Role of Women in Germany during the 20th Century

Women were able to vote in Germany in 1919 but prior to that their rights were very limited and were for many years to come.
Nazi Era: The women of this time were to stay at home to cook, clean and raise the children. Hitler did not see a reason to work. This was very similar to the views the US had and most of the world too. One major difference though was that Hitler would give out 1000 marks to encourage newly married couples to have children. Each new child would cut down the amount to be paid back to the government by 25% until the loan was cleared. The main reason for this though was to have more men for the military. With women encouraged not to work and sometimes forced out of a job many female teachers doctors etc... lost their jobs or quit. One requirement Hitler had was that each women worked for at least one year. This was put into place to offset the skills shortage in Germany in 1937. This same year the marriage loans were discontinued. Also during this era women were not encourage to be skinny or slim. Instead women were told to be "built" or heavier set because it was told that being skinny would cause problems during the birthing of a child.

West Germany: After WWII when Germany split West Germany said both man and women were equal but this was not confirmed socially until 1957. After WWII German women were told to bury the dead, salvage belongings from the rubble and overall help clean up and rebuild after the war. After all the clean up ended though things went back to the way they were before. Women left the work force and mainly went back to tending the household.
East Germany: After the separation of East and West Germany the GDR kept women in the work force to draw off the abilities of women to drive their economy. Women were granted jobs and education and abortion was legal and funded by the state. With mothers gone the sate also set of many day-cares to take care of the children while the mothers worked. East Germany was far ahead for the rights of women compared to West Germany. The women in West Germany were not even granted into universities until the 1988.

Sources:
 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Women_Nazi_Germany.htm
http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_women.htm