Reichsbund der Kinderreichen

Reichsbund der Kinderreichen
Name	Reichsbund der Kinderreichen
Formation	1929
Founder	Wilhelm Klein
Dissolution	1945
Headquarters	Berlin
Membership	circa 500,000 (peak)
Ideology	Pronatalist, völkisch, National Socialist-aligned

Reichsbund der Kinderreichen

The Reichsbund der Kinderreichen was a German pronatalist association founded in 1929 advocating for large families and natalist policies during the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. It operated alongside institutions such as the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, engaged with ministries like the Reich Ministry of the Interior (Germany), and intersected with social movements exemplified by Lebensborn e. V., Bund Deutscher Mädel, and Reichsjugendführer. Its trajectory involved collaboration, co-option, and eventual integration into state-organized demographic policy under figures associated with Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler.

History

The organization emerged amid post-World War I demographic concerns, competing with groups including the Deutscher Familienverband and the Verein für das Deutschtum im Ausland. Early patrons corresponded with conservative politicians such as Paul von Hindenburg, Gustav Stresemann, and social activists linked to Katharina von Kardorff-Oheimb and Elisabeth von Thadden. During the early 1930s the Reichsbund negotiated space with paramilitary and civic actors like the Sturmabteilung, Schutzstaffel, and civic charities associated with Friedrich Ebert’s opponents. After the Nazi seizure of power the group was gradually incorporated into networks surrounding Hermann Göring’s policy circles and ministries such as the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany) and the Reich Ministry of Science, Education and Culture (Germany). Wartime strains linked the Reichsbund to agencies engaged in population planning, including bureaucrats from the Reich Statistical Office (Germany) and officials formerly associated with the Weimar Republic social welfare apparatus.

Organization and Membership

The Reichsbund maintained local branches mirroring structures used by organizations such as the Deutscher Beamtenbund, Handwerkskammer, and Reichsarbeitsdienst. Leadership included founders and bureaucrats who interacted with personalities like Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, and administrators from the Reichstag committees on family law. Membership rolls overlapped with registries maintained by the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt, German Red Cross (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz), and municipal offices in Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, and Leipzig. The association issued publications comparable to those of Der Stürmer and Völkischer Beobachter and organized conferences that drew speakers from institutions such as the University of Berlin, Kaiser Wilhelm Society, and the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.

Ideology and Activities

The group's pronatalist ideology echoed intellectual currents championed by writers and theorists including Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Arthur de Gobineau-influenced racialists, and völkisch activists associated with Alfred Rosenberg. It promoted policies similar to those proposed by lawmakers like Hans Frank and social planners influenced by demographers from the Institut für Bevölkerungspolitik. Activities ranged from distributing leaflets akin to campaigns by the Reichskolonialbund, to organizing award schemes comparable to the Mother’s Cross (Ehrenkreuz der Deutschen Mutter), to advising on marriage and childbearing alongside clinics connected with physicians like Robert Ritter and social hygienists from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics. The Reichsbund lobbied for legislation resonant with measures debated in the Reichstag and engaged with welfare provision networks exemplified by the Winterhilfswerk des Deutschen Volkes and municipal family services.

Relationship with Nazi Policies and Other Family Movements

The Reichsbund negotiated a complex relationship with state policy, coordinating with Nazi agencies such as Reichskanzlei, the Reich Ministry of the Interior (Germany), and entities overseen by Alfred Rosenberg. It paralleled organizations like Lebensborn e. V. and worked in the same ecosystem as the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei youth apparatus including Hitler Youth and Bund Deutscher Mädel. The association found common cause with pronatalist measures advanced by ministers and bureaucrats in Berlin and contested space with Catholic and Protestant family groups including networks around Konrad Adenauer and clergy such as Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber. Conflicts over policy involved legal instruments passed during the Third Reich and debates with conservative elites like Franz von Papen and bureaucrats associated with the Wehrmacht and Reichswehr.

Social Impact and Reception

Public reception of the Reichsbund mirrored responses to contemporary campaigns by institutions such as the Deutsche Arbeitsfront, Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft der Eltern- und Jugendfürsorge, and municipal family bureaus in cities like Dresden and Frankfurt am Main. Supporters cited demographic data from the Reich Statistical Office (Germany) and endorsements from cultural figures akin to Richard Wagner enthusiasts and nationalist intellectuals. Critics came from circles linked to the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the Communist Party of Germany, and liberal legal scholars in universities such as Heidelberg University and University of Göttingen, as well as religious critics in dioceses represented by figures like Bishop Clemens August Graf von Galen. International observers including delegations from France, United Kingdom, and United States noted the Reichsbund’s role in the Third Reich's population strategies.

Postwar Legacy and Dissolution

Following Germany's 1945 defeat the organization was disbanded during Allied denazification overseen by the Allied Control Council and occupation administrations from the United States Military Government in Germany, Soviet Military Administration in Germany, British Military Government, and French occupation zone. Records were seized by authorities linked to the Nuremberg Trials archives and later consulted by scholars at institutions such as the Max Planck Society and archives at Bundesarchiv. Former members and leaders faced varying fates: some emigrated to countries including Argentina, Brazil, and United States, others were prosecuted in local tribunals modeled on processes used by the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic. The Reichsbund’s legacy influenced postwar debates in bodies like the European Coal and Steel Community and later family policy discussions in the Bundestag and has been studied by historians associated with universities like Oxford University, Harvard University and Humboldt University of Berlin.

Category:Organizations disestablished in 1945 Category:Historical demographics