For many years, there has been a discussion in the German-speaking part of Switzerland regarding at what age and in what manner High German should be learned in the professional and educational policy context. Swiss German dialects hold a high value, but High German plays an important role both culturally and politically. For a long time, structured acquisition of High German in the German-speaking part of Switzerland began no earlier than the first grade of primary school. However, in recent years, High German has been spoken in various kindergartens. Does this language of instruction support children in a spontaneous and emotional engagement with High German? Which children benefit particularly from High German in kindergarten, and which struggle with it? How do parents and teachers handle this language of instruction? This study compares the High German competencies of children from a High German kindergarten with those from a Swiss German kindergarten at school entry. Through a linguistic analysis of children's language data and surveys of parents and teachers, it addresses the above questions and contributes to the current discourse on the language of instruction, High German.