Margaretha Rosa Flesch (1826–1906)

Margaretha Rosa Flesch, a miller's daughter from Vallendar, founded the Franciscan Sisters of Waldbreitbach. By 1878, from its mother house "Marienhaus" in Waldbreitbach, the society had grown to include more than 100 sisters living in 21 settlements. Branches followed in the United States, the Netherlands and Brazil. Mother Rosa, so her religious name, was beatified in 2008.

Oktavie de Lasalle von Luisenthal (1811–1890), portrait of Margaretha Rosa Flesch (1826–1906); source: with the kind permission of the Waldbreitbacher Franziskanerinnen BMVA, http://www.waldbreitbacher-franziskanerinnen.de.