Democratic Women's League of Germany

The Democratic Women's League of Germany^[1][2][3] (German: Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands, or DFD) was the mass women's organisation in East Germany. It was one of the constituent members of the National Front and sent representatives to the Volkskammer. In 1988, membership was 1.5 million.^[4][1]

Democratic Women's Federation of Germany

Demokratischer Frauenbund Deutschlands
DFD flag
DFD logo
Formation	March 1947; 78 years ago (1947-03)
Dissolved	1990
Type	Mass organization
Purpose	Women's rights
Membership	1.5 million (1988)
Parent organization	National Front

The DFD did not have much independence from the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED). Käte Selbmann, a member of the DFD's executive board, complained that it was "a pre-school for women, neither as central as the FDGB nor even more important than any other mass organization to women's work, and absolutely subordinate to the SED",^[5] while historian Valerie Dubslaff writes that "the role of the department was therefore neither to represent the interests of women nor to promote them within the party, but to execute the political will of its leaders".^[6]

Organization

Representatives at the 12th DFD Congress in East Berlin, 1987

The DFD was established in March 1947 and had the following official aims:

• Removal of fascist ideas
• Education for women
• Equal rights
• Fair social living conditions
• Education of children in the spirit of humanism and peace
• Co-operation with the international women's movement

Chairwomen of the Democratic Women's Federation of Germany

Name	Entered Office	Left Office
Anne-Marie Durand-Wever	1947	1948
Emmy Damerius-Koenen	1948	1949
Elli Schmidt	1949	September 1953
Ilse Thiele	September 1953	November 1989
Eva Rohmann	1989	1990
Gisela Steineckert	1990	1990