Why didn't German women want to marry right after World War II?


 It is a good question and to find the answer to it you should go deeper than the superficial reasons of why German women were not rushing to marry after the war. Point towards sensible and human causes.

The biggest reason was money. Several thousands of German women were war widows after the war. They were provided by the government with a crucial pension, called Rente that assisted them and their children in living. In case the woman remarried, then this pension would be lost automatically


A single mother was too much at risk in a country that had been devastated to sacrifice a guaranteed income on a new husband who had nothing and merely promised a new life to her. The woman tended to prefer financial stability to a new marriage.


The war had another consequence, it transformed the way females viewed men besides money. Women turned into the Trummerfrauen, the rubble women who swept the ruins of the cities and learnt how to cope all by themselves. They took over control of the family and survived the bombing when the men were out. The soldiers were usually traumatized when they came back, and still had to be the old-fashioned lord of the house.


But the women had lost faith. The leadership of the men had brought complete destruction. What was the rational behind a woman having gained independence, to lose that independence to a man whose judgments she no longer trusted? Particularly at a time when she was financially and legally subordinate to her husband by the old laws. To most, being single was a freedom and control decision in the world where they could now make choices.

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