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Amalie Raiffeisen (2 August 1846 - 11 January 1897) was a German social reformer. By the 1860s her father, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, was almost blind. By handling his correspondence with him she was indispensable in his creation of the Cooperative movement in Germany.She grew up in a religious family and was educated according to the social precepts of the time, accepting that even after reaching adulthood it was her duty to respect her father's wishes. These involved shunning marriage in order to stay by her father's side and help him in his work. After Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen eventually died, in 1888, she continued to work for the Cooperative movement. From 1892 till her own death she was the only surviving family member with shares in the undertaking. Life Childhood Amalie Justine Caroline Raiffeisen was born early in the morning at the family home in Weyerbusch, a small town near Altenkirchen, roughly 50 km/30 miles to the north of Koblenz. She was the eldest of her parents' seven recorded children. Her father, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, was the mayor of the little town. Almost thirty years after Amalie's birth her father recalled the day in a letter, describing how during the birth he had sat in the garden thanking God for this gift and at the same time asking for His blessings on the child's behalf. When the children were small their education was entrusted to their mother, Emilie. It was only when they were a little older that their father, who already had a busy work schedule, joined in the task. For the parents it was important that their children led a well ordered and properly scheduled day-to-day life. As soon as she was old enough, Amalie was required to submit, each evening, a work plan for the following day, with "Free hours" to be determined by her father. If she was staying away from home with relatives or friends, she was required to produce similar daily agendas for days away. Her father then insisted that tasks should be carried out as planned, including jobs which in other families of equivalent class and background would be the exclusive preserve of the household servants. At the same time the father set great store by a sound schooling for his daughter. After attending the local school she was sent on to a Ladies' College. Being a school girl did not excuse her from her domestic duties when she got home each day. She was still expected to help the maids with cleaning the house and to help in the garden, especially with regard to cultivating the potatoes.Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen lived by the biblical precept, Love they neighbour as thyself. His children, starting with the eldest, Amalie, were each required to find a local poor family, and take responsibility for the family's upkeep and welfare. To achieve this they had to collect donations from wealthier families and personally hand the cash over to the family for which they had taken responsibility. Raiffeisen's own family lived in relatively simple circumstances. Friedrich Wilhelm was himself one of nine recorded siblings: the salary he received for his duties as a small-town mayor was barely enough to support his large family, so that conspicuous consumption and luxuries were not possible. Amalie's childhood was also defined by the chronic poor health of her parents. Her father had already, in 1843, been turned down for military service because of his failing eye-sight, and despite regularly taking "cures", his vision continued to deteriorate. Her mother suffered from chronic heart problems, possibly on account of seven difficult home births. After the birth of her youngest child (who died in infancy) in 1859, doctors who were consulted concluded that she would never recover her health, and she died on 27 July 1863. That same year Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen drew up his own will: still not fully recovered from a savage attack of typhoid fever, he was evidently mindful that the children might be entirely orphaned at an early age. Working on her father's co-operative enterprises Amalie Raiffeisen was just 17 when her mother died. As the eldest daughter she took over responsibility for running the house and for the education of her younger siblings. Her father's eyesight had deteriorated sharply when he was ill with typhoid fever. On 2 September 1856 the district councillor Friedrich von Runkel wrote of him that he probably was having his letters read by his office assistants and his daughter, being no longer able to read for himself. Since Raiffeissen could no longer see what he was signing, he was retired from his public office on 21 September 1865. Because of his truncated public career he only received a small partial pension which created financial difficulties for the family. Financial difficulties were exacerbated because he had not been able to build up his savings when he had been working, due to the frequency of his health cures and his generous financial help for the poor and needy. In order to secure a better income for the family he set up a cigar factory, but this was barely profitable and was soon shut down. He then set up a wine wholesale business. In his daily business dealings he was dependent on the help of his daughter, Amalie.In 1864 Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen had set up the "Heddesdorfer Darlehensverein" ("Heddesdorf Credit Union"). He wrote up and published his experiences with the credit union and with his earlier experiences as mayor in Weyerbusch (1845-1848) and subsequently in the rural district of Flemersfled, in a publication entitled "The Credit Union as a way to address the needs of the rural population and of artisans and workers" ("Die Darlehnskassen-Vereine als Mittel zur Abhilfe der Noth der ländlichen Bevölkerung sowie auch der städtischen Handwerker und Arbeiter"). He dictated and Amalie wrote down the 227 page book.Her father was exhausted by the work involved in publishing the book and had to go away on a health cure. Amalie, by now aged 20, was left to run the home and the wine handling business, which she did, for the most part, alone. In 1867 the father wrote in a letter to his children of how greatly troubled he had become by his failure to generate more income, and he asked that if her were to die, his children should attend to the repayment of all his debts. Along with her responsibilities at home, Amalie attended to the continuing implementation of her father's Co-operative movement projects. Burdened by so much responsibility at such a young age, she was no doubt frequently overwhelmed by her father's decision to marry again: he decided to marry the widow Maria Penserot in 1868.A second edition of Raiffeisen's book appeared in 1872: it had grown to 352 pages. The complete rework had again been written by Amalie, at her father's dictation. In the first biography of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, which was produced by a temporary employee called .... Discover the Silvia Patt popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Silvia Patt books.

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    ABC Book Game. The book is short but easy to navigate. A short, but fun quiz game for smaller kids. This prepares children for early reading. ABC books are the game type. This book...

  • ABC Interactive Book Game synopsis, comments

    ABC Interactive Book Game

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    ABC Animal Books for kids

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    The book is short but easy to navigate.This prepares children for early reading.

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    This game is a good way to kill time. It's not too hard nor too easy. Children and adults alike will enjoy this word search. This is a most enjoyable game of word searches.

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    The Dolch list is a fundamental part in learning how to read. Your child will get a head start in learning how to read. Help your child learn to read sight words and spell sight wo...

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    How To Draw Outlines Drawing A Skull

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    How to draw outlines: Drawing a skull. [You Can Draw in 60 minutes] A short introductory ebook for drawing a skull. Stepbystep instructions for drawing a skull.