DBP 1994 1723 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 The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such ...

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 The World's Congress of Representative Women was a week-long convention for the voicing of women's concerns, held within The Woman's Building of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, May 1893). At 81 meetings, organized by women from each of ...

meeting on the occasion of the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago. Several women from Germany attended this event: Anna Simson, Hanna Bieber-Böhm, Auguste Förster,

Käthe Schirmacher Käthe Schirmacher ( Danzig, 6 August 1865 – Meran, 18 November, 1930) was a German writer, journalist, and political activist who was considered to be one of the leading advocates for women's rights and the international women's movement in th ...

. They took the example of the American National Council of Women as a model for the BDF. The

International Council of Women The International Council of Women (ICW) is a women's rights organization working across national boundaries for the common cause of advocating human rights for women. In March and April 1888, women leaders came together in Washington, D.C., wit ...

also played a role in strengthening the co-operation between the NCW and the BDF.

Governance

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 Ottilie Franziska Hoffmann (14 July 183520 December 1925) was a German educationalist and social reformer who came to prominence as a pioneering temperance activist. Early life and education Ottilie Hoffmann was born in the central quarter of ...

, temperance activist *

Helene von Forster Helene von Forster (born Helene Schmidmer: 27 August 1859 – 16 November 1923) was a German women's rights activist and author. She is considered the most important representative of the feminist movement's moderate "bourgeois" wing in Nuremb ...

, chairwoman of the Nuremberg Association Women's Welfare *

Helene Lange Helene Lange (9 April 1848 in Oldenburg – 13 May 1930 in Berlin) was a pedagogue and feminist. She is a symbolic figure of the international and German civil rights feminist movement. In the years from 1919 to 1921 she was a member of the ...

* 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

Weimar period

The

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

rise to power, in 1933, led to their with the assertion of control over women's associations. Such groups involving communists or socialists were forbidden, and members were arrested or even assassinated in rare cases.http://www.erudit.org/revue/rf/1991/v4/n2/057649ar.pdf 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. But soon, the majority of the organizations disbanded or chose among themselves to disappear, like the BDF which dissolved in 1933 to avoid being controlled.Marie-Bénédicte Incent,'' Histoire de la société allemande au XXe siècle. Tome I. Le premier XXe siècle. 1900-1949'', Paris, 2011, p. 42 Some of the affiliated associations joined the

Deutsches Frauenwerk image:Mütterschulungskurs_des_Reichsmütterdienstes.jpg, Letter of acceptance, 180px The ''Deutsches Frauenwerk'' was a National Socialist, Nazi Association for women, which was created in October 1933. See also * League of German Girls * Cro ...

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 *

* Frauenschaft

References

{{Authority control Feminism in Germany Organizations of the German Empire Organizations based in the Weimar Republic Women's organisations based in Germany 1894 establishments in Germany Organizations established in 1894 1933 disestablishments in Germany Organizations disestablished in 1933