The book offers a glimpse into the everyday life of secretaries in the 1950s – a time of social change, caught between traditional gender roles and the desire for emancipation. Through previously unpublished diaries, particularly those of Doris, a secretary working on trains, the book shows how this profession opened up new paths to women’s professional independence. These personal accounts provide an authentic insight into the spirit of the economic miracle era and the early steps toward gender equality.
Annegret Braun: cultural anthropologist and freelance author.