History of Origami: Detour to Germany

[4-1] Fröbel

Far away from Japan, we are arriving in Germany.

Here, I will show you a movement by Fröbel, a German educationist in the 19th century.

What relation is there between him and Origami?

4-1 Frederick Froebel on Library of Congress (Retrieved 8 March, 2021)

[4-2] Examples of 'Gabe'

Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel (1782-1852) is a German educationist in the 19th century. Deeply influenced by religious and philosophical thoughts at that time, he developed his unique educational philosophy.

He put much importance on early childhood education. In 1840, he founded the educational facility for young children, which is known as the first Kindergarten in the world.

Fröbel thought playing and activity as important parts of early childhood education. He created various educational toys, which he named 'Gabe.' Among Fröbel's Gabe, there are some toys like building blocks and colored yarn balls, which are still known as educational toys even today.

Creating Gabe, Fröbel generated the activity named 'Das Falten.' Its name means 'the fold' in English, and it is the activity to make shapes of various things by folding a sheet of paper.

[4-3] "Das Falten"

[4-3] shows examples of "Das Falten".
Some of you might get surprised by this, for these pictures have the same models as the models which are known as Densho Origami in Japan today.
For example, model No. 10 on the left picture is known as the famous model of 'hokakebune (帆掛け船, a sailboat).'
Also, model No. 22 on the right picture is known as 'buta (豚, a pig).'

In the late 1800s, these models left Germany and came to Japan.
So now let's go back to Japan right in the middle of its modernization.

Origami in the Past

• Prologue
• 1600s ~ Early 1700s
• Late 1700s ~ Early 1800s
• Detour to Germany
• Late 1800s ~ Early 1900s

Origami in the Present

• Origami as Art
• Origami as Science

Enjoy Origami

• Origami in Daily Life
• Let's Make Origami!
• Books on Origami

日本版を読みたい人は、こちらをクリックしてください。