Elfriede Eilers (17 January 1921 – 4 June 2016) was a German politician of the

Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...

(SPD).

Life and profession

Eilers was born in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

and was of

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

faith. She initially completed a commercial apprenticeship after attending

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

. She then worked as an accountant at Stadtwerke Bielefeld from 1941. From 1950 to 1952, Eilers trained as a welfare nurse at the Seminar for Social Professions in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

, the welfare school of the Workers' Welfare Association. She then worked as a welfare officer for the Workers' Welfare Association in the Lippe sub-district. From 1954, Eilers was a youth welfare officer for the city of Bielefeld. From 1972 to 1990, she was deputy national chairwoman of the Workers' Welfare Association, of which she had been a member since 1950. In December 2004, Eilers founded the Elfriede-Eilers-Stiftung, based in Bielefeld. The purpose of this foundation is to promote new projects in the areas of child, youth, elderly and disabled care. At her funeral service at Bielefeld's Sennefriedhof on June 13, 2016, she paid tribute to the former

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

. June 2016, she was honored by the former SPD chairman

Franz Müntefering Franz Müntefering (; born 16 January 1940) is a German politician. He was Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) from 2004 to 2005 and again from 18 October 2008 to 13 November 2009. He served as the minister of Labour and Social Affairs, ...

, the chairman of the board of the Workers' Welfare Association, Wolfgang Stadler, and the mayor of Bielefeld, Pit Clausen. The estate of Elfriede Eilers is kept in the Stadtarchiv Bielefeld. In addition to personal documents and private correspondence, it includes material on Eilers' involvement with the Workers' Welfare Association. Further documents relating primarily to her political activities can be found in the Archive of Social Democracy of the

Friedrich Ebert Foundation The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as t ...

in Bonn.

Party

Her parents were already active in the SPD in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. After the Second World War, she initially became involved in the youth work of the

Falcons Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distribu ...

and also joined the SPD in 1945. From 1966 to 1977, she was a member of the SPD's Federal Executive Committee, and from 1973 also of its Presidium. Also from 1973 to 1977, she was Federal Chairwoman of the Working Group of Social Democratic Women (ASF). From 1979 to 1993 she was a member of the SPD Control Commission and from 1978 to 1991 she was the SPD party executive's federal representative for work with senior citizens. In November 2005, Elfriede Eilers was appointed honorary chairwoman of the SPD

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Ostwestfalen-Lippe Ostwestfalen-Lippe (, literally ''East(ern) Westphalia-Lippe'', abbreviation OWL) is the eastern region of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, congruent with the administrative region of Detmold and containing the eastern part of Wes ...

Member of Parliament

Eilers was a member of the

German Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the lower house of the German federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag was established by Title III of the Basic Law for ...

from 1957 to 1980. She was elected in the

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...

and

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

via the

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 ...

of the SPD in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. In the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

, she won the direct mandate in the constituency of Bielefeld-Stadt. In 1969, she was elected to the parliamentary group executive and from 15 December 1977 until her retirement, she was a member of the

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

. December 1977 until she left parliament, she was Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group. From 1979 to 1984, Elfriede Eilers was a member of Bielefeld City Council.

Honors

* 1973: Cross of Merit 1st. Class of the Federal Republic of Germany * 1977: Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany * 1983: Grand Cross of Merit with Star of the Federal Republic of Germany * Ring of Honor of the City of Bielefeld

Literature

External links

*
Article on Eilers' 90. Birthday

References