Gertrud Bäumer
1873-1954
- Vociferous women’s rights activist
- Deputy DDP Chair
- Ministerial Councillor and Delegate at the League of Nations
Gertrud Bäumer attended the University of Berlin, where she met the famous women’s rights defender Helene Lange, who became a role model for her. Bäumer’s activism included the fight to improve women’s access to education. In 1918, she joined the DDP and became a member of the National Assembly. She served in the Reichstag from 1920 to 1932. In 1920, she was appointed Ministerial Councillor in the Ministry of the Interior and from 1926 to 1933, she served as delegate to the League of Nations in Geneva. After the Nazis seized power, she lost all her posts and became a writer. After 1945, she helped found the CSU in Bavaria.