Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/germany

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine

The Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine (Federation of German Women's Associations) (BDF) was founded on 28/29 March 1894 as umbrella organization of the women's civil rights feminist movement and existed until the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.

Its creation was inspired by the founding of the World's Congress of Representative Women meeting on the occasion of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Several women from Germany attended this event: Anna Simson, Hanna Bieber-Böhm, Auguste Förster, Käthe Schirmacher. They took the example of the American National Council of Women as a model for the BDF. The International Council of Women also played a role in strengthening the co-operation between the NCW and the BDF.

Governance

Chairwomanperiod of service
Auguste Schmidt1894–9
Marie Stritt1899–1910
Gertrud Bäumer1910–1919
Marianne Weber1919–1924
Emma Ender1924–1931
Agnes von Zahn-Harnack1931–1933
Deputy Chairwomanperiod of service
Anna Schepeler-Lette1894–?
Anna Simson?–?
Gertrud Bäumer1919–1933

The first board was composed of:

  • Auguste Schmidt
  • Anna Schepeler-Lette, Chairperson of the Latvian Club
  • Anna Simson
  • Hanna Bieber-Böhm as chairwoman of the association for the protection of minors Representative of the morality movement
  • Auguste Förster
  • Ottilie Hoffmann, temperance activist
  • Helene von Forster, chairwoman of the Nuremberg Association Women's Welfare
  • Helene Lange
  • Betty Naue In 1896 they were joined by:
  • Jeanette Schwerin, Head of girls and women's groups for social work
  • Marie Stritt, Founder of the first legal protection association for women in Germany

Constituent groups

Among others, the Reifensteiner Association was among the members.

History

Wilhelmine period

Nazi period

In 1933, the Nazis rose to power, and asserted control over women's associations. Groups involving communists or socialists were forbidden, and members were arrested or even assassinated in rare cases. All associations were asked to turn in Jewish members, including the Union of Protestant Women, the Association for Home and Countryside, the Union of German Colonial Women, and the Union of Queen Louise. Soon enough, however, the majority of the organizations were either forcibly destroyed or decided internally to disband, like the BDF which dissolved itself in 1933 to avoid being controlled. Some of the affiliated associations joined the Deutsches Frauenwerk.

Membership

Membership steadily grew in the first twenty years:

  • 1895 : 65 chapters
  • 1901 : 137 chapters and 70,000 members
  • 1913 : 2200 chapters and 500,000 members

Articles

  • Women in the Third Reich
  • Deutsches Frauenwerk
  • Frauenschaft

References

References

  1. Guido, Diane J.. (2010). "The German League for the Prevention of Women's Emancipation: Antifeminism in Germany, 1912-1920". Peter Lang Publishing.
  2. (2005). "Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History : a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia". ABC-CLIO.
  3. Dickinson, Edward Ross. (2005). "Dominion of the Spirit over the Flesh: Religion, Gender and Sexual Morality in the German Women's Movement before World War I". Gender & History.
  4. Moser-Verrey, Monique. (1991). "Les femmes du troisième Reich". Unité/Diversité.
  5. Marie-Bénédicte Incent,'' Histoire de la société allemande au XXe siècle. Tome I. Le premier XXe siècle. 1900-1949'', Paris, 2011, p. 42
  6. (1998). "Social Justice Feminists in the United States and Germany: A Dialogue in Documents, 1885-1933". Cornell University Press.
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

feminism-in-germany organisations-of-the-german-empire political-organisations-in-the-weimar-republic women's-organisations-based-in-germany 1894-establishments-in-germany political-organizations-established-in-1894 1933-disestablishments-in-germany organizations-disestablished-in-1933
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report