Misplaced Pages

Selma Lohse (née Rösel; 17 February 1883 – 4 May 1937) was a German politician who served in the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic from 1931 until 1932. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she represented the Franconia constituency. Lohse was also a member of the Lower Franconia district council and the Würzburg city council, serving as one of four women in the latter body.

Biography

Selma Rösel was born on 17 February 1883 in the town of Görlitz, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia within the German Empire. Unlike other lower-class children at the time, she did not begin working after completing school, instead becoming an apprentice seamstress. In 1904, she married Max Lohse, a prominent social democrat and union leader, quitting her apprenticeship to become a housewife and caretaker to their three children. The family moved to the Bavarian city of Würzburg in 1908 after her husband became the regional manager of the German Stone Workers' Association (Steinarbeiterverband).

Lohse first became politically involved in 1911 when she joined the Social Democratic Party. During World War I, she worked as a volunteer in "war welfare", and she was elected to the local "council for the poor and orphans" in 1919. Later that year, she was also elected to the Lower Franconia district council (Kreistag [de]). In 1927, she was also elected to the Würzburg city council, becoming one of four women in the body.

In March 1931, Lohse was appointed to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic to complete the term of Hermann Müller following his death, representing the Franconia constituency. She left the Reichstag at the end of her term in July 1932. Following the Nazi Party's seizure of power in 1933, women were banned from holding public office, as politics was "considered unsuitable for women". As a result, Lohse was removed from her positions in the district and city councils.

Lohse died on 4 May 1937. A silent demonstration was held at her funeral.

References

1. ^ Kaiser, Gisela; Klinksiek, Dorothee (2019). Würzburgerinnen Machen Politik: 100 Jahre Frauenwahlrecht in Deutschland [Würzburg Women Make Politics: 100 Years of Women's Voting Rights in Germany] (PDF) (in German). Würzburg: City of Würzburg. p. 37. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
2. Bericht über die verwaltung und den stand der gemeinde-angelegenheiten der stadt Würzburg [Report on the Administration and the Status of Municipal Affairs in the City of Würzburg] (in German). Vol. 24. Würzburg: University of Würzburg. 1925. p. 257.
3. Weidisch, Peter (1990). Die Machtergreifung in Würzburg 1933 [The Seizure of Power in Würzburg in 1933] (in German). Würzburg: Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh. p. 120. ISBN 978-3-87717-764-8.
4. Huber, Antje (1984). Verdient die Nachtigall Lob, wenn sie singt?: die Sozialdemokratinnen [Does the Nightingale Deserve Praise When It Sings?: The Social Democrats] (in German). Seewald. p. 260. ISBN 978-3-512-00683-8.
5. Bartholomäus, Christine (1988). Dem Reich der Freiheit werb' ich Bürgerinnen: Anspruch und Wirklichkeit aus dem Leben Würzburger Frauen vom Kaiserreich bis heute [I Recruit Female Citizens for the Kingdom of Freedom: Claims and Reality From the Life of Women in Würzburg From the Empire to the Present Day] (in German). Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh. p. 107. ISBN 978-3-87717-758-7.
6. "Datenbank Bezirksräte" [Database District Councils]. District of Lower Franconia (in German). Retrieved 2023-04-09.
7. Mason, Timothy (1975). Arbeiterklasse und Volksgemeinschaft: Dokumente und Materialien zur deutschen Arbeiterpolitik, 1936–1939 [Working Class and National Community: Documents and Materials on German Labor Policy, 1936-1939] (in German). Opladen: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. p. 303. ISBN 978-3-531-11113-1.

• 1883 births
• 1937 deaths
• 20th-century German women politicians
• Members of the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic
• Politicians from Würzburg
• People from Görlitz
• Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
• German city councillors
• German women in World War I