Julia von Bodelschwingh

Julia von Bodelschwingh , b. von Ledebur (born June 7, 1874 at Gut Crollage ; † September 29, 1954 in Westerhausen near Melle ) laid the foundation for today's factory therapy in the East Westphalian city ​​of Bielefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia with the establishment and operation of a weaving school .

Life

Origin and family

Julia von Bodelschwingh grew up as the daughter of Albrecht von Ledebur (landowner and Rittmeister) and his wife Elisabeth Wilhelmine Amalie Caroline Marie von der Recke - Obernfelde († 1876) with her eleven siblings in an East Westphalian noble family. Her sister Luise was married to Wilhelm von Bodelschwingh . This was a brother of Friedrich von Bodelschwingh , whom she married on April 30, 1911.

Career and work

After attending primary school, she switched to the Höhere Töchterschule in Hanover for two years before returning to the Crollage estate and having to take on many responsibilities in the large estate household after the early death of her mother. One of her brothers and her sister Luise had started studying painting in Dresden. This impressed her so much that she started studying in Berlin in 1905 . Her teacher was the then head of the Academy of Fine Arts , Franz Skarbina . She had a close relationship with the art historian Heinrich Wölfflin . After her first successful painting assignments and five years of study, she returned to Westphalia. The reason for this was, among other things, that one of her brothers became seriously ill and had to be cared for in the Bethel institutions. Here she met her future husband Friedrich, who was the head of the institutions. After the death of her husband, Julia used all her energy to build a new home that offered accommodation for refugees, old and sick people and war orphans. She was traveling across the country to find such accommodation. Her nephew donated a building plot in Westerhausen near Melle. This enabled the construction of a home outside of Bethel to begin. In 1950 Julia moved from her Bethel apartment to the home, where she lived in her own small room. A few months before the home was finally completed, she passed away. Her wish to create a home for the many needy and helpless has finally come true.

Building a weaving school

Work has always been part of everyday therapy in the Bethel institutions. Many of the disabled people worked on farms, in gardening shops or in craft workshops. Since the majority of the residents could not take part in this work therapy, they were left with relatively dull work. Recognizing this problem, Julia developed the idea of ​​building a weaving school. It all started when she set up a loom in her kitchen. More chairs followed in other nursing homes. Finally a weaving mill was established. In 1934, when Benita Koch-Otte came to Bethel and became head of the weaving mill there, almost one hundred looms were in use. Physically and mentally handicapped residents found a meaningful occupation here. Soon workers from the area and, above all, the unemployed were employed in the weaving mill. The men, mostly industrial workers, wove carpets based on Juliet's watercolor sketches, which in their quality and originality clearly surpassed the usual patchwork carpets. With the establishment of this school, Julia made a pioneering achievement in the field of work therapy.

literature

• Margarete Stoevesandt, Friedrich v. Bodelschwingh: Julia v. Bodelschwingh - an unusual woman's commitment to life. 5th edition. Bethel-Verlag, Bielefeld 1997, ISBN 3-922463-06-1 .
• Gisbert Strotdrees: It wasn't just Droste. Sixty life pictures of Westphalian women. 2nd Edition. Münster 1997, ISBN 3-7843-2523-8 .

Web links

• Julia von Bodelschwingh Short biography on the Internet portal "Westphalian History"