The mothers of the Basic Law: their struggle for equality today

The mothers of the Basic Law: their struggle for equality today

The exhibition "The Mothers of the Basic Law" in the Euskirchen district house recognizes the significant commitment of four women who have a significant impact on the formulation of Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law. District Administrator Markus Ramers opened the event, where he highlighted the role of Elisabeth Selbert, Frieda Nadig, Helene Weber and Helene Wessel. These pioneers fought for the fact that the equality of men and women was legally anchored. The article came into force on March 24, 1949 and has been a central component of the German constitution since then, even if the reality of equality in society at the time, as today, often remained behind the legal requirements. According to ksta.de , equality in the political area remains a challenge in the Bundestag, only 34.7% of the women in the Bundestag are around 32% and in Community parliaments even only 27%. In addition, the proportion of women in mayoral offices is around 9%.

The exhibition, which can be visited until June 6, 2025 during the regular opening times of the district house, not only commemorates the historical success, but is also an appeal for more visibility and participation of women in society. Ramers emphasizes that it is important to carry the courage and commitment of these women to today. In particular, the statistics in the district of Euskirchen show how much space remains for improvement: only 10 out of 54 members in the district council are women and only 3 mayors are available in the 11 cities and municipalities of the district.

The mothers of the Basic Law

The equality article, which was unanimously accepted by the parliamentary council on January 18, 1949, was the result of hard negotiations and struggles for women in the post -war period. The members of the council had to deal with the legacies of a Weimar Republic, in which women had theoretically equal rights, but were massively disadvantaged in practice. Before the adoption of the Basic Law, women needed, for example, the consent of their husband to work or open an account. This historical heritage shows how important the work of Selbert, Nadig, Weber and Wessel was, which not only formulated the equality article, but also fought for the rights of mothers and illegitimate children. According to geo.de , these women demanded legally anchored equality of payments, but this claim has not been accepted.

The struggle for equality rang through the decades. Selbert was one of the crucial votes for the reform of family law, while the complete implementation of equality often longed for. It was not until 1977 that a comprehensive reform of marriage and family law followed, which better taken into account the equality requirement. The late abolition of the so -called “obedience paragraph” in 1957 is another example of how lengthy the process was to go through women's rights in Germany.

Current challenges

Despite the legal framework, the gender equality remains a wide destination in many areas of life. The increase in the proportion of female MPs is still an urgent topic. These observations underline that the work of the "mothers of the Basic Law" laid a basis, but that social reality is far from being at the same level. It is important to take the call for more justice and visibility in equality. In retrospect, in retrospect for the past few decades, it can be found that the achievements of the women's movement are not a matter of course. Too often legal progress has not been accompanied by social change. The exhibition "The Mothers of the Basic Law" impressively shows how important to deal with history in order to master the challenges of the present. Ultimately, it remains the task of every generation to actively promote the vision of equality in order to finally convert the promise of 1949 into reality.