The BDM-Werk Glaube und Schönheit (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

for BDM Faith and Beauty Society) was founded in 1938 to serve as a tie-in between the work of the

League of German Girls The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. At first, the League consis ...

(BDM) and that of the

National Socialist Women's League The National Socialist Women's League (, abbreviated ''NS-Frauenschaft'') was the women's wing of the Nazi Party. It was founded in October 1931 as a fusion of several nationalist and Nazi women's associations, such as the German Women's Order ( ...

. Membership was voluntary and open to girls aged 17 to 21.

Purpose

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Reichsjugendführer ''Reichsjugendführer'' ("National Youth Leader") was the highest paramilitary rank of the Hitler Youth. On 30 October 1931, Hitler appointed Baldur von Schirach as the Reich Youth Leader of the Nazi Party. In 1933, after the Nazi seizure of st ...

(RJF; "National Youth Leader")

Baldur von Schirach Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (; 9 May 1907 – 8 August 1974) was a German politician who was the leader of the Hitler Youth from 1931 to 1940. From 1940 to 1945, he was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) and '' Reichsstatthalter'' (Reich gov ...

established the Faith and Beauty Society in 1938 to act as a link between the ''Bund Deutscher Mädel'' (BDM) and the ''Nationalsozialistische Frauenschaft''. The general idea was that "girls" should take part in working for the whole ''

Volksgemeinschaft ''Volksgemeinschaft'' () is a German expression meaning "people's community", "folk community", Richard Grunberger, ''A Social History of the Third Reich'', London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1971, p. 44. "national community", or "racial community" ...

'' (German community) before they either went on to jobs orideallyto marry and have children. The Society, initially run by , mainly aimed towards priming the young women for their future tasks as wives and mothers, and while courses offered ranged from

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has varied over time and place. "A fashion design ...

to healthy living, the overall idea was to teach them

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...

so they would "properly" run their households, cook well for their families, and care properly for their children. According to Dr. Jutta Rüdiger, who had taken over as the leader of the League of German Girls in 1937:

The task of our Girls League is to raise our girls as torch bearers of the national-socialist world. We need girls who are at harmony between their bodies, souls, and spirits. And we need girls who, through healthy bodies and balanced minds, embody the beauty of divine creation. We want to raise girls who believe in Germany and our leader, and who will pass these beliefs on to their future children. Dr. Rüdiger interview footage published on the DVD "Glaube und Schoenheit" by German Zeitreisen-Verlag

References

Sources

* "Das BDM Werk Glaube und Schoenheit" DVD, Zeitreisen Verlag * "Ein Leben fuer die Jugend" by Dr. Jutta Ruediger
BDM Historical Research Site

External links

Extensive English language website on the BDM

Hitler Youth Forum
{{Authority control 1938 establishments in Germany Hitler Youth Youth in Germany Organizations established in 1938

Purpose

See also

References

Sources

External links