Women in Germany

“Women were very much liberated in Weimar Germany.”
Explain why you agree or disagree with this statement.

It is true that women in Weimar Germany experienced more freedoms than before the war in many areas such as politics, their personal lives and economically. However exactly how far that liberation was experienced by women in reality is debateable.

One of the areas where women experienced liberation under the Weimar constitution was through their political rights. This is seen when the Weimar Constitution gave equal voting rights to all adults including women which gave them a sense of freedom as it allowed them to have an effective say in political decisions concerning them. By women gaining the right to vote, it shows that the attitude towards them changed greatly; the government showed more importance towards their views and valued their welfare. The Weimar Constitution increased women’s potential to influence party policies while playing important roles within institutes of power as women were also given the right to become Reichstag deputies. 49 women were elected into the Reichstag during the elections of 1919 which was a much higher proportion of female deputies than what the British House of Commons had which shows that compared to other countries, women in Germany experienced more liberation. Furthermore, women had large roles in local and state governments which conveys that they were accepted to play important positions of power. Gender equality was also made a key part of KPD’s programme which shows that it was strongly supported by some parties in Weimar Germany.

However, KPD was the least appealing party in Germany and had the least amount of women supporters out of the different parties. In fact most women followed parties which didn’t support gender equality, such as Z Party, DNVP and DVP. Some women politicians even publicly argued against their suffrage, such as Paula Muller-Otfried, who was a Protestant and a member of DNVP and became a Reichstag deputy in 1920. The party which gained most women supporters was the Catholic Centre Party and many Protestant women were appealed to conservative parties like DNVP and DVP although neither supported gender equality. This shows that many women preferred the traditional values of themselves rather than a freer and equal society. Although many women were elected into the Reichstag, none became a cabinet member during the Weimar Republic. There were also no female representative in the Reichsrat which shows that women were still viewed as inferior to men and that gender equality did not reach its full potential.  

Therefore, politically, women in the Weimar Republic experienced liberation only to an extent. The right to vote gave women a huge sense of emancipation as it changed the way that they were viewed and also allowed them to take up roles that were not available to them before the war. However the achievement of women’s vote in 1919 did not lead the Weimar Constitution into a new period of gender equality as it was eventually met with resentment from people with traditional views concerning women, such as laws which were seen important for promoting marriage and repopulating Germany after the war.

Another area where women in Weimar Germany gained significant liberation was economically which is seen when the Weimar Constitution gave women greater equality in employment rights. Women were also given equal educational rights which allowed them to challenge men in professional positions. By 1933, there were 100,000 women teachers and 3,000 women doctors. As well as the right to vote, the war gave women freedom to work in positions which were previously male only jobs. Because over two million Germans, mostly young men, were killed during the war, women were relied upon to fill these positions such as: drivers, factory workers and miners. By 1925 36% of the workforce in Weimar Germany were women working in areas such as industry, agricultural and secretarial jobs. This shows how women experienced liberation economically as the war gave them many opportunities for work due to the limited number of men. This also meant that less women would follow the path towards marriage as many young men were killed in the war. Instead women were brought into paid employment to replace those men who had fought in the war, giving them a chance to become independent.

On the other hand, although women felt more emancipated than they had before the war as they were given the opportunity to work and earn money for themselves, gender inequality was still strong in the workplace. This is seen when women were forced into working lower paying and lower skilled jobs than males, despite education or experience. They would also be often paid less than men even if they were doing the same work. As well as this, those who worked were forced to leave as soon as they were to be married to undertake traditional roles as wife and mother. Married women who continued working would often be blamed as the cause for male unemployment. Women would also be forced to give up employment in order for ex-soldiers to find work opportunities. In addition, the Civil Code of 1896 continued to be a strong tradition which states that the husband has the right to decide on all matters concerning daily life including whether the wife should undertake paid work or not.