Women in the Weimar Republic

The first comprehensive survey of women in the Weimar Republic, this book explores the diversity and multiplicity of women’s experiences in the economy, politics and society. These fourteen years of political, economic and cultural turbulence marked great changes in the lives, expectations and perceptions of German women, in the form of new opportunities in employment, education and political life and greater social freedoms, all played out in the media spotlight. Drawing heavily on archival and primary source material, and engaging throughout with the most recent research, this book examines these changes, opportunities, expectations, perceptions, prejudices and the media and cultural representations of the ‘new woman’ within a single, coherent analysis of women’s role.

As a starting point, the book discusses the significance of women’s experiences in the First World War for their subsequent position in Weimar Germany, before detailing the contribution to political life and culture that was formally opened to them by the revolution. Subsequent chapters explore women’s role in employment, the family and reproduction, and as producers and consumers of Weimar’s mass culture. It portrays the Weimar Republic as a progressive period for young, urban women, which was stalled in 1933.

This book will be essential reading for students and researchers of German women in the early twentieth century and will also appeal to anyone interested in the Weimar Republic and women’s history.

This book is the first comprehensive survey of women in the Weimar Republic, exploring the diversity and multiplicity of women’s experiences in the economy, politics and society. Taking the First World War as a starting point, this book explores the great changes in the lives, expectations and perceptions of German women, with new opportunities in employment, education and political life and greater freedoms in their private and social life, all played out in the media spotlight. Engaging with the most recent research and debates, this book portrays the Weimar Republic as a period of progressive change for young, urban women, to be stalled in 1933.

This book will be essential reading for students and researchers of German women in the early twentieth century and will also appeal to anyone interested in the Weimar Republic and women’s history.