Die Entwicklung der städtischen Arbeitslosenfürsorge während des Ersten Weltkrieges. Fallstudie zur Hamburgischen Kriegshilfe

Abstract

As the outbreak of World War I brought about large-scale unemployment, the wartime unemployment relief was introduced in many cities. Its administration was not in the hands of the Reich government but of such urban organisations as municipalities and private charities throughout the war. The unemployment relief in Hamburg was administered by a private charity, namely the Hamburgische Kriegshilfe, which organized the decentralized unemployment relief, not only following the tradition of “individualization” of relief but adapting the system to wartime social conditions. After the war, the organisational style of the Hamburgische Kriegshilfe was taken over by the municipal department of labor, which administrated the unemployment relief of the Reich in Hamburg. The case of Hamburg suggests that there was an important social welfare service introduced by an urban organisation which preceded that of the Weimar “Social State”.