Knoop, Henriette Caroline Theodore von, née Frerichs

Patron of the arts

born: 20.02.1826 in Bremen

died: 17.06.1902 in Wiesbaden

Knoop, married to Julius von Knoop from 1847, occupied an outstanding position among the city's benefactors. For decades, she was a board member of the "Vaterländischer Frauen-Verein", the "Kleinkinderbewahranstalt", the Wiesbaden "Frauen-Verein", the "Verein vom Roten Kreuz" and the "Lungenheilstätte" near Naurod, helping the poor, socially disadvantaged and sick.

In April 1882, together with Emma von Wurmb, the wife of the district president Lothar von Wurmb, she organized a "performance of living pictures" in the Royal Theatre for the benefit of the infant care institution. In May 1885, she organized a children's party for the poor in her villa. Her children's festival in support of the Auguste-Viktoria-Stift in May 1897 in the park of Knoop's villa, which was also attended by Empress Auguste Viktoria, was a much-noticed municipal event.

Knoop also supported church work financially. For example, she organized a festival and bazaar in her garden park in May 1890 to benefit the construction of the Catholic church in Sonnenberg; this was followed in November by a charity bazaar in the casino for the construction of the Protestant church in Rambach, where she was able to collect considerable sums. She donated a painted choir window to the market church congregation. Her donation for the Kaiser Friedrich monument was by far the second-highest amount from a private individual.

In 1884, the local council honored her charitable work by naming the road passing Knoop's estate Theodorenstraße. In her will, Knoop made large donations to the children's home, the "Red Cross Association", the "Women's Association", the "Theodor House" in Eppenhain and the local maternity asylum.