Weimar and Nazi Germany (1918-1939): The Nazis, Women and Employment

It was a core Nazi belief that a woman’s primary responsibility was to be at home looking after the children and the home. As such the Nazis used a number of methods to encourage women to leave the workforce and focus on their families. Any women in the workforce was taking the place of a man.

Kinder Küche, Kirche

This slogan was used by the Nazis throughout various means of propaganda from speeches to posters. It encouraged women in Germany to focus on the children, kitchen and church. It was this that would make them into good Germans.

Legislation to reduce the number of women at work

Whilst initially the Nazis used propaganda to encourage them to leave the workforce and focus on the home, the Nazis did introduce laws and policies which would remove and restrict women in the labour force.

For example from a young age, the Nazis taught girls that their place was in the home and were taught how to achieve this. They focused on lessons in housework such as cooking, needlework and ironing. They also studied racial science so that they would be able to pick suitable Ayran husbands in the future. In 1937 the Nazis banned girls from attending grammar schools which were seen as a way of encouraging girls into university.

Women faced restrictions from 1933 when the Nazis banned women from holding jobs in professional employment such as doctors and teachers. This was then extended in 1936 to include jobs within the justice system, which included the right to serve on a jury.