Barbara Lüdemann (; 28 April 1922 – 20 February 1992) was a German teacher and politician who served in the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

from 1973 until 1976. A member of the Free Democratic Party from

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, she became a prominent figure in German family policy, especially with regards to

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family mem ...

Biography

Barbara Witte was born on 28 April 1922 in the city of

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

to mining engineer and his wife Hildegard Große-Leege. She joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

on 1 September 1941; her membership number was 8,682,984. She worked on a farm from 1938 to 1942, and studied at the agricultural pedagogical institutes in Dunzig in 1942 and in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

from 1944 to 1945. In 1947, she completed her state certification as a teacher of

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professio ...

, teaching in the towns of

Alsfeld Alsfeld () is a town in the center of Hesse, in Germany. Located about north of Frankfurt, Alsfeld is part of the densely populated Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, with nearby Lauterbach, Hesse, Lauterbach (about ...

Büdingen Büdingen () is a town in the Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is mainly known for its well-preserved, heavily fortified medieval town wall and half-timbered houses. Geography Location Büdingen is in the south of the Wetterau below the Vog ...

, and Grünberg throughout her career, as well as in Wetzlar where she was the senior teacher from 1970 to 1973. She married Christian Lüdemannthe pastor of the town of Schnega – on 14 June 1950, though he died later that year. Lüdemann joined the Free Democratic Party in 1964. Later that year, she was elected to the , serving until 1976. She became the FDP's deputy leader in the council in 1968. Beginning in 1970, she was also the chair of the Wetzlar branch of the . On 4 September 1973, Lüdemann was appointed to the

to succeed Karl-Hermann Flach, who died in office. While in the Bundestag, she was a member of the Economic Committee and the Committee for Youth, Family and Health; a deputy member of the Committee for Labour and Social Order; and the FDP's parliamentary spokesperson on family policy. During her tenures in the district council and the Bundestag, Lüdemann became a prominent figure in German family policy, especially with regards to

. As a district councillor, she organized local foster homes for children from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In the Bundestag, one of her main policy goals was to pass a law which stated that no foster child could be "returned to their biological parents against their will", and during debate on the , she advocated for a legal remedy provision. In 1974, Lüdemann received criticism from the magazine ''

Bunte ''Bunte'' (company's preferred spelling in capital letters) is a German-language weekly celebrity gossip magazine published by Hubert Burda Media. The first edition was published in 1948 under the name ''Das Ufer''. Under the leadership of Hub ...

'', which accused her of "taking children out of homes". Despite her prominence and seniority, the FDP sidelined Lüdemann in the 1976 election in favor of a more junior candidate, pushing her down to 14th on the party's

state list The State List or List-II is a list of 61 items. Initially there were 66 items in the list in Schedule Seven to the Constitution of India. The legislative section is divided into three lists: the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent Lis ...

where she was not elected. She was also defeated in the Wetzlar constituency, receiving 8.7% of the vote. She left the Bundestag at the end of her term on 13 December 1976. In 1975, Lüdemann was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon. She was also awarded the in 1979. Lüdemann died in Wetzlar on 20 February 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lüdemann, Barbara 1922 births 1992 deaths Members of the Bundestag 1972–1976 20th-century German women politicians Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany) Nazi Party members Members of the Bundestag for Hesse People from Wetzlar Female members of the Bundestag Local politicians in Germany 20th-century German educators 20th-century German women educators Family policy Foster care Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany