[4] The traditional role of women in German society was often described by the so-called "four Ks" in the German language: Kinder (children), Kirche (church), Küche (kitchen), and Kleider (clothes), indicating that their main duties were bearing and rearing children, attending to religious activities, cooking and serving food, and dealing with clothes and fashion.

After obtaining the right to vote in 1918, German women began to take on active roles previously performed by men.

It was only in 1977 that legislative changes provided for gender equality in marriage; until that date, married women in West Germany could not work without permission from their husbands.

[15][16] Specifically, before 1997, the definition of rape in Germany was: "Whoever compels a woman to have extramarital intercourse with him, or with a third person, by force or the threat of present danger to life or limb, shall be punished by not less than two years’ imprisonment".

This division can be traced back to the postwar reconstruction era when West Germany emphasized traditional family structures as a cornerstone of societal recovery.

These measures not only aimed to rebuild national stability but also served as a cultural counterpoint to East Germany's socialist promotion of gender equality in labor.

However many women, particularly war widows and displaced individuals, entered the workforce out of economic necessity, driven by introduction of the new currency Deutsche Mark, the black market collapse, and the shift from a subsistence economy to wage labor.

[27] Compared to other Western and even non-Western countries, Germany has a low proportion of women in business leadership roles, lower even than Turkey, Malaysia, Nigeria, Indonesia, Botswana, India.

In 2011, José Manuel Barroso, then president of the European Commission, stated "Germany, but also Austria and the Netherlands, should look at the example of the northern countries [...] that means removing obstacles for women, older workers, foreigners and low-skilled job-seekers to get into the workforce".