Christine Teusch

Biography

Teusch qualified as a teacher in 1910 and a rector in 1913. In 1915 she became Chairwoman of the Katholischen Lehrerinnenverein ("Catholic Women Teacher's Association") in Cologne. By 1918 she was head of the Women Workers' Secretariat at the Generalsekretariat der Christlichen Gewerkschaften ("General Secretariat of Christian Trade Unions") in Cologne. After the Nazi takeover in 1933 she returned to school, but retired on health grounds in 1936.

She joined the Catholic resistance group Kölner Kreis ("Cologne Cross"). Under the Nazis, she found refuge in the Olper Franziskanerinnen Franciscan Hospital in Arnsberg-Hüsten and lived there incognito.

From 1923 to 1965 she was Chairman of the German National Association of Catholic Girls' Protection Societies in Freiburg im Breisgau. Her grave is in the Melaten Cemetery in Köln-Lindenthal.

Offices

Teusch was a member of the Zentrumspartei from Imperial times until 1945. In 1945 she joined the Christian Democratic Union, and was elected party leader for the British occupation zone after the Second World War.

In 1919 she became the youngest member of the Nationalversammlung ("National Assembly") and from 1920 to 1933 had a seat in the Reichstag. She was also in parliament after the war, from 1947 to 1966. She was appointed Minister of Culture on 19 December 1947, which post she retained until she retired from it in 1954.

Honours

On 7 September 1956 she was the first woman to receive the Große Verdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband des Bundesverdienstkreuzes (literally, "Great Cross of Merit with Star and Sash of the Federal Cross of Merit"). The University of Cologne made her an honorary fellow. Several streets and squares, especially in North Rhine - Westphalia, are named after her.

Selected publications

Translator's note: These are in German.