Luise Kähler
Encyclopedia
Luise Kähler was a German socialist, trade union leader and politician.
in 1869. She was the daughter of a hackney cab (] driver with origins in Silesia
and received little formal education beyond primary school. She entered service as a domestic servant in 1885 to 1888. She was then apprenticed as a tailor before moving to Hamburg to work as a seamstress around 1893. She worked on a German merchant ship out of Hamburg for two years from 1893 to 1895. Upon her return to Hamburg she married a painter August Kähler.
(no relation)and Emma Ihrer
and after Ihrer's death in 1911 she arguably became the most notable of the time.
In 1913 she became a national official of the Union, requiring her to move back to her home city of Berlin. After the Great War of 1914-1918 Germany and Berlin witnessed a period of politically driven civil conflict known as the German Revolution during which the imperial government was replaced by the Weimar Republic
. As a notable feminist and union official Luise Kähler was instrumental in leading her Union through the turmoil caused by the civil unrest. The new republic in Germany needed to reform its archaic domestic servant laws particularly since thousands of domestic workers were giving up their employment as the economy of the Weimar Republic went into free fall. Many smaller unions survived only by merging into larger conglomerations.
Kähler was invited by chairman Fritz Kater
to affiliate her union within the larger more influential Free Alliance of German Trade Unions
(FVdG) , where she took a prominent position in the foundation of workers' welfare institutes. She was a member of the Prussian parliament from 1923 to 1933, advising on economic matters. It was unusual for a woman in the 1920s and 1930s to be in a position of power within the German union movement, and Kähler became one of Germany's most visible female trade union officials, representing the Movement at the 1927 International Trade Union Congress held in Paris.
She opposed the National Socialists who were in Government under Chancellor Adolf Hitler
from 1933. As a prominent unionist she was sidelined and watched closely by the authorities throughout the remainder of the 1930s and during World War II. There is evidence that she conspired against the authorities, but, unlike other socialist and communist leaders, she was not purged by the Nazis. She was, however, forced into a period of inactivity as the majority of Germany's unions were disbanded and banned.
she ran for election to the Berlin Chamber of Deputies in East Berlin
. In 1948 she was appointed an honourary member of the Democratic Women's Alliance of Germany, a socialist organisation taking shape in the eastern part of Germany. In 1949 Germany was formally divided, and she became a founding member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
(SED) the ruling party of the German Democratic Republic
.
She was amongst the first recipients of the highest civilian honour of the GDR, the Order of Karl Marx
, which she was awarded in 1953.
Luise Kähler died in September 1955 in East Berlin.
Childhood and formative years
Luise Girnth was born in Berlin in the Kingdom of PrussiaKingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
in 1869. She was the daughter of a hackney cab (] driver with origins in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
and received little formal education beyond primary school. She entered service as a domestic servant in 1885 to 1888. She was then apprenticed as a tailor before moving to Hamburg to work as a seamstress around 1893. She worked on a German merchant ship out of Hamburg for two years from 1893 to 1895. Upon her return to Hamburg she married a painter August Kähler.
Activist
Kähler joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany , Germany's oldest socialist party (founded in 1875), in 1902 and increasingly became more political active and astute. In November 1906 she became the cofounder and first chairwoman of an embryonic union for women working in domestic trades in Hamburg, representing her members against exploitation by private employers. The union quickly grew in membership and within a year it had 480 members necessitating affiliation to the national body by 1907. Kähler was appointed as de facto branch secretary of the Hamburg branch in 1909 serving in that capacity until 1913. She was one of a small number of women union officials that included Wilhelmine KählerWilhelmine Kähler
Wilhelmine Kähler was a German politician, representative of the Social Democratic Party, and labor activist. She was in the 1890s the only woman in the leadership of German labor unions.-References:...
(no relation)and Emma Ihrer
Emma Ihrer
Emma Ihrer was a German politician and trade unionist.-Biography:Emma Ihrer came from a Catholic family of bootmakers. She was married young to Emmanuel Ihrer, an apothecary twenty-two years her senior...
and after Ihrer's death in 1911 she arguably became the most notable of the time.
In 1913 she became a national official of the Union, requiring her to move back to her home city of Berlin. After the Great War of 1914-1918 Germany and Berlin witnessed a period of politically driven civil conflict known as the German Revolution during which the imperial government was replaced by the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. As a notable feminist and union official Luise Kähler was instrumental in leading her Union through the turmoil caused by the civil unrest. The new republic in Germany needed to reform its archaic domestic servant laws particularly since thousands of domestic workers were giving up their employment as the economy of the Weimar Republic went into free fall. Many smaller unions survived only by merging into larger conglomerations.
Kähler was invited by chairman Fritz Kater
Fritz Kater
Fritz Kater was a German trade unionist active in the Free Association of German Trade Unions and its successor organization, the Free Workers' Union of Germany...
to affiliate her union within the larger more influential Free Alliance of German Trade Unions
Free Association of German Trade Unions
The Free Association of German Trade Unions was a trade union federation in Imperial and early Weimar Germany. It was founded in 1897 in Halle under the name Representatives' Centralization of Germany as the national umbrella organization of the localist current of the German labor movement...
(FVdG) , where she took a prominent position in the foundation of workers' welfare institutes. She was a member of the Prussian parliament from 1923 to 1933, advising on economic matters. It was unusual for a woman in the 1920s and 1930s to be in a position of power within the German union movement, and Kähler became one of Germany's most visible female trade union officials, representing the Movement at the 1927 International Trade Union Congress held in Paris.
She opposed the National Socialists who were in Government under Chancellor Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
from 1933. As a prominent unionist she was sidelined and watched closely by the authorities throughout the remainder of the 1930s and during World War II. There is evidence that she conspired against the authorities, but, unlike other socialist and communist leaders, she was not purged by the Nazis. She was, however, forced into a period of inactivity as the majority of Germany's unions were disbanded and banned.
Post War years
At the conclusion of the Second World War she once again became active in the SPD. Although she lived in the Allied held West BerlinWest Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
she ran for election to the Berlin Chamber of Deputies in East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
. In 1948 she was appointed an honourary member of the Democratic Women's Alliance of Germany, a socialist organisation taking shape in the eastern part of Germany. In 1949 Germany was formally divided, and she became a founding member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
(SED) the ruling party of the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
.
She was amongst the first recipients of the highest civilian honour of the GDR, the Order of Karl Marx
Order of Karl Marx
The Order of Karl Marx was the most important order in the German Democratic Republic . Award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks....
, which she was awarded in 1953.
Luise Kähler died in September 1955 in East Berlin.
External links
Translator's note: These references are in German and contain further biographical information- Biography by Wilhelm Heinz Schröder Eintrag in Biographisches Lexikon der ÖTV und ihrer Vorläuferorganisationen