THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE GERMAN REVOLUTION OF 1848

 

Popular clubs sprang up on an unprecedented scale in all parts of Europe affected by revolution in 1848, uniting ordinary people from the middle, lower middle, and laboring classes.  In Paris alone 100,000 people joined political clubs between February and May of 1848, and similar formations quickly spread to the Rhineland, Berlin, southwestern Germany, and Vienna.  Tens of thousands of Germans excluded from participation in municipal government now received their first experience of parliamentary procedure and their first opportunity to discuss the ideal constitution.  Although precise figures are not available, women certainly comprised a larger share of club members in both France and Germany and founded more clubs exclusively for women in 1848 than they had in the 1790's.  There follow three commentaries on politics by women active in the German revolution of 1848, followed by several hysterical responses to the emergence of feminism by the male satirists of Berlin.  How do the hostile stereotypes of feminists offered by men compare with the utterances of real women?  What can we infer from these selections about the relationship between family life and political activism?  (Selections from Schwestern, zerreißt eure Ketten!  Zeugnisse zur Geschichte der Frauen in der Revolution von 1848/49, ed. Gerlinde Hummel-Haasis, Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 1982; translation by Bill Patch.)

 

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#2. Mourning the Dead of 18/19 March 1848 (from Adolf Wolff's Berliner Revolutionschornik im Jahre 1848):

 

Mrs. Klara Mundt, maiden name Mühlbach, exhorts the women of Berlin to join the widows and orphans of those "heroes and men of honor who purchased our freedom with their lives and secured our privileges with their blood" in mourning their dead.  "That is our duty, and therefore we must join the widows to pay our last respects to the dead heroes and accompany them to the tomb... Women of Berlin, let us weep for the dead and help those whom they left behind!"

Another woman known for her good works, Marianne Saaling, exhorts the "virtuous women and maidens to commemorate the days of the difficult victory won by our brothers, not merely with words and feelings, but with deeds that will energetically promote the welfare of those whom they left behind...  Let us take counsel as to how our goodwill can be transformed into deeds as quickly and effectively as possible; that will be the wreath that we lay on the grave of our fallen brothers.

 

#4. Fanny Lewald comments on the participation of women in Berlin's funeral march of 4 June 1848:

 

The citizens of Berlin and founders of the new Prussia marched with a firm and confident bearing, elevated by the consciousness of freedom attained.  A mounted unit of the citizens' militia led the parade.  Then came wives and daughters of the members of the Democratic Club.  The crowd watched them with some disapproval.  No matter how much one might respect the intellectual capacity of women, their appearance in a crowd is alien to the German character and should be avoided if possible, because it will contribute nothing to the real advancement of women, nor will it win anything valuable for the people; on the contrary, great losses might result.

 

#30. Petition by the women of Bonn to the German Parliament [the Frankfurt Assembly], June 1848:

 

Despite the many chores that bind us to the house, we women have noticed that our men often lack decisiveness in these difficult times, in particular that the majority of the members of parliament assembled in Frankfurt lack the common sense and courage needed to achieve unity.  Under these circumstances we dare to offer our help, as German women have always done in exceptional times of danger and distress; we invite the delegates to come home and devote their attention to the nursery, kitchen, and laundry for a short time, while we women hasten to unify and strengthen the threatened Fatherland.  That women are capable of this is shown by the Russian Catharine, the German Maria Theresa, the Portuguese Louise of Braganza, the Spanish Isabella, the British Elizabeth and Anne.  That women will do it this time is guaranteed by the properties of our sex.  We are reproached for being too talkative, even for babbling endlessly.  But any impartial observer who reads the stenographic reports and learns how stormy it is in St. Paul's Church [site of the Frankfurt Assembly], who experiences in particular the loquaciousness of the 75 German professors there, must in all fairness agree that we women are better suited for parliamentary procedure.            From childhood on we are all accustomed, not so much to propose resolutions but to decide on them quickly, and we would therefore not keep referring them to committees.  We women have always been accustomed to pay less attention to the laws written by those who hold power and the regulations of the police than to public opinion, which has always guided us, and this also qualifies us for the present task.

We women honor progress and adjust ourselves much sooner to the mood and the movements of today, while the majority of the honorable members of parliament seem to be locked in yesterday, the distant past, their experiences in the nursery, or God knows where.  This too is a reason why we are qualified to conduct business. ...

We women regard the law in much the same way as does the younger generation.  We would turn against everything that has outlived its usefulness and would not join those who seek to reawaken the dead or restore that which is dissolving to the throne.

We women are also resolute.  We love or we hate, we accept or reject; we know nothing of the art that announces a principle and then immediately evades it with a hundred exceptions. ...

Finally, we women have a heart and are always enthusiastic for the good, the great, and the beautiful; for such things we have always sacrificed our highest goods, our sons, at each new stage in the progress of history, and if we convened, we would be prepared to sacrifice them now, whereas the men are not willing to give up even a single one of their pet theories. ...May the high parliament...therefore accept our aid and be assured that, like the ancient Teutonic women, we will still defend the camp even if the men have already fallen.

 

 

#60. "Mr. Bullrig won't hear of his wife joining the `Democratic Women's Club': A sermon delivered by Mr. Bullrig to his wife Eulalia," (satirical pamphlet, Berlin, 1848/49):

 

Eulalia, what do you want?  To join the "Democratic Women's Club"?  I say you can't, or you'll have to deal with me.  I've been under your thumb long enough; now it's over!  I'm going to show you that I wear the pants and not you!  ...You should be ashamed, Eulalia, that you so neglect your housekeeping and stroll about all day long like a constable.

--You say you're just visiting your friends?  What sort of children are they?  Look at them carefully.  The leader [Louise Aston, chair of the Berlin Women's Club] is an unnatural caricature of a woman, who loves to act like George Sand, runs around like a lunatic in men's clothes with her hair cut short, hangs around in pubs, and went to Schleswig-Holstein to sleep with all the soldiers "for the greater glory of Prussia."  You call that emancipated?  Yes, from all femininity.  And the rest are just like that too. ...

What do you do in your club anyway, you silly girl?  --You want to discuss the welfare of the state?  Look to your shirts!  See what a state your linen is in.  There are knots in there bigger than a child's head and so many holes that ten cats couldn't find the mouse.  That's the "state" you should be worrying about!  --No, I won't shut up, do you hear me?  I'm the one who suffers most from this sloppy housekeeping.  I'm the one who has to make the beds every morning and sweep, while you read the Reform and the Locomotive.  I've got to cook for myself if I want to eat and even bring you a breakfast in bed.  --Yes, go ahead and stroke my cheeks, Eulalia, but that won't help you!  You are not allowed to go to the club anymore; I forbid it once and for all as your husband and a member of the militia, and you know that once I've made up my mind, I always get my way.

--What are you supposed to do around the house all evening long?  Mend the socks!  ...No wife, I've learned that I must make better use of the whip to keep you from lording it over me completely, and I tell you that no reasonable man will permit his wife to go to a club where they'll wind up deciding that the democratic women must unite with the democratic men, put out the lights, and then deliberate about the future constitution on the broadest possible foundation.  --Now be good my little lamb, and remember that women are only supposed to govern the nursery and the sewing room.  Politics is the business of us men.

Now here comes our little August.  Wouldn't he be a truly lovely child if he were bathed and combed, wore a clean and mended shirt, was taught something and listened to us talking instead of just sitting all day long on the street?  Come here my little son, wipe your nose, and give Mother a kiss...

 

 

#61. "The Women's Club to Its Sisters," (satirical pamphlet, Berlin, 1848):

 

The time has now come, more than every before, where everyone must help themselves if their situation is really going to improve.  That also counts for us women.  We too must get to work to secure our natural and inalienable rights and to destroy injustice, not just the injustice that Germany has suffered for the last 33 years, but rather that suffered by our whole sex for centuries, indeed, for millennia.

Let us take advantage of the new right of association to join forces to work for ourselves!  Do not rely any longer on the fairness of men, and certainly not on their favor!!!  However much men achieve through fighting, yelling, and all sorts of demonstrations with and without music, no matter how much they have achieved or will achieve for themselves, we cannot expect them to contribute anything for us or our welfare.  We see all too clearly that, whatever they may say about "freedom and equality," about universal "human rights and popular sovereignty," they are always thinking exclusively of their own rights, among which they include many unfair privileges that subordinate us to them.  They think nothing at all of us and our welfare, of our genuine rights, even the most obvious and undeniable.

In view of this fact, a "Women's Club" was recently formed here, as in some other places, whose great endeavor will be to articulate our rights and explain them, not just to ourselves but also to the entire masculine world, which must be brought to respect them with every legal means at our disposal.  For this goal let us all work together, each in her own way.

We therefore publish here a small portion of the results of our deliberations and resolutions. ...

 

I. THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN:

1. Nature has placed woman above man.  It is therefore in the natural order of things that woman should rule over man.

2. The wife is the natural guardian of the secrets of her husband.

3. The wife alone has the right to approve all cleaning, dress-making, and other bills pertaining to her needs.  The husband has no right to veto their payment.  [Explanatory footnote: Such a power of veto was not even claimed by the greatest man and greatest lawgiver of the modern age, the Emperor Napoleon, even though he was of course at the same time the most oppressive tyrant of all times.  On the contrary, he always paid all the bills run up by his wives immediately, even though Mary Louise did not content herself with little, and Josephine required a great deal indeed...]

4. The highest age of women will remain 30 years.  They may be under this age but never above it.

5. Woman has the right to insist on her opinions, and only the hateful tyranny of men makes them insist on the giving of reasons.  [Explanatory footnote: What would remain of the constitutional freedom to hold and express opinions if we were compelled to give reasons for them?  No, we women cannot interpret this sacred freedom in such a petty and restricted sense.  Moreover, whoever consents to give reasons destroys his own dignity, and we will not and cannot accept that. ...]

 

II. THE DUTIES OF WOMEN:

1.  It is not just a right but also a duty of women to insist on getting their own way.  This duty takes precedence over all others, and "the end justifies the means."

2. It remains the duty of the wife to love and honor her husband, but the obsolete word "obey" is abolished, except as a description of the duties of husbands.

3. It also remains a duty of women to accentuate whatever attractive features nature has provided.  Everything related to cosmetics and clothing must therefore be treated with reverence.

4. The human being is the only creature to wear clothes, converse, and cook its food.  Woman, as the highest rung on the ladder of humanity, therefore claims unrestricted dominion over the three realms of the table, the dressing room, and society.

 

III. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE LEGISLATION:

1. A law punishing any husbands who complain about a cold lunch or soup that is too salty.

2. A law providing various terms of imprisonment for each husband who complains about shirts, jackets, or other garments lacking buttons, who tries to get the last word or displays impatience when his wife seems (to his primitive and inferior understanding of such matters) to take too long with dressing.

3. A law to identify and punish the many forms of treason against the spouse that have not yet been identified by the legal code.  This law shall deal with:

  a) Every husband found in possession of a key to the front door without the written permission of his wife.

  b) Every husband who pays attention to another woman in the presence of his wife.

  c) Every husband who brings friends home to eat without informing and securing permission from higher authority, i.e., his wife, at least 24 hours in advance.

  d) Every husband who secretly smokes tobacco, except in those cases where his wife also smokes or takes snuff.

 

#62. "The Secrets of the Democratic Women's Club, Heard at the Door and Revealed by Anastasius Schnüffler" (satirical pamphlet, Berlin, 1848):

 

Clubhouse in Leipzig Street.  A quorum of the membership is present.  The president's chair is taken by Frau Dr. Narrheinicke.  The committee members sit at her side.  The room is lively.

Chair (pounds her slipper on the podium): The meeting is called to order.  First of all I must announce that the minutes of the last meeting cannot be read because the small son of our secretary used them to cut paper dolls for his father in the absence of his mother.  (Giggles in the audience)  The boy has been punished by his mother, and that is the end of the matter. ...Miss Stichfest has the word to explain her motion.

Miss Stichfest (at the podium): Ladies, we all stand in danger of being arrested tonight.  (ironic smiles)  A completely reliable source has informed me that a significant number of reactionaries have resolved to achieve our complete defeat.  The whole club is to be suppressed.  (Uproar)  Ladies, let us provide for our security.  We are in imminent danger.  My motion is to barricade all the entrances to our chamber, to close every opening front and rear, so that the reactionaries coming with loaded muskets cannot enter.

Miss Fummel: I am firmly against this motion.  Shall we display fear when somebody aims a loaded gun at us?  That would be shameful.  (With raised voice) Do we not have our muskets?  I at least am carrying mine concealed on my person.

Numerous voices: Yes, Yes indeed!  I brought mine along!  I just need a flint!  Me too!  Me too!

Chair:  Ladies, let us vote!  Does the assembly decide to barricade all entrances to protect the meeting?  All ladies in favor, please stand up.  (Only Miss Stichfest rises.  Laughter)  The motion is rejected.  Our next order of business is a motion by Mrs. Geiger for the assembly to resolve to request the government to draw several more regiments of soldiers into our city.  (Interjection: That is undemocratic!)  Mrs. Geiger will explain her motion.

Mrs. Geiger:  Ladies!  I must defend myself against the reproach that my motion seeks something contrary to democracy.  It is a stratagem of war that I intend to employ against the reactionaries.  You know that the public festivals of fraternization on the parade ground have not had much success because they were so badly organized.  For men who are strangers to each other, there is something repugnant about embracing in public and kissing, which was how fraternization was supposed to be achieved. 

I venture to say that this farce has not won over one single soldier. ...On the other hand I can proudly boast that I have won over several young officers from the reactionaries all by myself, by giving them private lessons in democratic discourse every evening, where I explained to them the essence of democracy with great precision.  (Bravo!)  You cannot imagine how quickly these officers have grasped my drift, and our fraternization was certainly hearty and earnest. ...If only, as I hope and pray, all members of our club would follow my example, then all the officer corps present in the city will soon be won for democracy, and it is therefore necessary to see to it that fresh troops arrive in good time.  (Sustained applause)

Chair:  Does anyone else wish to speak?

Widow Runzel (raises her hand): I am against the motion.  (derisive laughter)

Chair:  Ladies, please respect old age.  Mrs. Runzel has the floor.

Widow Runzel:  The previous speaker asserted that the younger army officers could easily be won for democracy through private lessons in the still of the night.  I must confess, ladies, that I have not succeeded in winning even a single noncommissioned officer for democracy despite great efforts.  (Naturally)  I refuse to listen to sarcastic comments.-- I have sighed longer than you under the burden of the military, ladies.  I am not for that reason angry with the soldiers, but I do not want to see them any more.

Miss Pusematzky:  For you there's no reason to.  ...

Chair:  Now we come to the second motion of Madame Reiter:

According to the Voss newspaper the number of babies born each week has dropped alarmingly.  War and cholera have taken thousands of lives, and the extinction of humanity will come soon if we don't quickly find means to combat it.  The motion is therefore made to abolish marriage, because this boring institution bears primary responsibility for the decline of the population.  (All married women:  Bravo!)

Miss Fummel:  The maker of the motion must still demonstrate her propositions.

Mrs. Reiter:  I can demonstrate them conclusively.  I turn to all of you who like me have become enslaved to one man for your entire lives.  For the first six weeks of marriage we are more than satisfied; then the grooms are all love and tenderness.  For the next six weeks things remain bearable, but thereafter we get no more pleasure.  The husband devotes himself completely to business once again.  He takes his wife completely for granted, and we must be grateful if he condescends to perform his marital duty once a week.  (With outrage)  Would you believe, ladies, that sometimes an entire week goes by--

Chair (pounds with her slipper on the podium): I implore the speaker to remember that many young people are present.

Mrs. Reiter continues: Ladies!  We have achieved our freedom in bloody struggle in March, when I too stood behind a barricade with a sword at my side.  (Bravo!)  Tyranny was slain on March 18, so they say; and yet we retain our husbands, who tyrannize us more grievously than many princes do their subjects.  Therefore we should abolish marriage and freely choose those to whom we will present our love and whatever else.  I guarantee you, ladies, that the weekly reports of the Voss will then display an impressive increase in the number of births, and there will be no more anxiety about the extinction of the nation!

 

 

#171. "Letter to a Foolish Democratic Woman," by Robert Springer (in Die Locomotive, Berlin, November 1848):

 

Beloved Julie!

...You think that it is now time to work for the freedom of your sex, that the chains which bind your lovely arms must be broken now or never.

You want to participate in the elections?  Fine, but first guarantee us that you will not prefer whoever smiles to you most sweetly as he promenades beneath your window. ...It is possible to be a great friend of the fair sex and at the same time a great enemy of the nation.  We have already suffered enough from the regiment of women in the household; we have suffered from them on the throne and as advisers to the cabinet, from Elizabeth, Catherine, ...and Lady Marlborough.  We do not intend to corrupt popular sovereignty with the regime of women.

Do you want to perform military service?  Then you must assure as that you won't lower your weapons before the enemy and throw yourself into his arms. ...You are more faithful to the individual man than the other women of the earth, but you have always been faithless to the nation.  You could stand guard duty if you were Parisians.  The grisette marches under arms with the mobile guard,... but you will never become Parisian grisettes.  You are too virtuous.

I would say that you are not yet mature enough, if I considered you capable of maturing.  I would say that, before you emancipate yourself from men, you must first emancipate yourself from your weaknesses and infirmities, if these did not form your essence.  You women are children, lovable and divine children.  You grasp after everything that glitters.  You love pleasures, games, and dancing.  You love more than think, and you display more enthusiasm than judgment.  The present moment counts for everything among you; the future means something only if you hope for a skirt or a shawl, and the past something only if you can recall sentimental memories of love.  You prefer reading novels to newspapers.  Are you dissatisfied with my verdict?  Then I will tell you the whole truth.  Then I say that you are dangerous, consumed with envy and the thirst for revenge, that you return poison for any injury to your vanity, that you are capable of nurturing hatred in your breast for years, that you smile on the surface while you rage inside, that you pursue a devious course with the snake's guile.

We want to make you free from the indissoluble bond that binds you to one man for life, from the vows of lifelong subjection imposed on you by the Church.  The nimbus of the Church will be torn down, and marriage will become a purely secular and family matter.  It should become easy for you to free yourselves from the hand that beats you or from brutality that merely uses you to satisfy its lusts.  We will strive for that.  But don't demand more of me, not even you, fair Julie...