Unveiling of the first "FrauenOrtes" in Saxony
Chemnitz women's initiatives win call from the State Women's Council of Saxony
Chemnitz was selected from over 40 proposals submitted by the jury of the State Women's Council. The Chemnitz women's initiatives have chosen the weaver Minna Simon, who showed extraordinary courage as a strike leader in 1883, for the first Women's Place in our city.
The Chemnitz Women's Initiatives and the Equal Opportunities Officer of the City of Chemnitz, together with the State Women's Council of Saxony, invite you to the unveiling of the first "FrauenOrtes" in Saxony on
25 October 2016, 4 pm at Schillerpark, opposite the bus station,
in the immediate vicinity of the Aktienspinnerei - the place where Ernestine Minna Simon worked and lived. In addition to representatives of the state of Saxony, the Chemnitz women's initiatives and the trade unions, "textile workers" from the past will also be present.
Media representatives are cordially invited.
"FrauenOrte" is the name of a project that aims to honour strong women and their life's work as historical role models. While the project is already running successfully in Saxony-Anhalt, Lower Saxony and Brandenburg, the first FrauenOrte are now to be established in Saxony.
The aim is to make important women of the past visible and thus accessible to the present. Steles or plaques at the places where these women worked are intended to draw attention to their activities. The information boards not only inform people interested in history about the work of the respective woman, they are also intended to provide an opportunity to take a critical look at gender roles.
Minna Simon
The weaver Ernestine Minna Simon was a strike leader at the Chemnitz stock spinning mill in 1883. What was new about this was that it was the first time that female workers had initiated the strike. Previously, only the men had been active. The strike committee consisted of seven women and one man. Minna Simon must have had extraordinary courage and moral courage, as it was unusual for women to act so resolutely at that time.
For further information please contact:
Pia Hamann
Equal Opportunities Officer of the City of Chemnitz
Tel. 0371 4881380
E-mail: pia.hamann(at)stadt-chemnitz.de
Further information on the "FrauenOrte" project can be found here:
http://www.landesfrauenrat-sachsen.de/?page_id=2778