Commemorative stamp issued in 1994 by the German government to mark the centenary of the founding of the BDF (Federation of German Women's Associations)
The Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine (Federation of German Women's Associations) (BDF) was founded on 28/29 March 1894 as umbrella organization of the women's civil rights feminist movement and existed until the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.[1]
The Nazi rise to power, in 1933, led to their with the assertion of control over women's associations.[clarification needed] Such 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 the Union of Protestant Women, the Association for Home and Countryside, the Union of German Colonial Women, and the Union of Queen Louise.[4] But soon, the majority of the organizations disbanded or chose among themselves to disappear, like the BDF which dissolved in 1933 to avoid being controlled.[5] Some of the affiliated associations joined the Deutsches Frauenwerk.
Membership
Membership steadily grew in the first twenty years:[6]
^Dickinson, Edward Ross (2005). "Dominion of the Spirit over the Flesh: Religion, Gender and Sexual Morality in the German Women's Movement before World War I". Gender & History. 17 (2): 378. doi:10.1111/j.0953-5233.2006.00386.x. S2CID143008042. p. 382.