Emilie Hopmann

Emilie Hopmann (24 February 1845 Neuwied - 12 August 1926 Bad Godesberg) was a German social worker. She was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, by Pope Pius X in 1910  .

She was the founder and first president of the Association of German Catholic Women (KDBF) in 1903. She contributed to social and charitable commitment and to the improvement of the social and economic situation of young girls and women.

Life
In Bonn she met her brother's friend, the medical student Karl Melchior Hopmann (1844–1925), whom she married in 1872. They had ten children, four of whom died young.

Emilie Hopmann was involved in voluntary, social and charitable work. She supported her husband's free medical care for poor patients. In collaboration with other Catholic women, she created a school for adolescent girls and took the presidency of the Verein für katholische Ladnerinnen (Association of Catholic Saleswomen) founded in 1897 and supported the creation of the Verband katholischer kaufmännischer Gehülfinnen Deutschlands (Association of Catholic Sales Assistants of Germany) on July 17, 1901, in Aachen. This was aimed at all young women in similar low-paid professions, such as accountants, hat makers or telephone operators  ,

Emilie Hopmann was also involved in other associations such as the Women's Association of the Saint-André parish in Cologne, the Good Shepherd Association, the Catholic Association for the Protection of Girls and Women. She welcomed social students into her family on several occasions, believing that the best education is given in a “good family”.

On November 16, 1903, Emilie Hopmann founded the Katholischer Frauenbund Deutschlands (since 1983, Katholischer Deutscher Frauenbund Association of German Catholic Women, KDFB), with Minna Bachem-Sieger and Hedwig Dransfeld. Emilie Hopmann was its first president, her status as a mother of a large family contributing to the legitimacy of the association. The board of directors included Jeanne Trimborn, Marita Loersch and Agnes Neuhaus.