Only One?

A sample of the latest fashions is not the only thing the Der Goldene Schnitt books reveal. Looking carefully through their pages, some interesting cultural history can be discovered as well. One thing that I found to be particularly interesting is that between the 1940 book, the 1941 book, and the 1940 supplement and the 1942 supplement, there is only one maternity outfit! Yes, that is it. Out of almost 600 patterns, just one is a maternity gown. Below, the only illustration of the only maternity gown in the entire collection:

How do we know it's a maternity dress? The translation and the stork (a traditional symbol of pregnancy). Other characteristics of this dress that can lean it towards a maternity dress are the pleats and center front zipper which allow for growth, wearing ease and comfort.
At this point, you may be wondering why this is so interesting and so important. I would argue that this is important because it serves to highlight the contradictions that were so frequent in the Nazi regime and the idea that women were confronted with contradictions in the pages Der Goldene Schnitt.
Nazi ideology prescribed for women very distinct roles that included being tied to the home and children. C.M. Vasey in Nazi Ideology elaborates that

'[w]omen had to stay at home, produce more children and look after the family. This was for racial reasons, to produce more racially- pure Germans, and economic reasons, to solve unemployment by removing women from the labour market' (pg. 16). 

To reinforce this goal of child production, unmarried women were even encouraged to have as many children as possible and to be impregnated by SS men . . all to produce racially pure German children. Other methods to increase the birth rate included banning birth control and making abortion a punishable offence. The idea to have as many children as possible was even rewarded in a variety of ways. One way women and their families were rewarded were by having some of their marriage loans forgiven. The more children they had, the less they were required to pay back. Mothers were also awarded 'mutter medals' or crosses of honor for the German Mother. These were awarded to mothers based on how many children they had. Bronze for 5 children, silver for 6 and gold for 7.

Cross of the German Mother - source

Why so much pressure to have as many children as possible? The reason to have as many children as possible came from the believe that racially pure children would be the foundation of a racially pure and superior state. In Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler expressed that ' what we have to fight for is the necessary security for the existence and increase of our race and people, the subsistence of its children and the maintenance of our racial stock unmixed . . . ' The frequent pressures put on women to have racially pure children was to secure the safety and existence of a racially pure German state. This was also a continuation of another theme frequent in Nazi Germany: placing the state above the individual.
If having children was so important, them logically, women in Nazi Germany must have had many children. In fact, this is not even true. Scholars instead have found that during this period, there were less children born during this period than before or after the regime existed. Scholar Claudia Koontz states in her work Mothers in the Fatherland that '[for] all the public pressure, the birthrate in the Third Reich did not ever equal the rates from the last years of the 'decadent' 1920s'(pg. 186 ). Why? If the policies Nazi Germany provided dictated that women have as many children as possible not have many children? I would argue that the reasons are very simple.  There was a war on. Men were in rather short supply. Women were encouraged to work in fields and factories and less included to have children because there was other more important things to do.
The next question that deserves some recognition is why is there only one maternity dress pattern in Der Goldene Schnitt even though Nazi Ideology clearly promotes the frequent having of children? I believe that there is only one maternity gown because for the audience of this book, they desired to be fashionable, modern, and in line with the larger fashion trends . . all while staying practical too. This book was also, I argue, meant to be used as an template to create unique looks each tailored to the individual. With that said, any look could be easily turned into a maternity look with a certain level of creativity.
Flipping through the pages, there are some apparent contradictions. One example of that can be seen in the fact that the models are all very slim, where Nazi beliefs preferred women to be more 'full' or heavy.  . . thinness considered to be unhealthy. Many of the models are also carrying books, smoking, and wearing rather masculine clothes . . .all characteristics that buck Nazi ideology. The only garments that clearly are in line with Nazi ideology are the dirndl patterns . . but as a whole, they are rather few. If you would like to see the Books yourself, this link will take you to another post where I found  a site where some have generously digitized their copies of Der Golden Schnitt.  . .that can be found here.




sources:








Claudia Koontz, Mothers in the Fatherland: Women, the Family, and Nazi Politics, New York: Routledge. 2013.
C.M. Vasey, Nazi Ideology. Lanham: Hamilton Books, 2006.
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf