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Pastor Ernst Senckel – “Father of German School Savings”

On 1 April 1867, the Protestant pastor Ernst Friedrich Gottlieb Senckel (1836–1912) set up a school savings bank in Hohenwalde, today a district of Frankfurt (Oder). He is therefore regarded as the founder of school savings in Germany.

Ernst Friedrich Gottlieb Senckel was born on 7 March 1836 in Mertensdorf near Pritzwalk and died on 29 October 1912 in Hohenwalde.

Ernst Senckel studied theology at the universities of Halle, Tübingen and Berlin. After his ordination in 1864 he first worked as a pastor in Deutsch Lieskau, Doberlug-Sonnenwalde district. After a short time as a military chaplain and a period at the “Rauhes Haus” of Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808–1881), he took up his post in the parish of Hohenwalde/Markendorf in 1867. A year later he had the church in Markendorf restored, and a year after that the church in Hohenwalde.

At his school in Hohenwalde, Ernst Senckel set up a Sunday school, a Christian reading society and a people’s library, and he was also the first in Germany to introduce school savings. To this end he founded a school savings bank on 1 April 1867. His aim was to foster thrift and self-control from school age onward.

Family archive

Later, on 2 June 1880, he founded the “Verein für Jugendsparkassen in Deutschland” (Association for Youth Savings Banks in Germany), which he headed for many years as its managing director (Geschäftsführer). In this way he became the “Father of School Savings in Germany”.

Ernst Senckel wrote articles and books on the subject of saving, as well as on spiritual and educational topics. He also wrote and composed hymns.

In 1877 the first savings books were printed. Ten years later their number had already reached 23,000 copies.

His services were recognised in 1906 with the award of the Order of the Red Eagle, 4th class by Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859–1941).

The city of Frankfurt (Oder) also honoured Ernst Senckel by naming a street in Hohenwalde after him. In 2005 the Sparkasse Oder-Spree issued an “Ernst Senckel Medal” (Ernst Senckel-Medaille) in silver and gold. The grave of Ernst Senckel in the Hohenwalde cemetery is still tended today. In 2006 it was placed under monument protection.

In August 2017, a cabinet exhibition was dedicated to Ernst Senckel at the Städtisches Museum Viadrina (Municipal Museum Viadrina) in Frankfurt (Oder), entitled “Ernst Senckel (1836–1912): Vater des Deutschen Schulsparens – 150 Jahre Schulsparkasse” (“Ernst Senckel (1836–1912): Father of German School Savings – 150 Years of the School Savings Bank”).

Ernst Senckel Medal (Ernst Senckel-Medaille)

On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Verein für Jugendsparkassen, a memorial stone for Ernst Senckel was unveiled in Hohenwalde on 2 November 2020.

Text: Christoph Bruckhoff, based on sources of the Städtisches Museum Viadrina (Municipal Museum Viadrina), Frankfurt (Oder)