Queen Louise League - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The "Queen Louise League" or Königin-Luise-Bund, often shortened to Luisenbund, was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

pro-monarchic women's organization. It was established in 1923 during the time of 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...

and lasted until the first years of the Third Reich. This organization was inspired on the figure of Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Duchess Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was Queen consort of Prussia as the wife of King Frederick William III...

, Queen of Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

, held in reverence by many Germans of the time. The Bund Königin Luise had also a children branch known as Kinderkreis (Children Circle).

The Queen Louise League as an organization had cult

Cult

The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...

ic overtones built around the veneration of the former Prussian queen as a role model for all German women. She became idealized for her feminine virtues, her determination and her love for her country, as well as for her beauty and the fact that Napoleon, portrayed as an "enemy of everything German", hated her. The league's ideals were distilled into a booklet named ABC für unsere Arbeit (ABC for our Work) which every member had to know by heart. Like many of the emergent nationalistic movements of the time, this organization was highly structured, with local branches all over Germany.

History

The Queen Louise League was politically very close to far-right German parties of the time, like the German National People's Party

German National People's Party

The German National People's Party was a national conservative party in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the NSDAP it was the main nationalist party in Weimar Germany composed of nationalists, reactionary monarchists, völkisch, and antisemitic elements, and...

(DNVP) and the Stahlhelm

Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten

The Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten also known in short form as Der Stahlhelm was one of the many paramilitary organizations that arose after the defeat of World War I in the Weimar Republic...

paramilitary organization, since its establishment. Many wives of Stahlhelm members belonged to the Queen Louise League and they were, like their husbands, strongly opposed to democracy and in favor of German re-armament

German re-armament

The German re-armament was a massive effort led by the NSDAP in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.During its struggle for power the National Socialist party promised to recover Germany's lost national pride...

.

After the Machtergreifung

Machtergreifung

Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...

, or takeover of the government by 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...

, the Queen Louise League was initially welcomed by the Nazi party as an ally. There were strong bonds between both movements owing to their common extremely conservative ideology and solid German nationalism.
Campaigning along with the brownshirts for a "Greater Germany"

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

with expanded borders and "freedom from weight of the reparations

World War I reparations

World War I reparations refers to the payments and transfers of property and equipment that Germany was forced to make under the Treaty of Versailles following its defeat during World War I...

", the League's members had taken active part in parades and events organized by the Nazis even before their accession to power. The Queen Louise League shared as well with the Reichskolonialbund

Reichskolonialbund

The Reichskolonialbund was a collective body that absorbed all German colonial organizations during the time of the Third Reich...

the demand for the return of the former German colonies.

Despite its ideological affinity with most of the Third Reich's nationalistic ideals, the Queen Louise League was disbanded all the same by the Nazi government in 1934. The reason was the difference in local practices, be it at the Gau or national level, which didn't match those wished by the Nazi leadership of the country. Following its dissolution the members and departments of the Königin-Luise-Bund were integrated

Gleichschaltung

Gleichschaltung , meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", is a Nazi term for the process by which the Nazi regime successively established a system of totalitarian control and tight coordination over all aspects of society. The historian Richard J...

into the corresponding branches for women and children of the Nazi Party, like the NS-Frauenschaft (Nazi Women's League), Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls) and its children section into the National Socialist Schoolchildren's League

National Socialist Schoolchildren's League

The National Socialist Schoolchildren's League , known under the acronyms NSS and also, more rarely NSSB, was a National Socialist organisation for primary school pupils providing a student council and child protection system in Germany from 1929 till 1933.-History:The league began roughly around...

(NSS) or the Kinderschar of the Nazi Women's League.

History

See also

Further reading