Kuhlmann, Elly von, née Windler, widowed Quensell

Women's politician, head of the Protestant Women's Aid Organization in Hesse

Born: 24.09.1892 in Berlin

died: 03.02.1964 in Wiesbaden

Kuhlmann, married in her second marriage to Wilhelm von Kuhlmann, the German envoy to Central America and Dublin (Ireland), came to Wiesbaden with her husband after several stays abroad. After his death in 1937, she became a volunteer in the Evangelical Women's Aid Organization.

Initially she worked in the women's aid organization at the Lutherkirche, then in the municipal association of the Evangelical Women's Aid in Wiesbaden. In 1938, she took over the management of the Nassau regional association. In this role, she was also responsible for the Mothers' Recreation Home in Eppstein, which had belonged to the association since 1933 and which the NSDAP wanted to turn into a children's home, which she managed to prevent. She was able to maintain the independence of the association's work throughout the Nazi era.

After the Second World War, she continued her voluntary work in the women's aid organization. In 1950, she once again took over the leadership of the Nassau regional association. When the regional associations of Protestant Women's Aid in Nassau and Hesse were merged in 1953 to form the "United Associations of Protestant Women's Aid in Hesse and Nassau e.V." based in Darmstadt, she stepped down from the management, but remained a member of the board and worked on various committees and later in the Mothers' Convalescence Organization.

In 1949, together with American women, she organized the first supra-regional "Women's World Day of Prayer" in Wiesbaden. Women from various Christian churches and women's organizations were invited to this event. The Women's Day of Prayer was held annually in Wiesbaden from 1949-63.

Hülpüsch, Petra: Elly von Kuhlmann, 1892-1964. Full-time volunteer. In: 2000 years of women's lives [p. 38 ff].

Darmstadt city encyclopedia. Ed.: Historischer Verein für Hessen on behalf of the magistrate of the City of Science, Darmstadt 2006 [p. 531].