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German Women and the Revolution of 1848: Kathinka Zitz-Halein and the Humania Association

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2008

Stanley Zucker
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Extract

The Revolution of 1848 has proven to be a continuously interesting field for historical research. Whether one sees it as a turning point where German history failed to turn, as an uprising bungled by a bunch of impractical professors, as a revolution undermined by ethnic hostility, or as a revolution which failed because it ignored the problems of the lower classes, the question of its failure has been almost as fruitful a focus of research as other countries' successful revolutions. Historians have also been attracted to it because it seems to provide outlines and previews of future events in German history. It marks, we are told, the growing politicization of the masses, the birth of social conflict, the inception of national struggles, or the first sign of the liberals' political cowardice.

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Articles
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Central European History , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 1980 , pp. 237 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 1980

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References

1. Puckett, Hugh W., Germany's Women Go Forward (New York, 1929, reprint 1967), pp. 116–30Google Scholar; Sanford, Jutta Schoers, “The Origins of German Feminism: German Women, 1789–1870” (Ph.D. diss., Ohio State University, 1976), pp. 132–48Google Scholar; Lougee, Robert W., Midcentury Revolution, 1848 (Lexington, Mass., 1972), pp. 172–78Google Scholar; Rath, R. John, The Viennese Revolution of 1848 (Austin, Tex., 1957), pp. 292–93, 324, 329Google Scholar; Valentin, Veit, Geschichte der deutschen Revolution von 1848–1849, 2 vols. (Berlin, 1930–1931), 1: 369, 2: 193, 236, 579–82, 684 nn. 54–63Google Scholar; Obermann, Karl, Einheit und Freiheit (Berlin, 1950), pp. 815–17Google Scholar; Bäumer, Gertrud, Gestalt und Wandel (Berlin, 1939), pp. 312–48Google Scholar; Twellmann, Margrit, Die deutsche Frauenbewegung, 1843–1889, 2 vols., Marburger Abhandlungen zur politischen Wissenschaft, vol. 17, pts. 1 and 2 (Meisenheim am Glan, 1972), 1: 1–25, 2: 1–100Google Scholar; Blos, Anna, Frauen der deutschen Revolution 1848 (Dresden, 1928).Google Scholar

2. Pauly, Heribert, “Zur sozialen Zusammensetzung politischen Institutionen und Vereine der Stadt Mainz im Revolutionsjahr 1848,” Archiv für hessische Geschichte und Altertumskunde, n.s., 34 (1973): 44–81.Google Scholar

3. For Mainz in 1848–49 see Buckler, Carlos, Die politischen und religiösen Kämpfe in Mainz während der Revolutionsjahre 1848–1850 (Giessen, 1936)Google Scholar; Katz-Seibert, Mathilde, Der politische Radikalismus in Hessen während der Revolution von 1848–49, Quellen und Forschungen zur hessischen Geschichte, vol. 9 (Darmstadt, 1929)Google Scholar; Zucker, Stanley, Ludwig Bamberger: German Liberal Politician and Social Critic (Pittsburgh, Pa., 1975), pp. 10–33.Google Scholar

4. Twellmann, , Die deutsche Frauenbewegung, 2:1Google Scholar; Bühler, Johannes, Das Hambacher Fest (Ludwigshafen, 1932), pp. 96, 99, 102Google Scholar, and pictures opposite pp. 80, 124; Bamberger, Ludwig, Erinnerungen (Berlin, 1899), pp. 4–5, 49Google Scholar; Dael, Fr., Die Bevölkerungsverhältnisse der Stadt Mainz von den ältesten bis zu den neuesten Zeiten (from Hübner's Jahrbuch für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik [Leipzig, 1853]), p. 31.Google Scholar The number of female domestic servants increased by 468 (16 percent) between 1846 and 1849. It was this development that probably prompted the Hessian government in May 1849 to institute a special tax on servants and other dependent workers from outside Mainz. It led to a written protest by several unidentified women (“An die Grossherzogliche Regierungs-Commission in Mainz,” Mainzer Tagblatt, June 15, 1849). By the next census in 1852 the number of female servants had fallen by 868. There was also a 30–40 percent drop both in female and male day laborers in the mid–1840s which may reflect the introduction of steam-powered boats and account for the acts of Luddism. Previously boats had to be pulled manually along certain stretches of the Rhine near Mainz.

5. Bamberger, Erinnerungen, pp. 119–22.

6. Ibid., pp. 80, 132; Born, Stephan, Erinnerungen (Leipzig, 1898), p. 195Google Scholar, remembered the female presence during his visit to the Mainz Democratic Association, and noted that he never had a more attentive audience.

7. The only source for this is the manuscript autobiography of Zitz-Halein, Kathinka, “Skizzen aus meinem Leben,” p. 107bGoogle Scholar, in the Kathinka Zitz Nachlass, Hessische Landesbibliothek, Wiesbaden (hereafter cited as “Skizzen,” Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden). Dittmar wrote several books on religious, social, and political issues: Lessing und Feuerbach (Offenbach a.M., 1847), Vier Zeitfragen (Offenbach a.M., 1847), Zur Charakterisierung der nordischen Mythologie im Verhältnis zu andern Naturreligionen (Darmstadt, 1848)Google Scholar, and Das Wesen der Ehe (Leipzig, 1850).Google Scholar

8. At least two of her pre-1848 literary activities are relevant to 1848. Her first published article (published anonymously) was a response to an attack on the large hats women wore to the theater (“Skizzen,” Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden, p. 4b). In the 1830s she translated several plays by Victor Hugo (Marien de Lorme, Le Roi s'amuse, and Cromwell). The first two have women as central characters and portray them as courageous individuals, while the third deals with the corrupting influence of power. They demonstrate her awareness of social and political issues. The reviewer of one of her translations bemoaned the fact that a woman would undertake to translate such a socially explicit work (Blätter für literarische Unterhaltung, 1836, p. 774).

9. This brief sketch of Kathinka Zitz-Halein's life until 1848 is based primarily on her “Skizzen,” two drafts of which are in the Hessische Landesbibliothek in Wiesbaden; for her literary efforts see von Schindel, Karl, Die deutschen Schriftstellerinnen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, 3 vols. (Leipzig, 1823–1825), 1: 187, 3: 144–49Google Scholar; Goedke, Karl, Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung (Dresden, 1938), 13: 295–98Google Scholar; and Frankel, Ludwig, “Kath. und Franz Zitz,” Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 45: 373–79.Google Scholar

10. On German-Catholicism, political reform, and women's rights see Droz, Jacques, “Die religiösen Sekten und die Revolution von 1848,” Archiv für Sozialgeschichte 3 (1963): 109–18Google Scholar; Helmut Hirsch, “Carl Heinrich Marx als Prediger der Krefelder Deutschkatholiken (1847–1851),” ibid., pp. 119–39; Kolbe, Günter, “Demokratische Opposition in religiösen Gewande: Zur Geschichte der deutschkatholischen Bewegung in Sachsen am Vorabend der Revolution von 1848–49,” Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft 20 (1972): 1102–12Google Scholar; Prelinger, Catherine M., “The German-catholic Church: From National Hope to Regional Reality,” in Consortium on Revolutionary Europe: Proceedings, 1976 (Athens, Ga., 1978), pp. 88–101Google Scholar, and her “Religious Dissent, Women's Rights and the Hamburger Hochschule für das weibliche Geschlecht in Mid-Nineteenth Century Germany,” Church History 45 (03 1976): 42–45CrossRefGoogle Scholar; “Skizzen,” pp. 44a, 104b, 115b, Nachlass, Zitz, Wiesbaden; Curt Pfütze, “Heribert Rau,” Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 27: 376–78.Google Scholar

11. Zitz, Kathinka, Herbstrosen in Poesie und Prosa (Mainz, 1846), pp. 221–23, 227–29, 242–43.Google Scholar On the pre-1848 political agitation in the Rhenish areas see Faber, Karl-Georg, “Die rheinischen Institutionen,” Hambacher Gespräche, 1962, Geschichtliche Landeskunde (Mainz, 1964), 1: 20–40Google Scholar; Katz-Seibert, Der politische Radikalismus, pp. 1–11; and the newspaper clippings in Kathinka Zitz Nachlass, Stadtarchiv, Mainz: see also her critical but not inaccurate comments on the political behavior of her husband in 1848 (“Skizzen,” pp. 30a, 105a, 107a, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden). She also mentions (“Skizzen,” p. 83b) meeting Heinrich von Gagern before 1848.

12. On her loyalty and toughness see her letter to her estranged husband, Aug. 12, 1845, Kathinka Zitz Nachlass, Mainz, asking him to help her brother who was in financial difficulties. She asked him to forget that her brother was the “relative of a women you hate.… You know me well enough to be able to understand what a hard struggle it cost me to send this request to you. What I would not do for myself for any price I do for others because I recognize … that it lay within the sphere of my obligations, where my own power no longer suffices … to take this last step.” Her papers also contain material on her literary infighting. She was attacked in an essay, Bilder aus der Paülskirche (Leipzig, 1849)Google Scholar, and responded by suing the publisher and winning an apology, typical of her unwillingness to tolerate any supposed injustice to herself. As the “official wife” of Franz Zitz she was the focus of several popular demonstrations in his honor. Later as head of the Humania Association she would receive her own (“Skizzen,” pp. 29b, 47b, 105a, 106a, 107b, 108a, 109a, 110ab, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden).

13. Therese Canton (president of the Concordia association) to [Zitz], May 1, 1849, Katherine Betz to Zitz [May 3, 1849], Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; Der Demokrat (Mainz), 05 17, 1849, pp. 153–55Google Scholar; Kasteler Beobachter, May 18, 1849; Statuten des Humania Vereins für vaterländische Interessen (n.p., n.d.), Zitz speech [May 24, 1849], Zitz Nachlass, Mainz.

14. See the collection of essays in Women, War, and Revolution, ed. Berkin, Carol R. and Lovett, Clara M. (New York, 1980)Google Scholar; Rowbotham, Sheila, Women, Resistance, and Revolution (New York, 1972).Google Scholar

15. Der Demokrat, May 17, 1849, pp. 153–55; Kasteier Beobachter, May 19, 1849; newspaper clipping [Mainzer Tagblatt, n.d.], Zitz Nachlass, Mainz.

16. “Skizzen,” pp. 30a, 31a, 42b, 104b, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden; Zitz, Herbstrosen, pp. 330–41; Zitz to Countess Sophie Hatzfeldt, Aug. 16, 1848, as cited in Sanford, “Origins of German Feminism,” pp. 134–55; see also Quataert, Jean, Reluctant Feminists in German Social Democracy, 1885–1917 (Princeton, N.J., 1979)Google Scholar, which shows that for many female socialist leaders the goals of feminism would have to wait for the victories of socialism and even then not be realizable.

17. Louise Otto claimed that women who wished to make women into caricatures of men brought female emancipation into ill repute. She believed that women's emancipation involved participation in the task of German unification (Bäumer, Gestalt und Wandel, pp. 328–31). von Meysenbug, Malwida, Memoiren einer Idealistin, 2 vols. (Berlin, 1917), wrote (1: 244)Google Scholar that the aim of female emancipation was not to make women like men but to “make them worthier as women.” Her memoirs, which went through 43 printings from 1876 to 1927, suggest the need for a new look at this ever hopeful rebel. Fanny Lewald also believed that unorthodox behavior, such as Louise Aston's smoking cigars in public or dressing like a man, would damage the cause of female emancipation (Sanford, “Origins of German Feminism,” p. 143). Zitz was in contact with both Otto and Meysenbug. She asked Johanna Kinkel to contribute an article to Otto's Frauenzeitung and had Meyscnbug's Ein Fraucnschwur zur Demokratie published in a Mainz newspaper (Gottfried Kinkel to Zitz, Aug. 8 [1852], Johanna Kinkel to Zitz, Sept. 12, 14, 1850, Leppla, Rupprecht, “Johanna und Gottfried Kinkels Briefe an Kathinka Zitz, 1849–1861,” Bonner Geschichtsblätter 12 [1958]: 25, 26, 45Google Scholar; Meysenbug, , Memoiren, 1: 172, 185–87).Google Scholar The question of contacts between female activists needs to be studied.

18. “Skizzen,” pp. 33a, 35a, 107b, 112a, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden.

19. Kasteler Beobachter, May 31, 1849, newspaper clipping [Mainzer Tagblatt, n.d.], Zitz speech [to prisoners and exiles, July 1849], Zitz speech to general assembly, June 1849, Franz Zitz to Humania Association, Nov. 27, 1849, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; “Skizzen,” pp. 33a 35a, 107b, 112a, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden.

20. Zitz's speeches to the general assembly June, July 28, 1849; “Verzeichnis der Mitglieder der am 24. Mai 1849 in Mainz von Frau Kathinka Zitz gegründeten Frauenverein Humania” (MS), p. 1; “Erscheinungsbefehl” (MS), Nov. 7, 1849; receipts for contributions to aid those affected by the flooding and to the Mainz poorhouse; Nanni Wolf to Zitz, Jan. 21, [1850], all of the above in Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; Kasteler Beobachter, July 24, 1849; “Skizzen,” pp. 36a, 41a, 44b–48b, 117b–119b, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden.

21. The best overview of expenditures is provided by the statement of account of June 1850 contained in “Verzeichnis” (MS), last page, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; see also Zitz's speeches, July 29, Sept. 2, Nov. 25, 1849, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; “Skizzen,” pp. 41b, 110b, 115b, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden.

22. Zitz's speeches, Nov. 25, 1849, Jan. 1850, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; “Skizzen,” pp. 34a, 112ab, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden.

23. See “Skizzen,” p. 116, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden, for the problem of dealing with those who tried to pass themselves off as refugees.

24. The Democratic Association's dues were 6 kreuzer per month. In the Workingmen's Educational Club they were 6 kreuzer every two weeks.

25. “Mehrere Mitglieder” to Zitz, June 28, 1849, Zitz speeches, Oct. 28, Nov. 25, 1849, Feb. 24, 1850, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz.

26. Zitz's speech, June 1849, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz.

27. Bamberger, Ludwig, “Erlebnisse aus der pfälzischen Erhebung,” in his Gesammelte Schriften, 3 (Berlin, 1895): 133Google Scholar; Wasserburg, Philipp, “Ums Jahr 1848,” Mainzer Anzeiger, 09 22, 1897Google Scholar; “Skizzen,” pp. 36b, 37ab, 44b, 45a, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden. Kathinka Zitz was also interrogated but charges against her were dropped due to insufficient evidence.

28. Zitz's speech, Nov. 25, 1849, Cart Vogt to Zitz, Nov. 16, 1849, Wilhelm Löwe to Humania Verein, Jan. 8, Mar. 5, Apr. 19, 1850, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; Neitzke, Paul, Die deutschen politischen Flüchtlinge in der Schweiz 1848–49 (Charlottenburg, 1926), pp. 58–60Google Scholar; “Skizzen,” pp. 41b, 42a, 44ab, 45ab, 111b, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden.

29. Kersken, Hans, Stadt und Universitāt Bonn in den Revolutionsjahren 1848–50 (Bonn, 1931)Google Scholar; Leppla, “Johanna und Gottfried Kinkels Briefe,” pp. 7–82; Zitz's speech, Feb. 24, 1850, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz.

30. A possible suggestion of this can be detected in Johanna Kinkel's letter to Zitz, Dec. 25, 1849, Leppla, “Johanna und Gottfried Kinkels Briefe,” p. 20; “Skizzen,” p. 115b, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden.

31. “Skizzen,” pp. 44ab, 45ab, 111b, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden.

32. She was accused of using Humania funds to finance health-cure trips to Mannheim; Zitz's speeches, July 29, Sept. 2, 1849, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz: “Skizzen,” pp. 31a–36a, 45b, 111b, 116ab, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden; Kathinka Zitz, “Meine Ausweisung aus Karlsruhe,” Kasteler Beobachter, July 24, 26, 1849.

33. Zitz speeches, July 29, Sept. 2, 1849, Franz Moritz Fourie (refugee) to Deutsche Frauen, Sept. 1, 1849, Christian Starth (refugee) to Humania Verein, n.d., Bammarth (refugee) to Humania Verein, Oct. 22, 1849, Zitz, Nachlass, Mainz; “Skizzen,” p. 116ab, Zitz Nachlass, Wiesbaden; Neitzke, Die deutschen politischen Flüchtlinge, p. 59.

34. Zitz's speech, Oct. 28, 1849; Franz Zitz to Humania Verein, Dec. 3, 1849, Jan. 31, 1850, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; over the same issue Wilhelm Löwe apparently had to return some money (Löwe to Humania Verein, Apr. 19, 1850, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz).

35. Franz Raveaux to the Democratic Association (Mainz) [Sept. 1849], Raveaux to Zitz [early Dec. 1849], Dec. 27, 1849, Strasbourg Refugee Committee to Zitz, Oct. 3, 1849. Zitz's speech, Nov. 25, 1849, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz. On the policy of the French government toward the refugees see Wiltberger, Otto, Die deutschen politischen Flüchtlinge in Strassburg von 1830–1849 (Berlin, 1910), pp. 74–83.Google Scholar

36. “Verzeichnis” (MS), pp. 1–2, Zitz Nachlass, Mainz; Kathinka Zitz, “Einige aufklärende Worte zu dem Streite über die arme Frau in der goldenen Luft,” Mainzer Anzeiger, Jan. 15, 1850; Frauenzeitung reports of Oct. 26, Dec. 7, 1851, cited in Twellmann, , Deutsche Frauenbewegung, 2: 71–72Google Scholar; Neitzke, Die deutschen politischen Flüchtlinge, p. 55.

37. Sanford, “Origins of German Feminism,” pp. 136, 139; Meysenbug, , Memoiren, 1: 172, 176Google Scholar; Wittke, Carl, Refugees of Revolution (Philadelphia, Pa., 1952), pp. 66–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Zucker, Adolf, The Forty-Eighters (New York, 1950), pp. 109, 153–54.Google Scholar