In places with many wild willows, basket making developed to provide extra income on small farms. Baskets were woven during winter, until Easter.
Hans Friedrich Fröbel was the Schultheiß in 1714, when the guild of master basket weavers was founded in Kranichfeld. Membership of this guild gave master basket makers the right to participate in local government.
In 1826, Kranichfeld became part of Meiningen, one of the new independent states created by the Congress of Vienna. The young ruler of Meiningen, who was the brother of Queen Adelaide, invited Friedrich Froebel to develop plans for a public education system.
During 1828 and 1829 Friedrich Froebel wrote what came to be known as the Helba Plan, based on ‘creative action’ in training all the different forces in the human being. After the demonstration of the first stage of this plan for young children, which Friedrich Froebel called Kindergarten, he was invited to train women as Kindergarten teachers at Marienthal in Meiningen.
