Emma fights for women’s rights

The first issue of a new feminist magazine goes on sale

Although the legal position of West German women had gradually improved in the 1950s and 60s, true equality between men and women was still a long way off.

Alice Schwarzer and her team of journalists launched a new magazine called Emma on 26 January 1977 to campaign for equal rights between men and women. Both a woman’s name and a nod to the word “emancipation”, the magazine covered a range of issues in politics and society from the female perspective. Often causing controversy, the magazine was central in achieving social change in West Germany.