Weimar and Nazi Germany Topic Summaries

Impacts on the lives of women

GCSE > History > Edexcel > GCSE History: Weimar and Nazi Germany (1890-1945) > Nazi dictatorship (1933–1939) > Impacts on the lives of women
Previous Module
Next Module

Key Terms
  • Women lost many freedoms gained during the Weimar period and were expected to focus on being housewives and mothers.
  • The Nazi ideal for women centered on Kinder (children), Küche (cooking), and Kirche (church).
  • The regime promoted large families to boost the birth rate and support the ‘master race.’ 
  • The Nazis awarded medals and offered marriage loans that decreased with each child born to further incentivise procreation. 
  • Lebensborn eugenics programs were run in secret by the SS to facilitate racially ‘pure’ pregnancies to increase the Aryan population. This involved selecting women who met Nazi racial criteria and encouraging or forcing them to have children with SS men or other ‘pure’ Aryans, as well as the compulsory Germanisation of children from occupied countries who met these criteria.
  • Many women were removed from professional jobs, especially in law and medicine, though they were still needed in factories.
  • The Nazis believed that physical appearance reflected racial purity, so where men were encouraged to be physically strong, disciplined, and orderly, women were expected to look healthy, modest, and maternal.
  • Makeup, dyed hair, and modern fashion were discouraged, as they were seen as artificial and ‘un-German,’ clashing with the Nazi values of purity and fertility. Women were most valuable for being physically able to produce healthy Aryan children

Unlock Impacts on the lives of women

Subscribe to SnapRevise+ to get immediate access to the rest of this resource.

Premium accounts get immediate access to this resource.

Previous Module
Next Module