Childhood
Käthe
had two brothers. They were given toy
cars and trains to play with. Käthe
would have been given dolls and would have been taught how to sew.
The boy
would also wear practical clothes whereas the girls would wear fussy clothes
that would make them used to becoming a woman.
Think about
your upbringing to date. Were you given gender- specific toys? Was there
anything you wanted to do that you were discouraged from doing?
Have we come
on much from Käthe’s time?
Write three
lists:
·
what it was like then
·
what it is like now
·
what we could do to improve even more
Teenager
The Great War aka World War I dominated Käthe’s teen years. Her bother Leo went missing in action.
Many young women felt frustrated at not being able to help fight. They
did, however, take on many of the jobs that men normally did but had to
relinquish these posts when the men returned.
Pretend to be Käthe and write to Leo; he is missing but you are certain he
is alive. Tell him about a new job you
have taken on to help the war effort.
You may have to do a little research to find out what it was like for
young women working during the Great War.
Remember, Käthe often grumbled to and about her brothers. Will she
still do that in this letter?
As a young woman
Käthe
was a young woman in the 1920s.
This was
also the time of the hyperinflation. Money lost value so rapidly that you had
to spend it as soon as you got it.
Clothes
shopping therefore could be very tricky.
Take a look at some fashions of the
time. Note, that Käthe married a few days after our own King George VI and
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.
Imagine Käthe
writing to a friend about her wedding-dress. Give a full description – photos
weren’t so easy in those days. Remember
to include some mention of the difficulty of paying for it because of the
hyperinflation. You may need to research this a little.
As a wife and mother
In those days when a woman married she usually gave up work even if she
wasn’t forced to legally. Sometimes it
was forced; for instance married women could not teach. Käthe did give up work to be a full time
housewife and mother.
These days it is more common for both parents
to work. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of this? Make two lists. What is your own situation? Can you
imagine how life would be different if it were otherwise? Write a third list of how it might be
different.