Sophie von Engelbrechten

Sophie von Engelbrechten b. Leisewitz, called Sonny , (* May 23, 1874 in Bremen , † December 29, 1969 in Bremen) was a German women's rights activist and organized welfare tasks .

biography

Sophie von Engelbrechten was the daughter of Lambert Leisewitz , partner in a tobacco company and member of the Bremen citizenship , and of Helene Rutenderg, daughter of Lüder Rutenberg , who was a wealthy builder, architect and brewery owner. In 1897 she married Lieutenant Arnold von Engelbrechten (1870–1953), who served in the Hanseatic Infantry Regiment No. 75 and in 1919/21 commanded the Bremen city defense as a colonel . The couple lived on Körnerstraße, then on Mathildenstraße in Bremen-Mitte and from 1922 in Bremen- Oberneuland . They had four children.

As a conservative nobleman, Sophie von Engelbrechten was involved in the social field. She headed the Bremen section of the Women's Association of the German Colonial Society (FDKG) and supported families in German East Africa and South West Africa . For a long time she was chairwoman of the Bremen branch of the Fatherland Women's Association (VFV) from 1866. Since this association was connected to the Central Committee of the German Associations of the Red Cross (ZHRK), she sat on their governing bodies during the First World War and accompanied social campaigns and press work.

After 1918 she organized welfare tasks within the framework of her associations through facilities for the needy such as coffee shops, warming halls, help-through-self-help groups and sales outlets. In 1925 she founded the mother house of the Elisabeth Sisters of the Red Cross and was a board member of the institution. Her cooperation with the progressive Women's Employment and Training Association (FEAV), which emerged in the Bremen women's movement in 1867 , was remarkably constructive . During the Nazi era , in the summer of 1934, she was appointed chairman of the Oldenburg State Women's Association of the German Red Cross and the Fatherland Women's Association. The VFV was completely harmonized and dissolved in 1937. In private, the Engelbrechtens continued to actively and materially support sick care and help for hospitals. After 1945 the wealthy couple lived in seclusion.

Literature, sources

• Renate Meyer-Braun: Engelbrechten, Sophie von, called Sonny, geb. Leisewitz . In: Women's history (s) , Bremer Frauenmuseum (ed.). Edition Falkenberg, Bremen 2016, ISBN 978-3-95494-095-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Sheets of the German Red Cross, 13th year 1934, issue 8, page 687