Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine

The Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine (Federation of German Women's Associations) (BDF) was founded on 28/29 March 1894 as umbrella organization of the women's civil rights feminist movement and existed until the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.

Its creation was inspired by the founding of the World's Congress of Representative Women meeting on the occasion of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Several women from Germany attended this event: Anna Simson, Hanna Bieber-Böhm, Auguste Förster, Käthe Schirmacher. They took the example of the American National Council of Women as a model for the BDF. The International Council of Women also played a role in strengthening the co-operation between the NCW and the BDF.

Governance
The first board was composed of: In 1896 they were joined by:
 * Auguste Schmidt
 * Anna Schepeler-Lette, Chairperson of the Latvian Club
 * Anna Simson
 * Hanna Bieber-Böhm as chairwoman of the association for the protection of minors Representative of the morality movement
 * Auguste Förster
 * Ottilie Hoffmann, temperance activist
 * Helene von Forster, chairwoman of the Nuremberg Association Women's Welfare
 * Helene Lange
 * Betty Naue
 * Jeanette Schwerin, Head of girls and women's groups for social work
 * Marie Stritt, Founder of the first legal protection association for women in Germany

Constituent groups
Among others, the Reifensteiner Association was among the members.

Nazi period
The Nazi rise to power, in 1933, led to their with the assertion of control over women's associations. Such groups involving communists or socialists were forbidden, and members were arrested or even assassinated in rare cases. All associations were asked to turn in Jewish members, including the Union of Protestant Women, the Association for Home and Countryside, the Union of German Colonial Women, and the Union of Queen Louise. But soon, the majority of the organizations disbanded or chose among themselves to disappear, like the BDF which dissolved in 1933 to avoid being controlled. Some of the affiliated associations joined the Deutsches Frauenwerk.

Membership
Membership steadily grew in the first twenty years:
 * 1895 : 65 chapters
 * 1901 : 137 chapters and 70,000 members
 * 1913 : 2200 chapters and 500,000 members

Articles

 * Women in the Third Reich
 * Deutsches Frauenwerk
 * Frauenschaft