Frankfurter Frauenblatt

The Frankfurter Frauenblatt was a feminist magazine published in Frankfurt am Main from 1978 to 1992. It was issued collectively by activists of the new women’s movement and was awarded the Elisabeth Selbert Prize of the State of Hesse in 1991.

Founding

In the project culture of the new women’s movement, a large number of national and regional feminist magazines came into being in the 1970s, among them the Frankfurter Frauenblatt. It was published by the Frankfurter Frauenblatt-Kollektiv. The editorial group defined the paper as an alternative form of city newspaper: in contrast to hierarchically structured and predominantly male-staffed media, it was made by women for women, grassroots-democratic and not profit-oriented. The Frauenblatt positioned itself as an alternative to other political-feminist magazines such as Emma, which first appeared nationwide in 1977,¹ but also against the city magazine Pflasterstrand, which was popular in the Frankfurt left-alternative scene of the time.² The main point of criticism was above all their commercial market orientation and hierarchical organisation, which was regarded as a “relapse into old patriarchal forms”.³⁴⁵⁶

Its media predecessor was the mimeographed information sheet “Frauen wißt ihr schon?” (1976–1978), published by activists from the Frankfurt women’s centre on Eckenheimer Landstraße, a Mediengruppe (media group), the Frauencafé Niedenau and the lesbian centre. The Frankfurter Frauenblatt developed by this circle of people appeared from 1978 to 1992 on a monthly to bi-monthly basis in A4 format, stapled, with up to 48 pages and a print run of 1,500 copies.⁷

After the pilot issue (“Nullnummer”) in July 1978, the first regular issue appeared in the following September. All subsequent issues were each devoted to a main topic and contained a calendar of dates and events for the region.

Position and content of the Frauenblatt

Advertising postcard for the Frankfurter Frauenblatt, 1981
Gestaltung und Foto: Ursula Hillmann

The Frauenblatt saw itself as a “mouthpiece” for women’s groups, feminist projects and institutions and as a forum of communication for theoretical discussions with current political references. Topics such as women’s paid work and vocational training – until then publicly contested – housework and family work as well as the possibilities of political work by women, including internationally, were addressed.⁸⁹

In 1991 the Frauenblatt published an interview with the Egyptian writer and human rights activist Nawal El Saadawi on the situation during the Gulf War (May/June issue). Contributions on feminist projects and activities of women in Iran, in Kurdistan and in other non-European countries appeared regularly. The Frauenblatt also reported regularly on the situation of migrant women in Germany (e. g. special issue no. 2, March/April 1992).

The Frauenblatt published articles on regional and local women-specific events and occasions, such as the opening of the Feministisches Frauengesundheitszentrum (Feminist Women’s Health Centre) in 1979 (February 1979 issue), the exhibition Frauenalltag und Frauenbewegung 1890–1980 at the Historisches Museum Frankfurt am Main (April 1981 issue) or the Frankfurter Frauenschule (1991, no. 4, July/August).

Recurring main topics were the development of the women’s centres and of the new women’s movement in the city and nationwide (e. g. issue Dec. 81/Jan. 82), socio-political processes such as the founding of the Green Party (GRÜNE), the conflicts over the expansion of Frankfurt Airport (“Startbahn West”) in 1980/81 or the nuclear catastrophe of Chernobyl in 1986.

The Frauenblatt accompanied the development of women’s policy in Hesse journalistically, including the Hessisches Aktionsprogramm für Frauen (Hessian Action Programme for Women) initiated by the red-green coalition in the Hessian state parliament,¹⁰ the work of the first head of the women’s department, Margarethe Nimsch, and of the women’s office (Frauenreferat) of the City of Frankfurt am Main set up in 1989.¹¹¹²

In 1991 an interview conducted by editors of the Frauenblatt with the SPD politician and then Hessian State Minister for Women, Labour and Social Affairs, Heide Pfarr, about her positions on women’s policy triggered a public debate. Pfarr was criticised for her statements against securing a livelihood for housework and family work, and the CDU parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament called on her to resign.¹³¹⁴¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸

Further fields of topics in the Frauenblatt included first-hand accounts of social role models, relationships, sexuality, health and Section 218 (§ 218, the German abortion law), on women’s utopias, mystical and spiritual currents within the women’s movement, women and sport, violence against women, criticism of technology, women under fascism and feminist work with girls.¹⁹²⁰²¹ During the period of its publication, the Frauenblatt was the only feminist magazine in the Rhine-Main region.²²²³

Working structures and distribution

The first location of the Frauenblatt in the former rooms of the Frauencafé at Neuhofstraße 39
Foto: Karin Kraus

The collective, consisting of 10 to 12 women, worked on equal terms, wrote articles, designed and produced the issues under changing responsibility under press law, in part also with external authors and photographers. The activists – among them, by their own account, working women, students, mothers and lesbians aged between 20 and 50 – as a rule worked alongside their main occupations and without payment.

The paper was distributed at a price ranging from 2 DM (1978) to 5 DM (1992) by subscription, through sales outlets such as women’s centres, women’s bookshops, bookshops, pubs and event venues in the Rhine-Main region as well as by hand. The production costs were financed from these fluctuating proceeds.

In 1984 the editorial collective founded WEIBH e. V. (Verein zur Förderung Weiblicher Erkenntnisse im Bundesland Hessen – Association for the Promotion of Women’s Insights in the State of Hesse) in order to secure the existence of the project and of its staff. Through this support association the continually recurring funding gaps could be covered by public subsidies.²⁴²⁵ The question of funding work and operating costs independently of the state was a field generally discussed and contested within the new women’s movement for many autonomous projects. In her article Fundraising, Sponsoring, Spendenmarketing. Über neue Wege aus der Abhängigkeit von Staatsknete? Marita Haibach presented possible alternatives (FFB no. 4, 1992).

From 1991 the editorial team of the Frauenblatt met at the Frauenkulturhaus, Am Industriehof 7–9.
Foto: Karin Kraus

Following a public discussion event on the question “Welche Frauenzeitung braucht Frankfurt?” (Which women’s newspaper does Frankfurt need?), the editorial and organisational work was professionalised in 1988, among other things by setting up a permanent job-creation-scheme (ABM) post shared by WEIBH e. V. and the Frauenblatt. In addition, the magazine’s publication frequency was changed to six issues per year.²⁶

In 1989 the editorial team took part in a feministisch-alternative Zeitungsinitiative (feminist-alternative newspaper initiative) which, in cooperation with other local editorial teams, wanted to launch a new supra-regional women’s magazine as an alternative to the nationally distributed EMMA.²⁷

The locations of the editorial office were the Frauencafé at Neuhofstraße 39, from 1985 the Frankfurter Frauenschule at Hamburger Allee 45, and from 1991 the Frauenkulturhaus Frankfurt am Main, Am Industriehof 7–9.

Award

The association’s journalistic commitment and its contribution to the promotion of women’s activities, women’s studies and female ways of life was honoured in 1991 with the awarding of the Elisabeth Selbert Prize. Gabi Lambert accepted the prize on behalf of the editorial team.²⁸²⁹

Members of the Frankfurter Frauenblatt

Frankfurter Frauenblatt-Kollektiv at Neuhofstraße 39, 1981 (from right to left: Elke Kiltz, Iris Nikulka, Birgit Spielmann and Cornelia Arnhold)
Foto: Ursula Hillmann

Founding members, publishers and editors included Gisela Leiss,³⁰ Elke Kiltz,³¹ Eva Brinkmann to Broxten,³²³³ Ursula Hillmann,³⁴³⁵³⁶ Marie Luise Jung, Cornelia Arnhold,³⁷³⁸ Susanne Stück,³⁹ Anke Hillebrecht, Ilona Hakert, Beate Menger, Gabi Lambert,⁴⁰ Iris Nikulka, Agnès Bucaille-Euler,⁴¹ Elisabeth Bütfering,⁴² Claudia Burger, Anke Hillebrecht, Julia Scherf and Annegret Wennagel.

Discontinuation and continuation of the activities

With issue no. 5 of 1992 the Frankfurter Frauenblatt was discontinued after the public subsidies of the City of Frankfurt am Main had been cancelled. A lack of response from the women’s public was given as the reason.⁴³⁴⁴

Further publishing activities developed out of the work of the women’s newspaper team: in the autumn of 1992 the association WEIBH e. V. published the FrauenStadtbuch Frankfurt with AZ-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. In 1995, in cooperation with the Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung, the publication FrauenStadtGeschichte: Zum Beispiel Frankfurt am Main followed, with contributions on historical and contemporary topics from a feminist perspective, published by Ulrike Helmer Verlag, Königstein/Taunus.⁴⁵

Postcard for the FrauenStadtBuch Frankfurt, 1992
Gestaltung und Foto: Ursula Hillmann

In the years that followed, the activists of the Frankfurter Frauenblatt became involved in various social fields, among them the cultural, artistic and media sector (including Ursula Hillmann,⁴⁶ Susanne Stück,⁴⁷ Cornelia Arnhold,⁴⁸⁴⁹ Anke Hillebrecht and Annegret Wennagel), in municipal, state and federal politics and administration (Elke Kiltz,⁵⁰ Agnes Bucaille-Euler,⁵¹ Ilona Hakert), in health and social work (Gisela Leiss,⁵² Iris Nikulka) as well as in academic research and teaching (Eva Brinkmann to Broxten,⁵³⁵⁴ Elisabeth Bütfering⁵⁵).

External links

Frankfurter Frauenblatt at the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main, volumes 1978–1992, shelfmark Dzb 79/416

Machine translation: This article was translated automatically from the German original.

1
FrauenMediaTurm (n. d.): Frauen als Gründerinnen: Frauenverlage, Zeitschriften. In: FrauenMediaTurm – Feministisches Archiv und Bibliothek. Online at: https://frauenmediaturm.de/neue-frauenbewegung/frauenzentren-emma-courage/ (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
2
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3
n. a. (2005): Editorial. Feministische Zeitschriften. Tradierung und Geschichte. In: Die Philosophin. Forum für feministische Theorie und Philosophie, no. 32, December. Tübingen: Edition diskord, pp. 27 f. and 59 ff. ↩︎
4
n. a. (1982): Frauenzeitungstreffen in Aachen. In: Frankfurter Frauenblatt, April, pp. 15–16. ↩︎
5
Arnhold, Cornelia (1981): Zehn Frauen machen eine Zeitung. In: Die Zeit, article of 25/09, no. 40. Online at: https://www.zeit.de/1981/40/zehn-frauen-machen-eine-zeitung (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
6
n. a. (1990): INTERVIEW: Frauenbuchladen Ffm. In: AFAZ. Zeitschrift für ein HERRschaftsfreies, selbstbestimmtes Leben, no. 2, pp. 20 f. Online at: http://www.anarchismus.de/afaz/afaz-nr2/AFAZ%20Nr.%202.pdf (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
7
Bütfering, Elisabeth/Hillmann, Ursula/Jung, Marie Luise/Stück, Susanne/Wennagel, Annegret/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1992): FrauenStadtbuch Frankfurt. Frankfurt/M.: AZ-Verlag, pp. 217–220. ↩︎
8
n. a. (1978): Eine gute Idee? Editorial. In: Frankfurter Frauenblatt, no. 0, July, p. 2. ↩︎
9
Bütfering, Elisabeth/Hillmann, Ursula/Jung, Marie Luise/Stück, Susanne/Wennagel, Annegret/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1992): FrauenStadtbuch Frankfurt. Frankfurt/M.: AZ-Verlag, pp. 217–220. ↩︎
10
Jung, Dörthe (1991): Lautloser Abgesang Grüner Frauenpolitik in Hessen. In: Frankfurter Frauenblatt, no. 4, May/June. ↩︎
11
Bucaille, Agnes/Menger, Beate (1991): Ein Tag im Frauenreferat. In: Frankfurter Frauenblatt, no. 5, July/August. ↩︎
12
Jung, Dörthe: Der diskrete Eintritt in die Macht. In: Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung/WEIBH e. V. (ed.): FrauenStadtGeschichte. Zum Beispiel: Frankfurt am Main. Königstein/Ts.: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, ISBN 3-927164-29-1, p. 198. ↩︎
13
n. a. (1987): Frankfurter Frauenblatt Nr. 4, Juli/August 1991, S. 39–40. In: Brinkmann to Broxten, Eva/Fuchs, Claudia/Kiltz, Elke/Schäfer, Brigitte/Sellach, Brigitte in cooperation with WEIBH e. V. (ed.): Ohne Netz und doppelten Boden: Frauenprojekte & Frauenpolitik in Hessen. Frankfurt/M.: Zypresse Druck, pp. 27–29. ↩︎
14
n. a. (1991): Interview mit Heide Pfarr. In: Frankfurter Frauenblatt, no. 4, July/August, pp. 39–40. ↩︎
15
n. a. (1991): Editorial. In: Frankfurter Frauenblatt, no. 6, November/December. ↩︎
16
n. a. (1991): Die Hexenjagd. In: EMMA, no. 10, p. 14. Online at: https://www.emma.de/lesesaal/45308#pages/pageId-0057248478935a868d34c8fbc962b0dbddbfc74 (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
17
Pinl, Claudia (1992): Beschreiblich weiblich. „Zeit der Differenz“ in der Frauenpolitik. In: Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, no. 6. ↩︎
18
n. a. (1993): Das Portrait: Heide Pfarr. In: die tageszeitung, article of 13/01/1993, p. 11. Online at: https://taz.de/Heide-Pfarr/!1635417/ (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
19
n. a. (1978): Eine gute Idee? Editorial. In: Frankfurter Frauenblatt, no. 0, July, p. 2. ↩︎
20
Bütfering, Elisabeth/Hillmann, Ursula/Jung, Marie Luise/Stück, Susanne/Wennagel, Annegret/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1992): FrauenStadtbuch Frankfurt. Frankfurt/M.: AZ-Verlag, pp. 217–220. ↩︎
21
n. a. (1987): Frankfurter Frauenblatt Nr. 4, Juli/August 1991, S. 39–40. In: Brinkmann to Broxten, Eva/Fuchs, Claudia/Kiltz, Elke/Schäfer, Brigitte/Sellach, Brigitte in cooperation with WEIBH e. V. (ed.): Ohne Netz und doppelten Boden: Frauenprojekte & Frauenpolitik in Hessen. Frankfurt/M.: Zypresse Druck, pp. 27–29. ↩︎
22
Bütfering, Elisabeth/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1992): FrauenStadtbuch Frankfurt. Frankfurt/Main: AZ-Verlag, p. 220. ↩︎
23
n. a. (1990): 12 Jahre Frauenblatt. In: die tageszeitung, article of 05/07, p. 5. ↩︎
24
Bütfering, Elisabeth/Hillmann, Ursula/Jung, Marie Luise/Stück, Susanne/Wennagel, Annegret/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1992): FrauenStadtbuch Frankfurt. Frankfurt/M.: AZ-Verlag, pp. 217–220. ↩︎
25
Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1995): FrauenStadtGeschichte. Zum Beispiel: Frankfurt am Main. Königstein/Ts.: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, ISBN 3-927164-29-1, p. 233. ↩︎
26
Bütfering, Elisabeth/Hillmann, Ursula/Jung, Marie Luise/Stück, Susanne/Wennagel, Annegret/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1992): FrauenStadtbuch Frankfurt. Frankfurt/M.: AZ-Verlag, pp. 217–220. ↩︎
27
Lukoschat, Helga (1989): „Eine gewisse Bissigkeit gehört dazu“. In: die tageszeitung, article of 02/06, p. 14. Online at: https://taz.de/Eine-gewisse-Bissigkeit-gehoert-dazu/!1810281/ (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
28
Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1995): FrauenStadtGeschichte. Zum Beispiel: Frankfurt am Main. Königstein/Ts.: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, ISBN 3-927164-29-1, p. 233. ↩︎
29
Hessisches Ministerium für Soziales und Integration (n. d.): Elisabeth-Selbert-Preis. Online at: https://soziales.hessen.de/Preise-und-Ehrungen/Elisabeth-Selbert-Preis (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
30
n. a. (2002): „Wir hatten zutiefst das Gefühl, im Recht zu sein“. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 28/01, p. 56. ↩︎
31
n. a. (2008): Frauen wollten endlich mitreden und … In: Rhein-Zeitung, article of 18/08. ↩︎
32
n. a. (2009): Frankfurter Gesichter: Eva Brinkmann to Broxten. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 24/01, p. 46. ↩︎
33
n. a. (2018): Eva Brinkmann – Die Unterstützerin. In: Frankfurter Neue Presse, article of 15/04. Online at: https://www.fnp.de/lokales/brinkmann-unterstuetzerin-10397925.html (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
34
Hillmann, Ursula (n. d.): Vita. In: website of the photographer. Online at: http://ursulahillmann.de/html/html_05.html (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
35
n. a. (2000): Das „Frankfurter Blau“ färbt eingefahrene Sichtweisen neu. Frankfurter Fotografin Ursula Hillmann stellt im Foyer des Gallus-Theaters aus / Ein weiblicher Blick auf die Stadt. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, article of 04/05, p. 10. ↩︎
36
n. a. (1996): Fotografie als Erforschung der inneren Motive. „Verletzungen“ in Schwarzweiss – Ein Gespraech mit der Fotografin Ursula Hillmann, die im Leinwandhaus ausstellt. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, article of 30/01, p. 22. ↩︎
37
n. a. (n. d.): Autorinnenseite. In: website of S. Fischer Verlage. Online at: https://www.fischerverlage.de/autor/cornelia-arnhold-1000811 (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
38
Prinz, Heinrich J. (2016): Erinnerungen eines Polizisten. Eine Polizeilaufbahn im Wandel der Zeit. Neckenmarkt: novum Verlag, ISBN 978-3-99048-254-4. ↩︎
39
n. a. (1998): „Für mich gibt’s ein Leben neben der Partei“. Susanne Stück managt als „Ein-Frau-Betrieb“ die Frankfurter Grünen – und hat noch Zeit für die Musik. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, article of 09/09, p. 22. ↩︎
40
Hessisches Ministerium für Soziales und Integration (n. d.): Elisabeth-Selbert-Preis. Online at: https://soziales.hessen.de/Preise-und-Ehrungen/Elisabeth-Selbert-Preis (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
41
Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1995): FrauenStadtGeschichte. Zum Beispiel: Frankfurt am Main. Königstein/Ts.: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, ISBN 3-927164-29-1, p. 231. ↩︎
42
Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1995): FrauenStadtGeschichte. Zum Beispiel: Frankfurt am Main. Königstein/Ts.: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, ISBN 3-927164-29-1. ↩︎
43
Lukoschat, Helga (1989): „Eine gewisse Bissigkeit gehört dazu“. In: die tageszeitung, article of 02/06, p. 14. Online at: https://taz.de/Eine-gewisse-Bissigkeit-gehoert-dazu/!1810281/ (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
44
Jung, Dörthe (1992): Zu guter Letzt eine kritische Würdigung. In: Frankfurter Frauenblatt, no. 5, pp. 4–5. ↩︎
45
Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1995): FrauenStadtGeschichte. Zum Beispiel: Frankfurt am Main. Königstein/Ts.: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, ISBN 3-927164-29-1, p. 233. ↩︎
46
n. a. (2000): Das „Frankfurter Blau“ färbt eingefahrene Sichtweisen neu. Frankfurter Fotografin Ursula Hillmann stellt im Foyer des Gallus-Theaters aus / Ein weiblicher Blick auf die Stadt. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, article of 04/05, p. 10. ↩︎
47
n. a. (1998): „Für mich gibt’s ein Leben neben der Partei“. Susanne Stück managt als „Ein-Frau-Betrieb“ die Frankfurter Grünen – und hat noch Zeit für die Musik. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, article of 09/09, p. 22. ↩︎
48
n. a. (n. d.): Autorinnenseite. In: website of S. Fischer Verlage. Online at: https://www.fischerverlage.de/autor/cornelia-arnhold-1000811 (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
49
Prinz, Heinrich J. (2016): Erinnerungen eines Polizisten. Eine Polizeilaufbahn im Wandel der Zeit. Neckenmarkt: novum Verlag, ISBN 978-3-99048-254-4. ↩︎
50
n. a. (2008): Frauen wollten endlich mitreden und … In: Rhein-Zeitung, article of 18/08. ↩︎
51
Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1995): FrauenStadtGeschichte. Zum Beispiel: Frankfurt am Main. Königstein/Ts.: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, ISBN 3-927164-29-1, p. 231. ↩︎
52
n. a. (2002): „Wir hatten zutiefst das Gefühl, im Recht zu sein“. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 28/01, p. 56. ↩︎
53
n. a. (2009): Frankfurter Gesichter: Eva Brinkmann to Broxten. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 24/01, p. 46. ↩︎
54
n. a. (2018): Eva Brinkmann – Die Unterstützerin. In: Frankfurter Neue Presse, article of 15/04. Online at: https://www.fnp.de/lokales/brinkmann-unterstuetzerin-10397925.html (accessed 14/07/2020). ↩︎
55
Hessische Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung/WEIBH e. V. (ed.) (1995): FrauenStadtGeschichte. Zum Beispiel: Frankfurt am Main. Königstein/Ts.: Ulrike Helmer Verlag, ISBN 3-927164-29-1. ↩︎

Culture, Feminist magazine, Frankfurt, Literature, Women and media

Empfohlene Zitierweise

Karin Görner
: Frankfurter Frauenblatt. In: Equalpedia.

Online unter:

https://www.equalpedia.org/en/frankfurter-frauenblatt-2/

(Zugriff am 26. September 2026).

Erstellt am: 22. September 2026
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Culture, Feminist magazine, Frankfurt, Literature, Women and media