kettler advocated for the treatment of men and women as intellectual equals and for the right of girls to the same educational opportunities offered to boys. in 1881 she founded the magazine ' (female profession: monthly for the interests of women's issues), to which she was the sole contributor, and in 1887 she began publishing ' (library of women's issues). with a group of other women, in 1888 she established the "frauenverein reform" (women's association for reform), which campaigned for equal education for males and females. in 1893 the organisation, which had been renamed "" (association for the reform of women's education), led by kettler, founded germany's first "gymnasium" (equivalent to high school) for girls in karlsruhe, the . she assisted in founding the second german girls' high school in hanover in 1899.