Luise Kähler

Luise Kähler on the III. SED party congress, 2nd v. Left

Luise Kähler (née Girnth ; born January 12, 1869 in Berlin ; † September 22, 1955 there ) was a German women's rights activist , leading trade unionist and social democratic politician.

Life

Luise Kähler was a maid from 1883, later she did an apprenticeship as a tailor , worked as a seamstress and as a ship stewardess on the East Asia route. In 1895 she married a craftsman, was a housewife and worked again as a seamstress in Hamburg .

In 1902, Kähler joined the SPD. Between 1906 and 1913 she was the founder and chairwoman of the Association of Servants, Washerwomen and Washwomen in Hamburg. In 1907, she played a key role in the establishment of a job record to protect the maids from being exploited by private employment agencies. The maids' association was included in the Hamburg union cartel in 1907. In the same year she was involved in the establishment of a nationwide domestic workers' organization. After joining the domestic workers' association in 1909, she took over the management of the Hamburg branch.

Between 1908 and 1913, Kähler was elected to the board of the Hamburg union cartel, at times the only woman. From 1909 she earned her living as a salaried unskilled worker for the job certificate for domestic workers in Hamburg. She was also involved in the consumer cooperatives, worked for the "Hamburger Echo" and promoted the SPD.

From 1913 to 1923 Kähler was chairman of the main board of the domestic workers' association based in Berlin. During the First World War she unreservedly supported the politics of the free trade unions . She took care of the war welfare of the Berlin workers' movement and was instrumental in organizing the sick and maternity care . After the November Revolution, Kähler played a decisive role in the abolition of the still strongly feudal servant order . In 1918 she was also a co-founder of the Arbeiterwohlfahrt .

Due to the decreasing number of members of the domestic workers 'association, the association joined the German Transport Association , where Kähler took over from 1923 to 1933 as the deputy head of the domestic workers' group in the Transport Association and in the general association of employees of public companies. In addition, from 1920 to 1933, Kähler was the only woman to be a member of the Provisional Reich Economic Council . In 1927 she took part in the international trade union congress in Paris .

Between 1919 and 1921 Kähler was a member of the Prussian state constituent assembly . She was then a member of the Prussian state parliament until 1932 .

During the National Socialist era , Kähler's apartment became a conspiratorial meeting place for trade union resistance.

After 1945, Kähler was initially active again in the SPD. Although she lived in West Berlin, she joined the SED and ran for the Berlin House of Representatives as the top candidate for the Kreuzberg district . In 1948 she became an honorary member of the Democratic Women's Association of Germany. The SED awarded her the Karl Marx Order in 1953 .

literature

Rüdiger Zimmermann: Kähler, Luise (1869–1955) . In: Siegfried Mielke (ed.): Trade unionists in the Nazi state: persecution, resistance, emigration . Essen: Klartext, 2008, ISBN 978-3-89861-914-1 , pp. 199–202
Meyer's New Lexicon in 8 Volumes, Volume 4, Page 603; VEB Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig, 1962

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Kähler, Luise
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Girnth, Luise (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German trade unionist and politician (SPD)
DATE OF BIRTH	January 12, 1869
PLACE OF BIRTH	Berlin
DATE OF DEATH	September 22, 1955
Place of death	Berlin