Women's struggle for legal and social emancipation and equality was one of the profound social changes of the 20th century. Gradually, women's suffrage was enacted under pressure from feminists such as the suffragettes in Britain, the United States and in many parts of the world. Famous feminists like Jane Addams and Simone de Beauvoir gave the women's movement a powerful and sustainable voice.
Even in work and family life, the role of women began to change radically. Rosa Luxemburg and Marie Curie contributed pioneering work in the male bastions of politics and science. Even during the world wars, women were essential on the home front and hoped thereby to be offered a new acceptance in the working world, which would go beyond the role of housewife and mother. The social concept of patriarchy, slowly but steadily, began to crumble.
History
Shaped by the Concert of Europe in the Age of Imperialism and the resulting "Great War", shattered by the Second World War as a result of the dark chapter of National Socialism, characterized by the Cold War and the division of Germany – historical world constellations as well as people's living conditions have often and seriously changed in the turbulent 20th century.
Here you will find photo dossiers on the various historical phases and events of the past century in Germany and around the world. In addition to major politics, the focus is on changes in the "zeitgeist": people's everyday experiences in the individual decades, changes in culture and fashion, and progress in technology and science.