Lette-Verein

Lette-Verein (Lette Association or Lette Society) is a German educational organization for applied arts. Founded in 1866 in Berlin, the idea of Dr. Wilhelm Adolf Lette, it was initially a technical school for girls. Its motto was "Dienen lerne bei Zeiten das Weib nach seiner Bestimmung" (A woman should learn to serve according to her purpose as quickly as possible). In 1872, Lette's daughter, Anna Schepeler-Lette, became the first director of the society. Its early form has been compared to that of the London Society for Promoting the Employment of Women. Lette-Verein is located at Viktoria-Luise-Platz 6, 10777 Berlin, Germany.

Founded as a technical school, Lette-Verein was organized to suit the special social conditions of its time. It was agreed to aim at adapting itself to existing institutions, rather than creating a school for more highly educated future generations. It received the support of influential members of German society, beginning with the Emperor and Empress. From the first it owed much to the substantial aid and personal interest tendered by the Crown Princess.

The Lette-Verein was designed as a handful of societies, all closely knit together, located in the same premises, and with the same main object, namely, the promotion of women's education, the improvement of the working capacities of those who are self-dependent. Besides the trade school, there was the Victoria Stift, a foundation offering a temporary home to ladies of limited means; a bazaar for the sale of work; a registry for women in search of employment; a loan society; a lending library, and a school for servants, factory girls, and others seeking self-improvement. The school – open to girls 15 years and older – was designed to only provide a technical, not a general, education.

For admission to the School of Commerce division, girls must te able to prove that they have previously had a good general education. They here receive special training that will thoroughly qualify them for situations in mercantile houses. In its early years, he pupils' fees were 77. 10s. a year, the classes were in the morning, and occupied 20-23 hours a week. The principal subjects were: mercantile handwriting, mercantile arithmetic, office work, and commercial correspondence, bookkeeping, commerce by bills of exchange, French and English, German, geography. In general, on leaving the Lette-Verein, the girls obtained employment as clerks, cashiers, and correspondents.

The drawing school had two divisions: one of these was expressly for the training of drawing mistresses for similar schools in the country, the other gave art instruction with special reference to certain branches of industry. The fees ere 30s. a quarter in the late 19th century. The studies included linear and freehand drawing, geometry, colouring, ornamental design, flower-painting, china-painting, and modelling.

...
Wikipedia