A friend of Amalie Sieveking, whose charitable work she continued, she is regarded as a figure typical of the Erweckung, the socially active Christian revival sweeping through Germany in the 19th century.

[2] Born on 26 February 1808, she was educated at home, at two private schools, and at one of Hamburg's Höhere Töchterschule, where she received religious instruction from Johann Wilhelm Rautenberg, who had also influenced Amalie Sieveking.

While she seemed not to have turned to piety immediately after encountering Rautenberg, he remained a spiritual adviser and contributed toward her conversion in 1835.

She was especially fond of teaching the youngest children, and wrote a Bible-based alphabet book for the purpose, whose narrative arc spanned from Creation to Eternal life and whose texts included reference to the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, and the Lord's Prayer; Mein erstes Lesebuch was thus also a catechism.

[2] In 1860, Averdieck opened a Christian home for nursing the sick called "Bethesda" that operated in coordination with the deaconess at Kaiserwerther.