The Daycare Association and its History

The Merck'sche Kindertagesstätten-Verein e.V. was founded by members of the Merck family in 1968, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the company, as the daycare center’s supporting association.

The daycare center is a company-affiliated institution with a focus on working parents. The daycare center is not a legal entity from the Merck Group and operates independently.

On the daycare center’s 1,400-square-meter site, there is a crèche building and a nursery school building, which are connected to each other. The crèche building was constructed in 2013, the nursery school building was opened in 2021.

Overall, the daycare center provides space for up to 198 children to play and learn.

The children can flourish and thrive in bright, modern and spacious learning and teaching rooms. The crèche offers space, distributed over two floors, for a total of up to 66 children, organized into three mixed-age groups up to 11 children each.

The nursery school (kindergarten) can accommodate up to 132 children between the ages of three and six, or until they start school. The nursery school building also has two floors, each with space for three mixed-age groups (up to 22 children each).

The daycare association is chaired by Karin Kraft, who, like all of the association’s members, is a member of the Merck family: "It is a matter that is very close to my heart," she says, "to give children educational spaces that enable them to develop holistically in life and learning." Most of the Merck family members support the cause, with the daycare association’s members ranging in age from 18 to 94: "All generations are involved," says Kraft, and the association’s “veterans" can look back on some 45 years of successful operation.