TheBund Deutscher Frauenvereine (Federation of German Women's Associations) (BDF) was founded on 28/29 March 1894 as umbrella organization of the women's civil rightsfeminist movement and existed until theNazi seizure of power in 1933.[1]
Its creation was inspired by the founding of theWorld's Congress of Representative Women meeting on the occasion of the 1893World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Several women from Germany attended this event:Anna Simson,Hanna Bieber-Böhm,Auguste Förster,Käthe Schirmacher. They took the example of the AmericanNational Council of Women as a model for the BDF. TheInternational Council of Women also played a role in strengthening the co-operation between the NCW and the BDF.[2]
| Chairwoman | period of service |
|---|---|
| Auguste Schmidt | 1894–9 |
| Marie Stritt | 1899–1910 |
| Gertrud Bäumer | 1910–1919 |
| Marianne Weber[3] | 1919–1924 |
| Emma Ender | 1924–1931 |
| Agnes von Zahn-Harnack | 1931–1933 |
| Deputy Chairwoman | period of service |
|---|---|
| Anna Schepeler-Lette | 1894–? |
| Anna Simson | ?–? |
| Gertrud Bäumer | 1919–1933 |
The first board was composed of:
In 1896 they were joined by:
Among others, theReifensteiner Association was among the members.
In 1933, theNazis rose to power, and asserted control over women's associations. Groups involving communists or socialists were forbidden, and members were arrested or even assassinated in rare cases.[4] All associations were asked to turn in Jewish members, including theUnion of Protestant Women, theAssociation for Home and Countryside, theUnion of German Colonial Women, and theUnion of Queen Louise.[4] Soon enough, however, the majority of the organizations were either forcibly destroyed or decided internally to disband, like the BDF which dissolved itself in 1933 to avoid being controlled.[5] Some of the affiliated associations joined theDeutsches Frauenwerk.
Membership steadily grew in the first twenty years:[6]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
