The Reifenstein schools (German: Reifensteiner Schulen) were the various schools of higher education for women associated with the Reifensteiner Verband. The concept was initiated by Ida von Kortzfleisch, a Prussian noble woman and early German feminist. Reifenstein refers to Reifenstein in Eichsfeld, a municipality in Thuringia and site of the first permanent school. From 1897 to 1990 the Reifensteiner Verband operated about 15 of its own schools and cooperated with further operators. About 40 wirtschaftliche Frauenschulen, rural women economy schools were connected to the Reifenstein concept and movement. The association and its journals provided an alumni network and a job placement service, as well as strengthening home economics (Ekotrophology) as an academic discipline and were impor