Hedwig Dransfeld (24 February 1871 – 13 March 1925) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Catholic

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, writer and member of parliament.

Biography

Hedwig Dransfeld was born in Hacheney (now

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

), Germany, to the Romberg family (German aristocrats). Her father, Clemens Dransfeld, was a senior forester, and her mother, Elise Fleischhauer, was a doctor's daughter and a Catholic. Dransfeld's father died when she was three, and her mother died five years later. She was brought up by her maternal grandmother until she, too, died, at which point Dransfeld was placed in an orphanage. At the age of sixteen she began to train at the ''Königlichen Katholischen Lehrerinnen-Seminar'' ("German Catholic Teachers' Seminar") in

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

. During her training, she contracted a form of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

that entered her bones, and lost her left arm and a heel. Despite this she passed her exams with distinction in 1890 and began a teaching career that culminated in her appointment as headmistress of the Ursuline School in

Werl The pilgrimage town Werl (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Wiärl'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the Soest, Germany, Soest district in the Arnsberg administrative district. The official name of pilgrimage town has been ...

. She began to write and published books of poetry. Later she wrote for ''Die christliche Frau'' ("the Christian Woman"), a German newspaper, and in 1905 took over the editorship of that journal and made it an organ of the '' Katholischen Deutschen Frauenbunds'' ("Catholic German Women's Federation", abbreviated KDF). After women were admitted to universities in Germany, in 1908, Dransfield studied ''Kulturwissenschaft'' ("Cultural Studies") in

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

and, later,

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. In January 1912, she made a noted speech on women in the church and religious life at the first German Women's Congress at the Reichstag in Berlin. The Berlin ''Vorwärts'' (a Social-Democratic newspaper) described her as "the most important woman alive today", and in October 1912 she gave up her work as a teacher to become full-time chairman of the KDF. After the November revolution, Dransfeld was nominated for '' Zentrum für die Weimarer Nationalversammlung'' ("Centre for 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 ...

National Assembly") and ''Preußischen Landesversammlung'' ("Prussian National Assembly"). She played a major part of the new social legislation, and from 1920 until her death was a senior member of the ''Rheinischen Zentrumspartei'' ("Rhenish Centre Party"). She was also appointed Chairman of the Reich Women's advisory board of that party. In 1922 she retired from chairing the KDF on health grounds, but remained a member of the Reichstag. She died in the Ursuline Convent, and her grave is in a cemetery in

Honours

Dransfeld received the freedom of the City of Werl on her 50th birthday. A school for disabled students is named after her, and on 10 November 1988 her life was commemorated on a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

. Streets in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Werl and in Bonn are named after her.

Selected publications

* "Wie das Grafendorli glücklich wird. Erzählung für junge Mädchen". In: ''Bachems illustrierte Erzählungen für Mädchen''. 7, Bachem, Köln 1920. * ''Der gute Ton für die heranwachsende Jugend''. Thiemann, Hamm 1930. * ''Il Santo. Erzählungen und Gedichte für alle Verehrer des Hl. Antonius von Padua''. Junfermann, Paderborn 1902. * "Theo Westerholt. Erzählung aus der Zeit Albrecht Dürers". In: ''Aus allen Zeiten und Ländern''. 18, Bachem, Köln 1913. * "Die Geschwister di Mona Rosta. Erzählung aus dem 17. Jahrhundert". In: ''Bachems illustrierte Erzählungen für Mädchen''. 13, Bachem, Köln 1920.

Sources

* Walter Gronemann: "Dransfeld, Hedwig". In: Hans Bohrmann (Ed.): ''Biographien bedeutender Dortmunder. Menschen in, aus und für Dortmund''. 1, Ruhfus, Dortmund 1994, S. 24ff. * Marianne Pünder: "Hedwig Dransfeld". In: Aloys Böhmer (Ed.): ''Westfälische Lebensbilder'', XII, Aschendorff, Münster 1979, .

External links

* *
Biografie im Internetportal "Westfälische Geschichte"

* ttp://www.wortblume.de/dichterinnen/dransf_i.htm Gedichte {{DEFAULTSORT:Dransfeld, Hedwig 1871 births 1925 deaths Writers from Dortmund Politicians from the Province of Westphalia German Roman Catholics Centre Party (Germany) politicians Members of the Weimar National Assembly Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic German amputees German feminists German women poets Politicians from Dortmund 20th-century German women politicians Catholic feminists German politicians with disabilities