The Rhenish women's league (Rheinische Frauenliga) was an organisation set up by the

Rheinische Volkspflege The ''Rheinische Volkspflege'' (''RVP'') was a propaganda organisation founded on 1 August 1919 as part of the Reichszentrale für Heimatsdienst (Reich Central Office for Home Service), the official press department of the Weimar Republic. It provi ...

(Protectors of the Rhenish people) to bring together various primarily middle class women's organisations initially to campaign against the use of African troops by the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

in the

occupation of the Rhineland The Occupation of the Rhineland from 1 December 1918 until 30 June 1930 was a consequence of the collapse of the Imperial German Army in 1918, after which Germany's provisional government was obliged to agree to the terms of the 1918 armist ...

. The idea was initiated by a member of the Cologne-based Neven du Mont family and taken up by the civil servant

Margarete Gärtner Margarete is a German feminine given name. It is derived from Ancient Greek ''margarites'' (μαργαρίτης), meaning "the pearl". Via the Latin ''margarita'', it arrived in the German sprachraum. Related names in English include Daisy, Gr ...

, who organised the first conference in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, 23–24 June 1920. The conference ratified her as the leader.

Constituent organisations

The league was composed of the following organisations in May 1921: *

Katholischer Deutscher Frauenbund The German Catholic Women's Association (german: Katholischer Deutscher Frauenbund), abbreviated as KDFB, is a federally registered Catholic lay women's organization and political interest group. The association has roughly 180,000 members in Ge ...

(Catholic Women's Federation) *Evangelischer Frauenbund *Israelitischer Frauenbund *Frauenausschuss der christlichen Gewerkschaften (Women's Committee of the Christian Unions) *Frauenausschuss der sozial-demokratischen Partei *Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine (

League of German Women's Associations 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 crea ...

) *Rheinisch-Westf. Frauenverband *Bezirksausschuss f. Frauenarbeit *Verband Hessische Frauenvereine *Inter.-Kath. Verband d. Frauenvereine i. Saargebeit *Stadtverband Düsseldorf *Verband Kölner Frauenvereine (Association of Cologne Women's Associations) *Kath. Frauenbund f. d. Pfalz *Verein f. Fraueninteressen u. Neustädter Frauenvereine *Allgemeiner deutscher Frauenverein Worms *Gesamtverband d. Frauenvereine d. Kreises Ottweiler *Stadtverband f. Jugendfürsorge Wiesbaden *Verein Frauenbildung-Frauenstudium *Verein d. kath. Sozialbeantinnen *Verein d. kath. Oberlehrerinnen *Verein d. kathkaufm. Gehilfinnen Köln *Verein d. kathkaufm. Gehilfinnen Weisbaden *Verein kath. Hausangestellten *Allgemeiner deutscher Lehrerinnen-verein *Verband d deutscher Reichs-Post-und Telegrafenbeamtinnen *Verband weibl. Handels-u.-Büroangestellten-Berlin *Stadtverband für Frauenbestrebungen *Kath. Jungfrauenvereine *Kath. Bahnhofsmission *Nationalverband d. kath. Mädchenschutzverein *Kath. Fürsorgeverein Speyer *Evangelischer Frauenhilfe Wiesbaden *Evangelischer Frauenhilfe Speyer *Verband Evangelischer deutscce Bahnhofsmission *Rheinische Frauenhilfe *Allgemeiner deutscher HausFrauenverein (

Association of German Housewives The Association of German Housewives (german: Allgemeiner deutscher HausFrauenverein) was founded in Berlin in 1873 by Linda Morgenstern. Aside from acting as a lobbying group for housewives it published a magazine ''Deutscher Hausfrauenzeitung'' ...

)

References

{{reflist Weimar Republic Occupation of the Rhineland Organizations established in 1920 1920 establishments in Germany Women's organisations based in Germany