Julie Bassermann

Julie Bassermann (born Julie Ladenburg: 2 March 1860 - 18 September 1940) was a German women's rights activist. Life Family provenance and early years Julie Ladenburg was born in Mannheim (which is also the city in which, eighty years later, she died). Her father, Carl Ladenburg (1827–1909), was a banker. Her mother, born Ida Goldschmidt (1840–1928) was, like her daughter, active in the women's movement. The Ladenburgs were considered one of Mannheim's leading Jewish families. Her parents had two recorded children, but Julie was their only daughter. In 1881 she married the ambitious Mannheim lawyer-politician Ernst Bassermann. For the young protestant lawyer Ernst Bassermann, the marriage opened up the opportunity to network among Mannheim's most prosperous circles. Three daughters and one son were born to the couple: at least two of the children would predecease their mother. Women's rights In 1897 Julie Bassermann founded the Mannheim section of the "Verein Frauenbildung - Frauenstudium" (loosely, "Women's Study and Training League"), teaming up with Alice Bensheimer, who rapidly became a friend, to build up the organisation, of which she became president in 1901. As she became established in the role, she led a fusion of various activist women's organisations in Mannheim into a single body. One side-effect of this was the chance to work closely with her mother: in 1904 Ida Ladenburg (1840–1928) became president of the "Baden Women's Association" ("Badische Frauenverein"). Julie Bassermann was involved with the "Hausfrauverein" (loosely, "Housewives' Association"). She also served, between 1911 and 1933, as founding president of the "Badische Verband für Frauenbestrebungen" (loosely, "Baden Association for Women's Endeavours").