1. B
erlin –A City of Women. That’s the title
of the current exhibition at Mitte’s
stately Ephraim-Palais, which presents
20 remarkable female Berliners from the
1800s to the first half of the 20th century – all
pioneers who, in times when women weren't
allowed to have a cup of coffee in public without
the company of a man, defied their circumstanc-
es and pursued their goals. There’s Elly Bein-
horn, Berlin's first female pilot; Hedwig Dohm,
co-founder of the German women's movement;
and Katharina Heinroth, the sole female direc-
tor in the history of the Berlin Zoo. Strutting
through the rooms of the majestic old rococo
palace, one particular protagonist leaps out:
Louise Schroeder, who from 1947 to 1951 was
Berlin’s first – and so far, only – female mayor.
Louise Schroeder’s path to the Rathaus start-
ed in 1910, when, encouraged by her construc-
tion worker father, the then 23-year-old joined
the left-wing Social Democratic party (SPD).
That same year, she became chair of the SPD
board in her home borough of Altona, Hamburg.
When German women received the right to
vote in 1919, she became the youngest and first
female member elected in the Weimar National
Assembly, and she moved to Berlin to sit in the
Reichstag. In the capital she was involved in
the foundation of Arbeiterwohlfahrt, a workers'
welfare organisation, and taught at its school. As
a member of the SPD, she was banned from the
Reichstag in 1933 by the new Nazi government.
A short-lived back-up career as a bakery owner
was scuttled after she refused to give the Hitler
salute. After the war, she helped to re-establish
the SPD in Berlin, and eventually became the
party’s deputy chairman.
By 1947, in a city reduced to rubble, where a
vast number of political actors had been either
murdered by the Nazis, killed in the war or
compromised by their allegiance to Hitler's
regime, she was able to rise up to become mayor
of West Berlin, governing during the city's first
post-war crisis, the Soviet blockade of 1948 and
the Berlin Airlift.
How did she do it? “Louise Schroeder was
an extremely dedicated woman,” says Sebastian
Ruff, historian and curator of the exhibition.
“She didn't have children or a husband, not even
a boyfriend that we know of. She made her way
in a man’s world, which was an exception at the
time.” He posits that her gender may have even
worked in her favour at the time she was elected.
“Berlin needed a public figure with ‘soft values’,
someone who could function as a mediator be-
tween German politicians and the Soviets.”
Women’s history researcher Claudia von
Gélieu points out that simply calling Louise
Schroeder dedicated and driven is only half
the story. “The truth is, Louise Schroeder was
elected mayor because in 1947, the Soviet Union
vetoed the appointment of the SPD's Ernst Reu-
ter. A replacement had to be found within short
notice, and because Louise Schroeder was the
only other SPD party chairman, she was given
the position. If there had been a male candidate,
he would have gotten the post.” The American,
British and French occupied sectors joined
together to form West Berlin in 1949 in response
to the year-long Soviet blockade of all supplies to
the western half of the city. Famously, thousands
of American planes landing at Tempelhof deliv-
ered food to cut-off western Berliners. Schroeder
became mayor of the new provisional West
Berlin government and remained in the position
until Reuter formed the first Senat in 1951.
Von Gélieu says Schroeder wasn’t particularly
celebrated as a “strong woman” during her time
as mayor, but that doesn't mean she wasn't a
good social politician: “She made a huge effort in
mediating between the East and the West, and,
even though she didn't succeed in preventing
the division of Berlin, she tried to institute more
humane policies.”
By now, with a female chancellor and a Ger-
man parliament that is one-third women, a
legitimately elected Bürgermeisterin shouldn’t feel
like such a faraway goal. Does the role of mayor
just not appeal to German female politicians? Or
do they just not believe themselves capable of
performing it well?
“Berlin does have four female district mayors,”
points out Mechtild Rawert, an SPD member
of the Bundestag and board member of the
Women's Council Berlin. “These four women
have a long political history behind them and a
lot of experience, which is of course the most
important thing if you want to reach a position
like this. There are a lot of women in politics
capable of that. But generally, men are more will-
ing to speak up. Women think that to reach the
top positions, they should be perfect at every-
thing – and generally, women are more engaged
in social areas than political ones.”
Von Gélieu puts it more bluntly: “Just because
women have the same possibilities as men now
doesn't mean things have changed so much.
Men still hold the powerful positions. That a
third of the parliament today is female is only
because of the Frauenquote.”
On the top floor of the Ephraim-Palais there
is a questionnaire for women visiting the exhibi-
tion. The last question: “Which law would you
implement as mayor of Berlin?” The answers
suggest that a huge focus point is not only the
so-called “soft values”, but also what could be
considered “women’s issues”: Better and earlier
opportunities for kindergarten spots, better care
for single mothers, better care for victims of
abuse. One woman writes: “Berlin is still not a
city of women – not until women have all of the
same rights as men!”
Rawert could not agree more: “We need to
modernise the structure of society. Equality
won't be reached until women are as equally
represented in all areas as men.”
Berlin – Stadt der Frauen runs through
August, enough time for all Berliners to pay a
visit to Louise Schroeder and 19 other strong
Berlinerinnen – and to think about how far
women still have to go. n
Through Aug 28, Ephraim-Palais,
Poststr. 16, Mitte, S+U-Bhf Alexanderplatz,
Tue, Thu-Sun 10-18, Wed 12-20
When a woman
was mayor
ARCHIVGERDASCHIMPF,BERLIN
POLITICS
“Just because women
have the same pos-
sibilities as men now
doesn’t mean things
have changed so much.”
A new exhibition tells the tale of Louise Schroeder, West
Berlin’s Bürgermeisterin in the years after World War II.
Why hasn’t a woman governed Berlin in the 65 years since?
By Nina Branner and Tanviya Sapru
11
11 Burgermeisterin 149.indd 11 25/04/16 20:56