Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen
| Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
30 March 1818 Hamm (Sieg), German Confederation |
| Died | 11 March 1888 (aged 69) Neuwied, German Empire |
| Occupation | Pioneer of Cooperative banking and credit unions |
| Spouse(s) | Emilie Storck (1843) Maria Panseroth (1867) |
| Children |
Amalie Raiffeisen (1846-1897) six others |
| Parent(s) | Gottfried Friedrich Raiffeisen Amalie Christiane S. M. Lantzendörffer |
Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (30 March 1818 – 11 March 1888) was a German mayor and cooperative pioneer. Several credit union systems and cooperative banks have been named after Raiffeisen, who pioneered rural credit unions.
Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen was born on 30 March 1818 at Hamm/Sieg (Westerwald). He was the seventh out of nine children. His father Gottfried Friedrich Raiffeisen was a farmer and also mayor of Hamm for a while. One can go back to his family’s origin until the 16th century in the Swabian-Franconian area. The family of his mother, Amalie Christiane Susanna Maria, born Lantzendörffer, came from the “Siegerland”. Leaving school at the age of 14 he received three years of education from a local pastor before he entered the military at the age of 17. His career in the military led him to Cologne, Coblenz and Sayn. An eye disease forced him to resign from the military service in 1843 and he went into public service. He was mayor of several towns: from 1845 he was mayor of Weyerbusch/Westerwald; from 1848 he was mayor of Flammersfeld/Westerwald; and finally he was mayor of Heddesdorf from 1852 until late 1865, when, at the age of 47, his worsening health cut his career short; he had caught typhus in 1863 during an epidemic during which his wife had died. Since his small pension was not sufficient to meet the living of Raiffeisen’s family he initially started a small cigar factory and later on a wine business. In 1867, he married the widow Maria Panseroth. She outlived him by 12 years and their marriage remained childless. He died on 11 March 1888 in Neuwied-Heddesdorf, shortly before his 70th birthday.
Raiffeisen conceived of the idea of cooperative self-help during his tenure as the young mayor of Flammersfeld. He was inspired by observing the suffering of the farmers who were often in the grip of loansharks. He founded the first cooperative lending bank, in effect the first rural credit union in 1864.
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