Social Developments - Living Standards / Lifestyles

The position of women - the ‘new woman’

• At the time there was the idea of the ‘new woman’ in Weimar Germany

• As Constitution had given women equality with men in voting rights and in access to education, and equal pay

• However Constitution still went by the Civil Code of 1896 - stated in marriage the man had the right to decide on all matters concerning family life and his wife

• League of German Women (BDF) - most popular women’s group in 1920s, had around 900,000 members

• However group did not support the idea of the ‘new woman’ and instead promoted traditional family values and responsibilities

• Same view in the church and political parties - suggests the ‘new woman’ was a cultivated myth

The myth of the new woman vs reality

• Employment - myth was that by 1925, 36% of German workforce was women, and that there were 100,000 female teachers and 3,000 female doctors

• However the ‘demobillisation’ laws after war required women to leave their jobs so ex-soldiers could find employment

• Women were required to leave employment when married, and were paid less then men for doing equivalent work

• Sexual freedom - myth was that divorce rates increased, number of abortions went up to 1 million per year, and birth control were more available + birth rate declined

• However abortion was seen as a criminal offence and performed by unqualified - estimated 10-12,000 deaths each year

• Decline in birth rate attacked by conservative politicians + churches opposed birth control, divorce + abortion

• Politics and public life - myth was that women gained equal voting rights, and opportunities to work in Reichstag

• In 1919 41 women were elected to Reichstag + active in local government

• However there were no female representatives in the Reichstag - no women became a cabinet member during Weimar Republic

• No parties gave support to feminist issues despite attracting women - only the KPD

Young people

• Widespread concern that young people in Weimar Germany were breaking free of constraints of family, school and religion, and turning to crime and anti-social behaviour

• Children of working-class families were leaving school at 14, and beginning apprenticeships / employment - however there were fewer of this during the Weimar years

• Young people suffered from the rise in unemployment during 1924 - in 1925-26 17% of unemployed were aged 14-21

• Young were seeking employment when employers were reducing their workforce

• Benefits system provided some help - centres set up to prove youths with skills needed to find work - but couldn’t compensate for lack of employment opportunity

Education

• Germany prided itself on having one of the best state education systems in Europe

• Schools called Gymnasiums - for those aiming for university, and Realschule, for those aiming for apprenticeships

• There were little elite private schools in Germany, but education system was still divided along class

• Gymnasiums drawn from the middle and upper classes

• Education reforms aimed to reduce this divide, only partially successful

• Main reform in Weimar period was the introduction of elementary schools - all children would attend for the first 4 years of education - if they didn’t pass the entry exam for the Gymnasium, would continue elementary for 4 years

• Reforms failed to remove influence of churches influence in teachings from school, further also political parties

Youth groups

• Wandervogel (‘wandering birds’) - set up in 1896 by a Berlin schoolteacher, consisted of mainly middle class boys

• Were highly nationalistic and romanticised Germany’s past, hated cities and industrialism, spent time in forests, lakes and rivers - rejected middle class social conventions

• Church youth group - Catholic church group had many groups aimed at different sections of young people

• However Protestants did not give youth work as a high priority and their groups had far fewer members - in both religions tasks of youth groups were to promote religious observance and instil respect for church, family + school

• Political youth groups - all main political parties had their youth sections

• Largest was Bismarck Youth of DNVP, had 42,000 members by 1928, whereas the Hitler Youth had a membership of only 13,000

The Jews

• More than half a million Jews living in Germany under the Weimar republic, 80% of Jews lived in cities and were will educated, meaning many Jews felt more German than Jewish

• German Jews’ achievements in Weimar Republic were remarkable - German Jews achieved prominence in politics and press

• Jews had large influence in the publishing of books + newspapers, and dominated theatre + cinema

Jews - industry, commerce and professions

• German Jews achieved considerable wealth and influence in industry and commerce

• Such as the Rathenau family controlling the engineering firm AEG until 1927

• Jewish firms dominated coal-mining + steelworks, but still had little importance in western industrial areas of the Rhineland or Ruhr

• Jews were immensely successful in professions, especially law and medicine

• 16% of lawyers were Jewish and same with 11% of doctors. More than half the doctors in Berlin by 1930 were Jewish, and almost 2,000 were Jews

• 24% of Nobel Peace Prizes went to Jews

The extent of assimilation and anti-Semitism

• Vast majority of German Jews wished to assimilate (keeping their cultural identity but becoming fully integrated + accepted into mainstream German society)

• Many Jews now looked like ‘other’ Germans, married non-Jewish spouses and converted to Christianity

• By late 1920s assimilation was far advanced - however was limited by Germans continuing to identify Jews as ‘alien’

• Despite antisemitism being a part of violent nationalism groups, between 1924 and 1930, as Germany entered its Golden Age, antisemitism was pushed to the fringes of public and political life

• However there was still opposition to perceived Jewish influence with frequent accusations of corruption and exploitation by Jewish bankers + businessmen