Women in Germany

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Therefore, economically women did not experience much liberation as although the Weimar Constitution gave them employment rights, they were still considered hugely inferior to their male counterparts regardless of their education or training. Women did experience liberation economically in the sense that there were many opportunities to work including positions that would normally be only for men. However their positions were not priority as they were preferred to stay at home and were forced to give up their jobs so that male unemployment decreases.

Finally, women in Weimar experienced social liberation through their personal choices regarding birth control, divorce and abortion. Birth control became widely available in Germany which resulted in the birth rate being reduced even more than before the war and family sizes being greatly reduced. There was also a sharp increase in divorce rates so many women were again unmarried which corresponds with the features of the ‘New Woman’ of Weimar Germany who as Elsa Herrmann describes ‘refuses to lead the life of a lady and a housewife.’ There was also a rise in the number of abortions as by 1930, there was an estimated 1 million abortions a year. This suggests that women in Weimar were socially liberated as before the war, women’s traditional role was to stay at home and be a wife and mother.

This may not have been as radical a change as it seemed however in reality that abortion was still a criminal offence and would usually be carried out by unqualified people, resulting in around 10-12,000 deaths each year due to abortions. Furthermore, many German women were committed members of Catholic and Protestant church congregations although both churches were strongly opposed to birth control, divorce and abortion. Also the concept of the ‘New Woman’ was increasingly being used as scapegoats to blame for many problems that the Weimar Republic was facing. For example, the decrease in birth rate was confronted by conservative politicians as a ‘birth strike’ by the ‘New Women’ who were selfishly refusing to start families which threatened the strength and health of the nation and the continued existence of the race.

Therefore socially, women became more liberated than they were before the war however they were still restricted in some areas such as abortion. Although birth control was widely available and women had the right to divorce, most were more traditional and would rather not take advantage of the liberation.

Overall, women were offered much more freedom in Weimar Germany than they ever could have in Imperial Germany. They were very much liberated in the sense that they were given much more opportunities in political areas, employment and were also given the right to challenge men, however they were not entirely emancipated as traditional views of women were still very strong and they were still considered as inferior to men regardless of whether they were more educated or trained.