Street scene showing the Augustiner Keller, a beer cellar in central Berlin, 1937
This article was first published in the British Union of Fascists' newspaper, The Blackshirt, November 9, 1934
It is now several weeks since I returned from an extensive tour of Germany, but the impressions I gained are as vivid now as when I stepped off the boat at Harwich.
I started on that tour determined to find out for myself whether National Socialism challenges the outlook of the average British woman of today, or whether that challenge is as illusory as much of the anti-Nazi propaganda circulated in this country. In fairness I must state that the prejudice I took with me was very different from the impression I brought back.
I found a peaceful smiling country, and throughout a 2000 mile motoring trip, which included Protestant and Catholic Germany - modern industrial towns, such as Düsseldorf and time-becalmed hamlets like Saint Märgen, on the heights above Titisee - I was met everywhere with the utmost friendliness. The apple-woman at her stall in the shadow of a Cathedral which had seen a thousand years of human change; the young "Schwartzwaldian" shyly resplendent in her traditional costume; the cosmopolitan habitué of Baden-Baden; all showed the same disposition to discuss the present regime.
Nazi Moral Drive
Two big factors are bringing about changes in the lot of the German woman of today. The first is the moral drive of National Socialism expressed in party opinion; the second is the actual legislation which the Government is producing. Both these factors have been misconstrued, possibly not without intention in this country.
Frankly, I had expected, in Ellen Wilkinson's words, to see "the blonde Nordic male asserting himself . . . and putting women . . . and other inferior creatures in their places." I had visualised the women of Germany being relegated to a sort of Victorian era in which she could only justify her existence by producing a well cooked "Schnitzel" or cannon-fodder for another war.
BDM or Labour Front Girls (colourised)
But it is difficult to conceive of a Victorian era in which women participate equally with men in practically every branch of sport on a footing freer of convention and self-consciousness than in this country. That is the case in Germany today. Nearly every German girl is an expert swimmer; skiing and skating are in many parts of Germany open to people of very moderate means. In these sports, as well as in cycling and hiking, men and girls mingle in the freest manner. I was struck by the number of young couples spending their holidays together in walking and cycling tours. Most of them stayed like ourselves at the Youth hostels, where a bed can be obtained for less than 1 shilling a night.
Here real companionship existed.
