Raiffeisenland

Welcome to Raiffeisenland

We warmly welcome you to the heart of Raiffeisen country, in the heart of the Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park.
In the Raiffeisenhaus Museum in Flammersfeld – formerly a private residence and mayor's office –
Friedrich W. Raiffeisen served as mayor of the ‘Samtgemeinde’ (joint municipality) of Flammersfeld from 1848 to 1852.

In 1849, he founded the ‘Flammersfelder Hülfsverein zur Unterstützung unbemittelter Landwirthe’ (Flammersfeld Aid Association for the Support of Impoverished Farmers), the world's first loan association and precursor to the later Raiffeisen cooperative banks.
Born in Hamm (Sieg), mayor in Weyerbusch, Flammersfeld and Heddesdorf (Neusie), F.W. Raiffeisen worked tirelessly to improve the situation of the rural population and created modern cooperative structures. He almost always put his ideas into practice, in line with his motto ‘Example alone is useful’.
2018 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen (1818–1888). His cooperatives and their influence are known throughout the world. The anniversary motto ‘Raiffeisen. A powerful idea!’ is highlighted in the Raiffeisenhaus museum, which illustrates the significance of Raiffeisen, his work and the relevance of his ideas today.

Source: DataHub Rheinland-Pfalz