We

see

man

y va

riatio

ns in

BD

M u

nifo

rms

beca

use

girls

(o

r th

eir

pare

nts)

ha

d to

pu

rcha

se u

nifo

rms

and

insig

nia,

or m

ake

them

at h

ome

usin

g ap

prov

ed p

atte

rns

that

w

ere

sold

at d

epar

tmen

t sto

res.

Life

in th

e B

DM

Th

e sm

alles

t gr

oupi

ng w

ithin

the

Lea

gue

was

the

Mäd

elsc

haft,

whi

ch c

onsis

ted

of 1

0 to

15

mem

bers

. Mem

bers

wer

e as

signe

d to

a

grou

p ba

sed

on t

heir

hom

e ad

dres

s, an

d m

ost

girls

alre

ady

knew

eac

h ot

her

from

th

eir n

eighb

orho

ods o

r sch

ools.

Gro

ups m

et tw

ice e

very

wee

k: fo

r the

spor

ts

afte

rnoo

n on

Wed

nesd

ays

and

for t

he s

ocial

ev

enin

g on

Sat

urda

ys.

Spor

ts d

id n

ot p

lay a

s im

porta

nt a

rol

e in

th

e BD

M a

s it

did

in th

e m

ale H

itler

You

th,

but

it w

as n

onet

hele

ss c

onsid

ered

a p

art

of

the

curr

icul

um.

Beca

use

man

y gr

oups

did

no

t ha

ve s

ports

fac

ilitie

s at

the

ir di

spos

al,

they

did

mos

tly g

ymna

stics

, tra

ck a

nd f

ield

sp

orts

, and

gam

es.

The

soci

al ev

enin

gs

varie

d w

idely

fr

om

grou

p to

gro

up.

Offi

ciall

y, all

tra

inin

g w

as

supp

osed

to

co

nsist

of

pa

rt N

atio

nal-

socia

list i

deol

ogica

l edu

catio

n, a

nd p

art a

rts,

craf

ts, t

heat

er, m

usic,

etc

. How

ever

, it c

ame

dow

n m

ostly

on

the

girl

in c

harg

e w

hat t

he

grou

p di

d –

som

e ex

perie

nced

“bo

ring

talk

s on

pol

itics

”, a

s on

e fo

rmer

mem

ber

put

it,

whi

le ot

hers

spe

nt t

heir

time

mos

tly w

ith

mus

ic, c

rafts

, or t

heat

er.

The

BD

M a

t War

W

hile

the

BD

M,

unlik

e th

e m

ale H

itler

Y

outh

, di

d no

t re

ceiv

e an

y pa

ram

ilita

ry

train

ing

and

wer

e no

t gro

omed

to b

ecom

ing

futu

re s

oldi

ers,

they

nev

erth

eless

play

ed a

n im

porta

nt ro

le d

urin

g th

e w

ar.

Soci

al ev

enin

gs d

urin

g th

e w

ar w

ere

now

of

ten

used

to

mak

e ite

ms

for

the

troop

s at

th

e fr

ont,

writ

ing

lette

rs,

and

pack

ing

care

pa

ckag

es.

You

nger

mem

bers

col

lect

ed c

loth

ing,

sho

es,

and

dona

tions

for

the

Win

ter

Relie

f, he

ld

scra

p dr

ives

, and

gat

here

d m

edici

nal h

erbs

.

Old

er m

embe

rs w

ere

expe

cted

to ta

ke m

ore

hand

s-on

pos

ition

s an

d of

ten

volu

ntee

red

for

the

Lufts

chut

z, s

ocial

ser

vice

s po

sitio

ns

(suc

h as

help

ing

disp

laced

per

sons

at

the

train

sta

tion)

, or

med

ical p

ositi

ons

(suc

h as

nu

rses

aid

es).

How

ever

, un

like

the

male

Hitl

er Y

outh

, ha

rdly

a ha

ndfu

l of

BD

M g

irls

took

an

activ

e pa

rt in

the

last-d

itch

fight

ing.

Der

BDM

- B

und

Deu

tsch

er M

ädel

TThh

ee LL

eeaagg

uuee oo

ff GG

eerr mm

aann

GGii rr

ll ss

A

shor

t gui

de b

y Ch

ris C

raw

ford

Co

ntac

t - c

craw

ford

@bd

mhi

stor

y.com

V

isit t

he w

ebsit

e - w

ww

.bdm

hist

ory.c

om

A B

rief I

ntro

duct

ion

The

Leag

ue o

f Ger

man

Girl

s sa

w it

s st

art i

n th

e 19

20s

in th

e fo

rm o

f reg

iona

l aux

iliar

ies

to t

he m

ale H

itler

You

th, w

hich

had

bee

n fo

unde

d at

the

1926

par

ty c

ongr

ess.

It w

as n

ot u

ntil

1930

tha

t th

e Le

ague

of

Ger

man

Girl

s be

cam

e of

ficial

, and

not

unt

il 19

32 t

hat

it be

cam

e a

part

of t

he o

vera

ll H

itler

You

th m

ovem

ent.

In 1

936,

the

Firs

t H

itler

You

th L

aw m

ade

mem

bers

hip

in th

e H

itler

You

th m

anda

tory

fo

r all

child

ren

over

the

age

of 1

0.

Girl

s be

twee

n 10

and

14

belo

nged

to

the

Jung

mäd

el, th

e ju

nior

div

ision

of t

he B

DM

, an

d gi

rls o

ver t

he a

ge o

f 14

belo

nged

to th

e Le

ague

pro

per.

In 1

937,

the

BD

M in

trodu

ced

the

“Glau

be

und

Schö

nhei

t” (

Belie

f &

Bea

uty)

Soc

iety

, w

hich

was

sup

pose

d to

ser

ve a

s a

tie-in

be

twee

n th

e Le

ague

and

the

Fra

uens

chaf

t. M

embe

rshi

p in

thi

s gr

oup

was

vol

unta

ry

and

open

to

girls

bet

wee

n th

e ag

es o

f 17

an

d 21

.

Mem

bers

cou

ld r

emain

in t

he o

rgan

izat

ion

into

their

20’

s an

d ev

en 3

0’s,

just

as

long

as

they

did

not

mar

ry o

r hav

e ch

ildre

n, a

nd th

e m

ajorit

y of

paid

lea

ders

hip

posit

ions

wer

e he

ld b

y yo

ung

wom

en in

the

ir m

id-

to la

te

20s.

Uni

form

s and

Insi

gnia

Whe

n m

embe

rs

of

the

BDM

at

tend

ed

offic

ial

even

ts,

or w

ent

to t

heir

mee

tings

, th

ey

wer

e re

quire

d to

w

ear

thei

r un

iform

s.

The

basic

uni

form

was

co

mpr

ised

of a

dar

k na

vy

blue

sk

irt

and

a w

hite

bl

ouse

, w

hich

was

ope

n at

th

e ne

ck

and

wor

n w

ith a

blac

k ne

cker

chie

f th

at

was

he

ld

toge

ther

w

ith

a br

own

leath

er

slide

. W

orn

over

th

e bl

ouse

was

a sh

ort b

row

n jac

ket.

Wor

n on

the

left

uppe

r sle

eve

of b

oth

the

blou

se a

nd t

he ja

cket

was

a b

lack

trian

gle-

shap

ed p

atch

call

ed t

he G

audr

eiec

k, w

hich

de

note

d th

e m

embe

r’s O

berg

au a

nd G

au.

On

the

left

ches

t poc

ket o

f bot

h th

e bl

ouse

an

d so

met

imes

the

jac

ket,

mem

bers

wor

e th

eir H

itler

You

th m

embe

rshi

p pi

n, w

hich

w

as a

loz

enge

-sha

ped

enam

el p

in.

On

the

jacke

t, th

is w

as s

omet

imes

wor

n as

a B

eVo

wov

en p

atch

on

the

left

sleev

e.

Unl

ike

the

male

Hitl

er Y

outh

, th

e BD

M

only

had

med

ical

skill

bad

ges.

Thos

e to

ok

the

form

of a

whi

te o

val b

adge

with

a re

d y-

shap

ed r

une

on it

. It w

as w

orn

on th

e rig

ht

ches

t poc

ket o

f the

blo

use

or th

e lef

t cuf

f of

the

jacke

t.

Rank

was

den

oted

by

the

use

of c

olor

ed

lanya

rds.

Lany

ards

cam

e in

a s

hort

vers

ion,

lik

e th

e on

e pi

ctur

ed a

bove

, whi

ch w

as w

orn

loop

ed t

hrou

gh t

he l

eath

er s

lide

on t

he

neck

erch

ief a

nd t

ucke

d in

to t

he l

eft

ches

t po

cket

, and

a lo

ng v

ersio

n w

hich

was

wor

n ar

ound

the

nec

k an

d tu

cked

int

o th

e le

ft ch

est p

ocke

t.

The

low

est

rank

in

the

BDM

was

tha

t of

M

ädels

chaf

tsfü

hrer

in,

for

whi

ch a

red

and

w

hite

lan

yard

was

wor

n. T

he h

ighe

st r

ank

was

tha

t of

the

BD

M-R

eich

sref

eren

tin,

or

natio

nal

spea

ker,

who

re

porte

d to

th

e Re

ichs

juge

ndfü

hrer

.

In 1

938,

a n

ew u

nifo

rm w

as in

trodu

ced

for

leade

rs a

bove

the

rank

of

Gru

ppen

führ

erin

. It

cons

isted

of a

dar

k bl

ue sk

irt, w

orn

with

a

whi

te b

lous

e an

d a

dark

blu

e tu

nic.

In

incli

mat

e w

eath

er,

this

unifo

rm w

as w

orn

with

a b

lue

hat a

nd o

verc

oat.

The

insig

nia

on t

he n

ew l

eade

rs’

unifo

rm

cons

isted

of

a cu

fftitl

e w

orn

on t

he l

ower

lef

t cu

ff of

the

jack

et, a

nd a

n em

broi

dere

d ea

gle

wor

n on

the

left

ches

t.