!!!Frauenbewegung
Women's Movement: The historical shifts in women's position in society
have been documented in codifications such as the Codex Theresianus
(1766) or the General Code of Civil Law (1811), which reflect the
long-term dismantling of the social domination of men and the gradual
emancipation of women.
\\
The education of women played an important role in this process and
was made possible to a great extent by the General School Ordinance of
1774. A few schools for the daughters of military officers and schools
run by the Sisters of Loreto, etc. ( Vocational Schools for Women)
provided girls with secondary education (in particular girls of the
nobility).
\\
The Imperial Primary School Law of 1869 made schooling for girls
obligatory, and teacher training, the first qualified occupation for
women, was made available. Marianne Hainisch founded the association
"Oesterreichische Lehrerinnen und Erzieherinnen" ("Austrian Women
Teachers' and Governesses Association" in 1869. The first associations
promoting more challenging occupations for girls (vocational schools
for women, courses for needle-point and embroidery, cooking or sewing
schools) were formed after 1867.
\\
In 1892 an association for broadening educational opportunities for
women, which had been founded in 1888, established a university
preparatory course for girls. However, graduates of the course did not
receive the designation "certified to attend University" until 1901.
Women students were able to register for courses in the Humanities and
Social Sciences Departments in 1897, medical and pharmacy studies were
opened to women in 1900, the remaining courses in 1919. Doctoral
degrees attained at foreign institutes had been recognised since 1896.
\\
In the agricultural sector, as well as in trade, women have always
worked out of necessity. Similarly, women have worked in industry
since the 18%%sup th/% century due to economic necessity, das well as
the close proximity of metal-working and textile industries to their
homes. Nevertheless, female workers were not common in industry until
after the end of the 19%%sup th/% century. The Lower Austrian
conference of trade unions held in 1895 demanded that women be
excluded from having an occupation; however, fields of activity
occupied solely by women, such as managing kindergartens and nursing
(at first a profession carried out by nuns) soon developed. During
World War I women's numbers in the workforce increased rapidly,
especially in the public sector, in the postal services, the railway
system and in the industrial sector.
\\
At the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Law of Associations
prohibited "foreigners, women and minors" from being members in
political associations; in response separate women's associations were
founded, such as "Bund der oesterreichischen Frauenvereine"
("Federation of Women's Associations"), an organisation of 13 liberal
and civic women's associations, which was established in 1902 by M.
Hainisch; the Federation of Women's Associations joined the
"International Council of Women" in 1904 and ran numerous schools for
girls in the lands of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In addition to
Hainisch (chairwoman until 1918), B. v. Suttner was also active
in the Federation of Women's Associations. Some 100 member
associations belonged to the Federation when the alliance was
dissolved in 1938.
\\
Separate associations were established by the Social Democrats,
including the "Arbeiterinnen-Bildungsverein" ("Association for Women
Workers") founded in 1890 and the discussion and reading association
"Libertas" (founded in 1893, chairwoman A. Popp). In 1898 a
Social-Democratic women's conference was held; however, A. Popp's
"Freie politische Frauenorganisation" ("Free Political Women's
Organisation") was not affiliated with the Social Democratic Party.
Starting in 1893 "Arbeiterinnen-Zeitung" ("Newspaper for Female
Workers") was published as a supplement to the Social Democratic
"Arbeiterzeitung". Women played a minor role in trade unions (in 1903
only 5,580, in 1908 only 20,047 members).
\\
Catholic Women's Associations were also founded at the end of the
19%%sup th/% century; at first associations were organised within the
dioceses; in 1907 came a large-scale consolidation as the "Katholische
Reichsfrauenorganisation" ("National Catholic Women's Organisation"),
KRFO. After a period when women from the aristocracy dominated the
organisations, the "Verband christlicher Hausgehilfinnen"
("Association of Christian Domestic Servants") was founded in 1909 on
the initiative of J. Weiss. The "Christlicher Verein zur Hebung der
Frauenbildung" ("Christian Association for the Promotion of Women's
Education") established a secondary school for girls preparing for
university studies in 1910 in Vienna. Following the Catholic Women's
Day of 1910 the magazine "Die oesterreichische Frau" ("The Austrian
Woman") was published. In 1911 H. Burjan succeeded in creating an
organisation of women home workers. In 1912 an international Catholic
Women's World Conference was held.
\\
General suffrage was not granted to women until 1919. Until 1919 all
women, except female land owners, were prohibited from voting. In the
First Republic there were only a few women deputies in municipal
councils and in the Nationalrat. Alma Motzko was a city councillor in
Vienna from 1918 to 1934. Although women's organisations were included
in the Social Democratic Party (approximately one-third of the party
members were women), the women's organisations were not recognised by
the party leadership. The representation of women's organisations was
even weaker in the other parties.
\\
In the area of education, girls were permitted to attend secondary
schools which prepared for university entrance after 1918; there were
also upper secondary schools for girls and classes solely for girls.
During World War II there were also coeducational classes. The number
of women teachers also increased, although in several provinces they
were still forbidden to marry (Tirol, Vorarlberg, Salzburg) or
marriage privileges were strictly limited (Styria, Carinthia). During
World War II the number of women students at universities also rose
considerably. During World War I women were employed in the public
sector in the railway system, trams, etc., as well as in the military,
as assistants in the news service and especially in the medical corps.
\\
When associations and interest groups were reestablished on a
democratic basis in 1945, continuity in leadership from the years
before 1934 was also reestablished in the women's movement; within the
Austrian Social Democratic Party (SPOe) with R. Jochmann and
Ferdinanda Flossmann, within the Austrian People's Party (OeVP) with
L. Solar. In municipal councils and provincial assemblies women were
still generally the exception; similarly the number of female Members
of Parliament rose only gradually (1970: 8 of 165, 1971: 11 of 183,
1975: 14, 1979: 18, 1983: 17, 1994: 43 : 16 SPOe, 9 FPOe, 8 OeVP, 6
Green Party, 4 Liberal Forum). The first towns to elect women mayors
were Gloggnitz and Gross-Siegharts. The first female member of the
federal government was G. Rehor, from 1966 to 1970.
\\
A new phase in the women's movement began around 1968. Demands
included legal abortions, the elimination of sexual repression,
economic independence from men and increased political representation.
This was taken into consideration when Federal Chancellor Kreisky
appointed a minimum of two, sometimes even three, and between
1979-1983 even six women to cabinet posts. In 1990 the State
Secretariat of Women's Affairs was elevated to ministry status. The
number of women in the provincial governments also increased (in
Vienna G. Froehlich-Sandner was Deputy Mayor from 1969-1984; there
were two female members of government in Lower Austria, and one woman
each in the provincial governments of Burgenland, Styria and Tirol).
The composition of the Nationalrat and Bundesrat as well as of the
provincial assemblies and municipal councils changed in a similar way.
Increasingly more women are assuming leadership positions within the
parties. In the large parties quota regulations (up to 40 % of seats
won by a party are reserved for women) were introduced in the
mid-eighties; however the actual make-up of the party lists never
reflected this goal. In 1994 two parties presented women, H. Schmidt
(Liberal Forum) and M. Petrovic (Green Party) as leading candidates
in the parliamentary elections.
\\
Existing structures in education and the workforce underwent changes
parallel to those in political representation. The number of female
secondary-school graduates and female university students rose
dramatically. Teaching posts in primary schools and secondary schools
are held mainly by women (1985: 75 % in primary schools, 60 % in
secondary schools), in social service professions and in the medical
field the percentage of women is especially high. Women occupy around
64 % of jobs in the service sector. Although women's empowerment in
social, business and political life has increased dramatically, the
lack of women in leadership positions, for instance, shows a clear
imbalance regarding their influence.
!Literature
H. Hieden, Die Frau in der Gesellschaft, 1983; Bericht
ueber die Situation der Frau in Oesterreich, Frauenbericht 1985; R.
Pauly, Frauenemanzipation in Oesterreich, 1986; M. L. Angerer
(ed.), Auf glattem Parkett, Feministinnen in Institutionen, 1991;
Beharrlichkeit, Anpassung und Widerstand. Die sozial-demokratische
Frauenorganisation und ausgewaehlte Bereiche sozialdemokratisscher
Frauenpolitik 1945-1990, ed. by K.-Renner-Institut, 1993; Die Familie,
exhibition catalogue, Riegersburg 1993; D. F. Good (ed.), Frauen
in Oesterreich, 1994.
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