A daycare center in Saxony is renaming itself after the sugar-loving cartoon character “Benjamin Blümchen.” The city administration considers the name to be out of date.
A daycare center in Bautzen, Saxony, which was called “Benjamin Blümchen” for 32 years, has changed its name. The city administration of the Saxon city considered the name of the popular cartoon character, who is known for his high sugar consumption, to be no longer in keeping with the times.
The daycare center, which was opened in 1954 as a company kindergarten for VEB Waggonbau and is now run by the city, recently celebrated its 70th anniversary. When the city took over in 1992, the daycare center was renamed after the talking elephant with the red hat.
As part of its anniversary, the municipal daycare center is changing its name to “Spreewichtel,” the city of Bautzen reported in a press release. The new and “timeless name” also embodies the facility’s regional ties.
According to the city’s press release, the daycare center, which has been awarded the title of “Sporty Daycare Center” for two years, sees its educational focus primarily in the themes of “movement” and “nature.” Therefore, the “comfortable, candy-crushing elephant is no longer compatible with the concept” of the daycare center.
The city explains the name change by saying that the fact that the daycare center is named after the elephant “Benjamin Blümchen,” which was created in 1977, has “been out of date for some time.” “Some children only know the cozy elephant from stories told by their parents. The children’s hero figures have changed,” it continues.
Parents and children were asked to help find a new name, which was finally decided on at a city council meeting on May 29.
However, not everyone involved agreed with the name change. CDU city councilor Heinrich Schleppers stressed in an interview with “Tag 24”: “Personally, I would not have renamed it. But the initiative came from the institution, and parents were also involved. And we did not want to oppose that,” said the 71-year-old local politician about the decision of the CDU city council faction.
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