Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Frauenzimmer
(773 words)

From the late Middle Ages on, the term Frauenzimmer was used in three senses in German-speaking Europe. First, it denoted women in general (Gender), being used as a complementary parallel to Männer or Mannspersonen (“men, males”). Both terms referred to women and men of a particular class. While a bourgeois Ehefrau (“wife”) or a noble lady (Dame) and her daughters could be addressed as Frauenzimmer, this term was not used for their female domestics or women of the underclass; they would instead be referred to as Menscher or Weiber (“girls”). The term continued to be u…

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Keller, Katrin, “Frauenzimmer”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_019376>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20180126



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