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When Teachers Were Still Called 'Fräulein'
🇨🇭 Switzerland /Culture & Society

When Teachers Were Still Called 'Fräulein'

From Neue Zürcher Zeitung · () German

Translated from German, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • In Switzerland, female teachers were forced to remain unmarried until the 1960s due to the 'teacher's celibacy' rule.
  • This policy, rooted in traditional gender roles and fears of the 'feminization' of schools, led to women losing their jobs and pensions upon marriage.
  • While some cantons had explicit laws, others enforced marriage-related resignations through contracts, reflecting a societal struggle with women's professional roles.

A historical look back at Switzerland's 'teacher's celibacy' policy reveals a bygone era where female educators faced a stark choice: marriage or career. Until well into the 1960s, many cantons prohibited married women from teaching, automatically dismissing them from state service upon marriage. This societal expectation stemmed from traditional gender roles, which held that women could not balance domestic duties with professional responsibilities. Fears of the "feminization" of primary schools also fueled the debate, with some arguing that male teachers were better suited for educating older boys.

The photographer Max Kraft captured the atmosphere of this day, as it was repeated tens of thousands of times in Switzerland in late summer.

— Article TextDescribing the historical photographs that accompany the article.

Even where explicit laws didn't exist, teachers were often required to sign contracts agreeing to resign if they married. This often meant forfeiting accrued pension rights, though some municipalities offered partial severance pay. The struggle against this policy was long-standing. In Zurich in 1912, a proposal to formally bar married women from teaching was narrowly defeated by voters. However, this did not deter many local school boards from prioritizing male candidates for teaching positions.

Behind this address lay a harsh social reality; it was the time of the so-called teacher's celibacy.

— Article TextExplaining the societal context of addressing female teachers as 'Fräulein'.

Conservative politicians continued to push for such restrictions, arguing that married female teachers, preoccupied with family matters, could not dedicate their full energy to students. They warned of the "mental and physical overload" that pregnancy, household chores, and childcare would impose, hindering their professional capacity. These historical images capture the atmosphere of a first day of school in 1958, a time when the teacher, addressed as "Fräulein," represented a professional world that was largely inaccessible to married women.

In several cantons, women were not allowed to continue their professional activities after marriage until well into the 1960s.

— Article TextDetailing the legal restrictions faced by female teachers.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Neue Zürcher Zeitung in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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