Minna Cauer
Encyclopedia
Wilhelmine Theodore Marie Cauer, née Schelle, usually known as Minna Cauer (1 November 1841, Freyenstein - 3 August 1922, Berlin
) was a German educator, journalist and radical activist within the middle-class women's movement.
. She married a left-wing educator and physician, August Latzel in 1862, but was widowed in 1866. She then trained as a teacher, working in Paris for a year before marrying Eduard Cauer, a school inspector, and moving with him to Berlin.
Widowed for a second time in 1881, Cauer resumed work as a teacher and started studying women's history
. She founded the Women's Welfare Association (Frauenwohl) in Berlin in 1888, leading it until 1919, campaigning for women's rights and abortion rights.
With Helene Lange
and Franzisca Tiburtius she worked to establish the Realkurse girls' high school in Berlin, which opened in 1889 as the first educational establishment to prepare women for university study. She founded the Commercial Union of Female Salaried Employees, one of the first nonpolitical women's trade unions, in 1889. In 1893 she cofounded the Girls' and Women's Groups for Social Assistance Work (Mädchen- und Frauengruppen für Soziale Hilfsarbeit). In 1894 she joined with Anita Augspurg
and Marie Stritt to establish the Federation of German Women's Associations (FGWA) In 1895 she co-drafted a law to abolish the Law of Association (eventually overturned in 1908), which banned women from joining political organizations. She worked for the feminist newspaper Die Frauenbewegung (The Women's Movement) from 1895 to 1919. In 1896 she was president at the International Congress of Women's Work and Women's Endeavours in Berlin, the first international women's conference to be held in Germany.
Increasingly radical, Cauer helped establish the Union of Progressive Women's Associations in 1899. In 1902 the suffrage movement gained the backing of the FGWA, and with Anita Augspurg, Lida Gustava Heymann
and Marie Stritt Cauer co-founded the German Union for Women's Suffrage (Deutscher Verband fur Frauenstimmrecht), which pursued both suffrage cause and moral campaigns, such as that against state-regulated prostitution. In 1908, frustrated by the disinterest of the Free-minded People's Party in women's suffrage, Cauer founded a more militant group, the Prussian Union for Women's Suffrage. She joined the left-liberal Democratic Alliance. Resigning from the suffrage union in 1912, she joined a new German Women's Suffrage Association in 1914. However, with the German women's suffrage movement in disarray, Cauer turned to pacifist activities throughout World War I
.
Her papers are held at the International Institute of Social History
.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
) was a German educator, journalist and radical activist within the middle-class women's movement.
Life
The daughter of a Lutheran pastor, Cauer grew up in Freyenstein, in SilesiaSilesia
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...
. She married a left-wing educator and physician, August Latzel in 1862, but was widowed in 1866. She then trained as a teacher, working in Paris for a year before marrying Eduard Cauer, a school inspector, and moving with him to Berlin.
Widowed for a second time in 1881, Cauer resumed work as a teacher and started studying women's history
Women's history
Women's history is the study of the role that women have played in history, together with the methods needed to study women. It includes the study of the history of the growth of woman's rights throughout recorded history, the examination of individual women of historical significance, and the...
. She founded the Women's Welfare Association (Frauenwohl) in Berlin in 1888, leading it until 1919, campaigning for women's rights and abortion rights.
With Helene Lange
Helene Lange
Helene Lange was a pedagogue and feminist, and a symbol of the Women's Movement in Germany.-Education and pedagogy:...
and Franzisca Tiburtius she worked to establish the Realkurse girls' high school in Berlin, which opened in 1889 as the first educational establishment to prepare women for university study. She founded the Commercial Union of Female Salaried Employees, one of the first nonpolitical women's trade unions, in 1889. In 1893 she cofounded the Girls' and Women's Groups for Social Assistance Work (Mädchen- und Frauengruppen für Soziale Hilfsarbeit). In 1894 she joined with Anita Augspurg
Anita Augspurg
Anita Augspurg was a German lawyer, actor, writer and feminist.- Biography :The fifth daughter of a lawyer, during her adolescence Augspurg often worked in her father's law office. In Berlin, she was trained for teaching at secondary schools for girls and took acting classes in parallel...
and Marie Stritt to establish the Federation of German Women's Associations (FGWA) In 1895 she co-drafted a law to abolish the Law of Association (eventually overturned in 1908), which banned women from joining political organizations. She worked for the feminist newspaper Die Frauenbewegung (The Women's Movement) from 1895 to 1919. In 1896 she was president at the International Congress of Women's Work and Women's Endeavours in Berlin, the first international women's conference to be held in Germany.
Increasingly radical, Cauer helped establish the Union of Progressive Women's Associations in 1899. In 1902 the suffrage movement gained the backing of the FGWA, and with Anita Augspurg, Lida Gustava Heymann
Lida Gustava Heymann
Lida Gustava Heymann was a German women's rights activist.Together with her partner and girlfriend Anita Augspurg she was one of the most prominent figures in the bourgeois women's movement...
and Marie Stritt Cauer co-founded the German Union for Women's Suffrage (Deutscher Verband fur Frauenstimmrecht), which pursued both suffrage cause and moral campaigns, such as that against state-regulated prostitution. In 1908, frustrated by the disinterest of the Free-minded People's Party in women's suffrage, Cauer founded a more militant group, the Prussian Union for Women's Suffrage. She joined the left-liberal Democratic Alliance. Resigning from the suffrage union in 1912, she joined a new German Women's Suffrage Association in 1914. However, with the German women's suffrage movement in disarray, Cauer turned to pacifist activities throughout World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Her papers are held at the International Institute of Social History
International Institute of Social History
The International Institute of Social History is a historical research institute in Amsterdam. It was founded in 1935 by Nicolaas Posthumus. The IISG is part of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences....
.