| Emma Jacobina Christiana Marwedel | |
| Birth Date: | 27 February 1818 |
| Birth Place: | Hann. Münden, Germany |
Emma Jacobina Christiana Marwedel, also known as Emma Marwedel (February 27, 1818 – November 17, 1893), was a German-American educator, known for her establishment of schools based upon Friedrich Fröbel's ideas.
Marwedel was born on February 27, 1818, in Hann. Münden.
Marwedel was a teacher in Germany. In 1867, she became the first director of the Girls' Industrial School in Hamburg. Leveraging Friedrich Fröbel's ideas, she also operated a kindergarten.
Elizabeth Peabody visited Marwedel in Germany and was impressed by her. After being invited by Peabody and Caroline Severance to come to the United States, Marwedel founded the first private kindergarten in Washington, D.C. by 1872. She developed a kindergarten teacher-training program and established additional schools near Long Island, Los Angeles, and Brentwood.
In 1880, she opened her model kindergarten, Pacific Kindergarten Normal School, which she operated for six years. She retired in 1886.
Marwedel died on November 17, 1893, in San Francisco in a German hospital.