Käte Strobel was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 (SPD).

Born in Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

, from 1923 to 1938 Käte Müller worked in the office of agricultural organisations in Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

. In 1928, she married Hans Strobel, who in 1934 was arrested for planning high treason

High treason

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...

 against the Nazis

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

. He was released from Dachau concentration camp in 1937.

Käte Strobel joined the SPD in 1925, being part of the party's leadership from 1958 to 1971 while from 1949 to 1972 being a member of the German Bundestag

Bundestag

The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...

. She also served 27 February 1958 to 26 January 1967 in the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

, where she became the leader of the Socialist Group from 1964 to 1967 (to this day, the only female leader other than Pauline Green

Pauline Green

Dame Pauline Green DBE is a former Labour and Co-operative Member of the European Parliament and former Leader of the Parliamentary Group of the Party of European Socialists...

) and from 1972 to 1978 in the city council of Nuremberg.

In West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

's government, under Kurt Georg Kiesinger

Kurt Georg Kiesinger

Kurt Georg Kiesinger was a German politician affiliated with the CDU and Chancellor of West Germany from 1 December 1966 until 21 October 1969.-Early career and wartime activities:...

 she led the Department of Health (from 1966 to 1969 Federal Ministry of Health

Federal Ministry of Health (Germany)

The Federal Ministry of Health, is a ministry of the German federal government...

) which from 1969 to 1972, with Willy Brandt

Willy Brandt

Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....

 as chancellor, was expanded to Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

She promoted sex education

Sex education

Sex education refers to formal programs of instruction on a wide range of issues relating to human sexuality, including human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, reproductive health, emotional relations, reproductive rights and responsibilities, abstinence, contraception, and...

 by having her department publish a Sexualkundeatlas book and the movie Helga

Helga

Helga is a female name, used mainly in Scandinavia, Iceland, Germany and Hungary . The name was in use in England before the Norman Conquest, but appears to have died out afterwards...

which depicted all stages of pregnancy. This was considered breaking a taboo.

Her home town Nuremberg made her an honorary citizen in 1980, and named a street near the central station after her. She died in Nuremberg at age 88.

Quote

"Politik ist eine viel zu ernste Sache, als dass man sie allein den Männern überlassen könnte." - (Politics is far too serious a matter to be left solely to men.)

External links

• bio at Deutsches Historisches Museum
  Deutsches Historisches Museum
  The German Historical Museum , DHM for short, is a museum in Berlin devoted to German history and defines itself as a place of enlightenment and understanding of the shared history of Germans and Europeans....