Organized Women and the Strong State: The Beginnings of Female Associational Activity in Germany, 1810-1840

This essay examines the history of German women's associations from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. Women's organizational efforts endured a lengthy and fitful process, which was a product of German political culture and mentality at the time. Women's associations operated within the confines of patriarchal norms, the reality of a powerful state, and a bourgeoisie interested in defensive re-forms. Against this background, bourgeois women could safeguard their associations' existence only by seeking out influential allies, shying away from the semblance of political activism, and making themselves indispensable in the realm of social welfare. The article also argues that, during the first half of the nineteenth century, German women's associations did not enjoy the same freedoms as their American counterparts.