Women at Work During the War

Poster for the German Cottage Industry Exhibition in Berlin, 1906 & Working-class Woman, 1906

In presenting issues found in lower income families Kollwitz was tasked to advertise for a show which was supposed to open in a poverty stricken area, forcing the rich to pass through them to get to the exhibition. In this it allowed for the start of a discussion on the working class, later sparking her series on “A Weavers Rebellion,” of which has been reserved for the next post. Here we will be discussing the industry and issues the lower class (specifically lower class women) faced in terms of working for companies during the time of war.

There were career options that were already open for women before the war where they produced textiles and other resources, “[t]he extent of the transformation has often been exaggerated, since before 1914 large numbers of women already labored in Germany’s industrial plants”(*) among those not included were machinery or ammunition; they did not cover the amount that could not work (those who needed to take care of their young or old). “But the demands of total war, of an economy and society that were completely mobilized to support Germany’s army on the field, meant that many women moved into metal working and munitions factories.”(*) This allowed these women to develop skills for jobs they previously had little or no access to. Though the work was hard, many found being able to make money to support their families again invigorating. Sadly this did not last long after the war as “[t]he forces of order—state officials, police, foremen and manager, even their own fathers, husbands and brothers… would try to ensure that the post war factory would remain a man’s world…” (*) thus resulting in the loss of jobs and independence they had rightfully worked for. “Grieving families had to face not only the ongoing pain of loss but also the difficulties of supporting themselves in the absence of a major breadwinner, especially in states where payments to dead soldiers’ families were nonexistent or insufficient.”(**) Something completely those of wealthier classes chose to ignore but were forced to see when attending this exhibition.

(*)Weitz, Eric D. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy, Weimar Centennial Edition, 7-40. PRINCETON; OXFORD: Princeton University Press, 2018. 

(**)Proctor, Tammy M. Conclusion: Consequences of World War I. In Civilians in a World at War, 1914-1918, 267-76. NYU Press, 2010.

Both images are from: https://www.kollwitz.de/en/german-cottage-industry-exhibition-kn-95