Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen

Rural credit co-operatives. Raiffeisen, a village mayor in the Westerwald, saw farmers ruined by moneylenders after the hunger winter of 1846 to 1847 and moved from charity to self-help, founding a credit association at Heddesdorf in 1864 in which members pooled savings and lent to each other under shared liability. Raiffeisen banks spread across Europe and still carry his name, owned by local members.