Women in Weimar

Question 1

What did the Pre-War Civil Code of 1900 limit women to?

Answer 1

• Women could not vote
• Single women could study for a profession such as law but could not take the exams to qualify and practice
• Married women had no legal status, men had to do all the legal business on their behalf

Question 2

When did the emergency government give women the vote in Weimar?

Answer 2

12th November 1918
- This was even before the new constitution was established
- All political parties taking part wanted women to vote and to ‘educate’ them on political issues

Question 3

What was the turnout of women in the first elections in Weimar?

Answer 3

• 90% of women voted

Question 4

How many women were elected into the Reichstag between 1919 and 1932?

Answer 4

• 112 women were elected
• Women took seats in local gov and the Reichstag

Question 5

Article 109?

Answer 5

• In principle women had equal rights
• Marriage should be an equal union
• Women should be able to enter professions

Question 6

Did Article 109 actually do what it should have?

Answer 6

• It did not change the status of women under the civil code

Question 7

What was the political split on the issue of the role of women?

Answer 7

• SPD members supported equality and women’s rights
• Other more conservative parties believed they should return to their role of the mother

Question 8

Give stats of the falling birth rate which was of concern?

Answer 8

• Fell from 128 live births per 1000 women in 1911
• To 59 in 1933

Question 9

Give stats of the increasing divorce rate that was of concern?

Answer 9

• Increased from 27 per 100,000 inhabitants in 1913
• To 65 per 100,000 in 1932

Question 10

Why did the consensus of 1925 show women in work go back to pre-war levels?

Answer 10

• Weimar policy was to give men coming back from war the work
• Went back to pre-war levels of employment of around 34%

Question 11

Was the consensus of 1925 accurate of the amount of women in work?

Answer 11

• Work itself was expanding so the number of working women actually rose despite the percentages showing the same
• Many more ‘white blouse’ jobs, e.g clerical and shop work done by women

Question 12

How much less were women paid on average for doing the same job as men?

Answer 12

On average paid 33% less

Question 13

Were single women more accepted for working?

Answer 13

• Single women were more socially accepted for working than married women
• However they were still deemed as just ‘temporary’ until they found a husband
• They were still not expected to pursue a career due to this being too time consuming

Question 14

What was the increase in no. of women working as lawyers?

Answer 14

• 54 —> 251 in 1933

Question 15

What was the increase in no. of women as doctors?

Answer 15

2,500 —> 5,000 in 1933

Question 16

What were practical hurdles married women faced when working, and how did this affect them?

Answer 16

• The school day ended at lunchtime so they had to find childcare or work from home or part time
• 1925 1/4 million women were doing poorly paid work from home due to this

Question 17

Where did women predominantly work in 1925?

Answer 17

• Over half worked in poorly paid manual jobs
• Men in these industries opposed women and were hostile to ‘double earners’ as they were already fighting for men to be paid enough to earn a wage for their family

Question 18

Who were considered ‘new women’?

Answer 18

• These were young, educated, unmarried women who had come of age during the war
• They wanted independence and worked in ‘white-blouse’ jobs rather than manual labour ones

Question 19

What was the behaviour like of these ‘new women’?

Answer 19

• They wore revealing clothing
• They smoke and drank
• They cut their hair short (bubikopf)
• Part of a city based culture that emerged in the 1920’s

Question 20

How did the German gov react to new women?

Answer 20

• They criticised them, calling them immoral and urged them to marry and settle down
• Images of them were blamed for seducing good girls to move to the city and be like the new women

Question 21

Who endorsed new women?

Answer 21

• Advertising and film industries
• They produced glorified images of the new women
• In the real world however they faced wage discrimination

Question 22

What was the result of the Great Depression?

Answer 22

• Rise in unemployment meant even more hostility towards working women
• There was even more desperation for those who were the breadwinners in their family
• Both women and men were hit harshly by unemployment

Question 23

How did women suffer less during the depression?

Answer 23

• They had a less steep level of unemployment due to them being cheaper to employ than men

Question 24

Give stats of men vs women unemployment during the depression in 1932?

Answer 24

46% of men unemployed
33% of women unemployed

Question 25

What law did Brüning pass in 1932 that attacked women in employment?

Answer 25

30th May 1932
- Passed a decree allowing for the dismissal of married women in government service if they had husbands who were earning
- Same thing was happening in privately owned industry