Daycare rescue in Hamburg: Families want to receive a facility for children with special needs. Carrier announces the end after decades.
Hamburg – In Hamburg-Marmstorf, parents are fighting for a daycare center that cannot actually be replaced. Some of your children have special needs and require intensive care and specially trained specialists. This is exactly what the Elfenwiese daycare center has been offering for decades – until now. The Elbkinder association has announced that it will permanently close the facility in September 2026.
The reason causes outrage among the affected families: an animal infestation in the buildings makes structural measures necessary. But instead of renovating, the municipal authority wants to pull the ripcord. For the families affected, this means the loss of an institution that is unrivaled in Hamburg.
Hamburg Elfenwiese: Care for severely disabled children is about to end
Table of Contents
- Hamburg Elfenwiese: Care for severely disabled children is about to end
- 22 parenting mistakes that parents should avoid with their children
- Daycare should close due to infestation: Union denounces years of neglect
- Petition collects over 3,000 signatures against the closure of the inclusion daycare center – the provider takes a stand
The Elfenwiese daycare center has been doing pioneering work in inclusion since 1976. From the beginning, the facility was aimed at looking after children with increased needs. Special education nurses, educators and therapists work here as part of a team, supported by psychologists and a pediatrician.
Die Hamburger Morgenpost reported on the background to the planned closure: A marten infestation in cavities in ceilings and walls requires extensive renovation work. The Elbkinder association argues that these are “not economically justifiable”. Citizenship representative Birgit Stöver (CDU), in whose constituency the daycare center is located, had previously campaigned for the daycare center in the Senate – in vain.
Ivonne Steinhorst, mother of an affected child, cannot accept the association’s justification. “Children who have epilepsy or who need to be probed, who rely on their stand or who need a wheelchair or rehab buggy simply have different needs,” she explains to the newspaper. The planned closure is “tragic” and “an indictment of responsibility for society as a whole.”
Daycare should close due to infestation: Union denounces years of neglect
The Hamburg Education and Science Union (GEW) holds those responsible partly responsible for the unfortunate situation. “In our view, the planned closure of the daycare center directly endangers the well-being of the child,” emphasizes Varsenik Vardanyan, consultant for child and youth welfare, in a statement. Redistributing the children to other institutions contradicts “everything that child-friendly education, support and protection stands for”.
The union accuses the provider of neglecting the facility for years. Steinhorst confirms this criticism. In contrast to the neighboring school, where the roof was replaced, the daycare center was never renovated. Those responsible had “let them rot.” A daycare center was also closed in Puchheim.
Petition collects over 3,000 signatures against the closure of the inclusion daycare center – the provider takes a stand
The affected families are using all available means to resist the closure. An online petition has already collected over 3,000 signatures. The facility offers “a high-quality educational concept, stable relationships, individual support and a lively coexistence of children with very different needs,” says the appeal.
Attachment research proves the parents are right: For children with disabilities or developmental delays, continuity in care is of vital importance. Basic trust and emotional security depend largely on stable relationships with significant others, according to the Johnson Institute. If these bonds are severed abruptly, serious psychological consequences can occur. What is justified as cost savings could lead to significantly higher follow-up costs in the health and social system in the long term.
The carrier Elbkinder emphasizes Ippen.Mediawe will continue to provide reliable support to the affected families with “qualified specialists” in the future. “Together with the interdisciplinary team from the Elfenwiese daycare center, we will shift our focus of expertise in the care and support of children with severe disabilities to the Schneverdinger Weg daycare center,” the statement says. Care at the Baererstraße integration daycare center is also possible. Those responsible are already in contact with the parents. (Sources: Hamburger Morgenpost, GEW Hamburg, petition on change.org, Elbkinder) (what)