Wilhelmine Mutzenbecher

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Wilhelmine Mutzenbecher , née Hübbe, (born October 26, 1801 in Hamburg ; † June 5, 1878 there ) was the founder of the Martha Foundation.

Live and act

Wilhelmine Mutzenbecher was born into a family of lawyers. In 1843 she married the merchant Ferdinand Mutzenbecher , who worked as the Hamburg consul mostly in Chile . The theologian Johann Hinrich Wichern has been a member of the couple's circle of friends since 1827 . Wilhelmine and Ferdinand Mutzenbecher were thus sustainably influenced by North German Pietism and saw their duty to reform society religiously and morally and to act in a charitable manner.

Ferdinand Mutzenbecher died childless in 1848. From then on, the widowed Wilhelmine Mutzenbecher devoted herself to charitable causes, for which she contributed all of her assets. Johann Hinrich Wichern and the Association for Inner Mission in Hamburg advised her to found an aid organization for young women from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Mutzenbecher then set up the Martha Foundation in 1849 for the benefit of young female servants . The name of the foundation goes back to Martha von Bethanien , patron saint of housewives. Mutzenbecher was based on a conservative, bourgeois image of the family based on Christian theological principles. With the help of Therese Abendroth and Amanda Wagner, she set up the organization in her house at Hühnerposten 19. The schoolgirls were trained as a servant and learned household chores, which should prepare them for employment in middle-class families. Religious and general educational topics were also taught there. A little later, the foundation also made contact with families who offered private training. The foundation checked whether the host families were adequately qualified, provided adequate accommodation and food, and ensured that the young women duly attended church services. In addition to the foundation, Mutzenbecher set up a “cooking establishment” where practical training took place and which made the prepared meals available to the poor and the sick.

From 1875 Mutzenbecher's Martha-Stift also offered domestic internships for young women who went through their last school year. The as yet unconfirmed pupils between the ages of 12 and 14 lived in Martha Stift and thus had the opportunity to acquire knowledge for a later career. Mutzenbecher also attached great importance to the fact that the mostly half or full orphans received confirmation classes and were taught religious values. Mutzenbecher also planned a “girls' hostel”, in which sick young women and old maids who were discharged through no fault of their own were to be looked after. However, due to a lack of financial resources, she was unable to realize this facility.

When the premises at the chicken post were no longer sufficient for the purposes of the foundation, it moved to Steindamm number 1852 in 1852. In 1867, eleven years before Wilhelmine Mutzenbecher's death, the Martha Foundation became legally independent.

The further development of the Martha Foundation

After Wilhelmine Mutzenbecher's death in 1878, the foundation continued the facilities out of Christian conviction with the aim of providing social help. In 1882 the foundation opened a day nursery and in 1884 moved into new buildings in Baustraße (today's Heinrichsenstraße) in Hamburg-Borgfelde . In the 1920s and 30s the foundation set up a maternity home and offered care for disabled children. In 1953 an old people's home was built and the offerings were later supplemented with facilities for addicts and a children's home.

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SURNAME Mutzenbecher, Wilhelmine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German founder of the Martha Foundation
DATE OF BIRTH October 26, 1801
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH June 5, 1878
Place of death Hamburg