The Democratic Women's League of Germany (, or DFD) was the mass women's organisation in East Germany. It was one of the constituent members of the National Front and sent representatives to the Volkskammer. In 1988, membership was 1.5 million.Dirk Jurich, Staatssozialismus und gesellschaftliche Differenzierung: eine empirische Studie, p.32. LIT Verlag Münster, 2006,
The DFD did not have much independence from the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED). Käte Selbmann, a member of the DFD's executive board, complained that it was "a pre-school for women, neither as central as the FDGB nor even more important than any other mass organization to women's work, and absolutely subordinate to the SED", while historian Valerie Dubslaff writes that "the role of the department was therefore neither to represent the interests of women nor to promote them within the party, but to execute the political will of its leaders".
Organization
The DFD was established in March 1947 and had the following official aims:
Removal of fascist ideas Education for women Equal rights Fair social living conditions Education of children in the spirit of humanism and peace Co-operation with the international women's movement
Chairwomen of the Democratic Women's Federation of Germany Name Entered officeLeft officeAnne-Marie Durand-Wever19471948Emmy Damerius-Koenen19481949Elli Schmidt1949September 1953Ilse ThieleSeptember 1953November 1989Eva Rohmann19891990Gisela Steineckert19901990
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