striving for sustainability as well as the painful experience with the corona pandemic.

The commitment of the foundation, which was established 55 years ago and whose capital comes from the income from company shares, starts with the schools, whereby the focus is primarily on the organization, the teachers and the school management.

This is unique in the Hessian educational landscape and rare in all of Germany.

Strengthen the personality of teachers and managers

In seminars, discussion groups and other events, which are also offered digitally, the foundation aims to strengthen the personality of teachers and managers and to support them in coping with their tasks. This is the motto of the foundation "Personality makes school - school creates personality". One goal is for teachers to recognize the strengths of their students and promote them accordingly. That also helps with the choice of profession and the safeguarding of professional diversity.

It is important to Beate Heraeus that the contacts of the participants create networks that enable an exchange.

The schoolchildren benefit from such a strengthened team, says managing director Christiane Lohrmann.

According to her, another pillar of the foundation is the awarding of the “German Teacher Prize”, which is announced jointly with the German Association of Philologists.

There were around 6000 applications last.

The award went to a school project to develop an easily decomposable film for biowaste.

Since 2017, the foundation has also been working on behalf of the state to further qualify school administrators.

Information and program at www.heraeus-bildungsstiftung.de.