els of at once
collecting information and strengthening my faith imposed a more urgent
obligation on me to try to make up by the help of our God for our long
neglect." He tried to obtain permission to be imprisoned a few weeks in
the prison at Duesseldorf, that he might view prison life from within the
walls, but his request was refused. He then obtained leave to hold
services every other Sunday afternoon in the prison at Duesseldorf. The
efforts that he put forth succeeded in waking the interest of a great
many persons, and at last there was formed by his efforts the first
society in behalf of prisoners in Germany.

It was while engaged in this work that he met his wife, Frederika
Muenster, who was occupied in bettering the condition of the prisoners in
the penitentiary at Duesselthal. He married her in 1828, and she became
a helpful, inspiring co-worker with him in all his undertakings.

In 1832 he was commissioned by the government to revisit England, to
furnish a report on the various charitable organizations, especially
those connected with prisons and alms-houses. This brought him into
closer relations with Elizabeth Fry, as well as with many other noble
men and women of all ranks who were caring for the poor and neglected of
England. He extended his journey to Scotland, met Dr. Chalmers, and
found his heart strangely touched by what he saw. His spiritual
experience had deepened with the years, and while here he wrote to some
friends, "The Lord greatly quickens me."

His heart became still more open to works of mercy and love, and he
gathered rich experiences which were afterward utilized in his work.

Fliedner had now attained a certain reputation of his own as a friend to
prisoners and outcasts. It was not surprising, therefore, that a poor
female convict, discharged from the prison at Werden, should have taken
the weary six miles' walk to Kaiserswerth September 17, 1833, to ask the
good pastor for help. There stood in the parsonage garden a little
summer-house twelve feet square, with an attic. This was offered to the
convict Minna as a temporary refuge, and she became the first inmate of
the Kaiserswerth institutions. She had arrived at an opportune moment.
In the previous spring Count Spee, the President of the Prison Society,
had urged the founding of two institutions, one Lutheran and one
Catholic, to receive discharged female convicts. Fliedner, who had seen
such refuges in England, declared himself rea