Angela Zigahl

Angela Zigahl (25 December 1885 – 1955) was a German educator and politician who served in the Landtag of Prussia from 1925 to 1933. As a member of the Centre Party, she represented the Oppeln constituency. After World War II, Zigahl was involved in the Sonne Commission, an American-led organisation aimed at addressing the post-war refugee crisis in West Germany.

Biography[edit]

Angela Zigahl was born on 25 December 1885 in Dirschel, Upper Silesia, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia within the German Empire. She attended the Bolts School in Dirschel and the lyceum in Ratibor before continuing her education at the girls' school (oberlyzeum) in Duderstadt in the Province of Hanover. Zigahl furthered her studies at the University of Bonn, the University of Munich, and the University of Münster, focusing on philosophy, German history, geography, and economics. She passed her state teaching examinations in 1915 and began her teaching career at the lyceum in Cologne, later moving to the girls' school in Neisse in Upper Silesia, where she became a studienrätin and educational counsellor.

In 1918, Zigahl was elected to the Neisse city council as a Centre Party member, serving until 1925 when she was elected to the Landtag of Prussia, representing the Oppeln constituency. As a member of the Association of Catholic German Teachers (VkdL), she supported Catholic interests and advocated for college-educated teachers. In 1926, she endorsed a bill that would restrict married female civil servants' ability to continue working, arguing that most women voluntarily retired upon marriage. She also supported an amendment to the bill that would allow these women to retain their pensions and prevent their positions from being filled by married men. During her tenure in the Landtag, Zigahl was part of the Officials Committee and a parliamentary group investigating the dismissal of Centre Party officials from Prussian ministerial posts.

Zigahl was re-elected in the 1928, 1932, and 1933 Prussian elections. She was removed from office in July 1933 following the Nazi seizure of power, which led to a ban on women holding political office. The official Centre Party newspaper, Germania, notes uncertainty about whether she joined the Nazi Party after the ban, as many Centre Party officials did. A Gestapo dossier indicates that Zigahl retired from political life after leaving office, was not politically active during the Nazi regime, and relocated to the Charlottenburg district of Berlin.

After World War II, Zigahl was appointed to the Sonne Commission, a 14-member body tasked with addressing the post-war refugee crisis in West Germany. The commission, led by American banker Hans Christian Sonne and German sociologist Ludwig Neundörfer, aimed to integrate war refugees into West German society. Zigahl was responsible for social welfare issues and led efforts to create employment opportunities for refugee women, particularly mothers.

By 1954, Zigahl had moved to Fulda in Hesse and ran for the Landtag of Hesse as a Christian Democratic Union party list candidate in the 1954 election. She was not elected, placing last on the party list. Angela Zigahl passed away in Duderstadt in 1955.

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