Adele Rautenstrauch

Anna Maria Adele Rautenstrauch, née Joest (born 23 February 1850 in Cologne; died 30 December 1903 in Neustrelitz) was a German patron and benefactor.

Adele Rautenstrauch's younger brother Wilhelm undertook numerous trips around the world and thus built up an extensive ethnological collection.

[4] Together with her husband Eugen–who had the power of disposal over his wife's inheritance according to the German Civil Code–she donated her brother's collection, which comprised over 3,400 exhibits, to the City of Cologne on 28 June 1899, in order to make it accessible to the public and especially to students at the commercial college.

After her death in Mecklenburg, Adele Rautenstrauch was transferred to Cologne and buried at Melaten Cemetery on the so-called Millionenallee (between HWG and Lit.

On 12 November 1906, the museum building on the Ubierring initiated by Adele Rautenstrauch was opened in the presence of her son Eugen and her son-in-law Georg Ernst von Bernstorff.