In 2000, Tanja Kreil from Hanover sued for equal rights for women in the Bundeswehr and thus also for the right to serve in the armed forces - and won. However, she never takes up service.
On January 11, 2000, judges of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg ruled that Article 12a, Paragraph 4 of the Basic Law is illegal and constitutes discrimination against women. Up to this point, it was said:"Women are not allowed to serve at arms under any circumstances." From now on that was wrong. The verdict made legal history, brought about a significant reform in the alignment of the Bundeswehr - and had its origins in Hanover.
The then 23-year-old Hanoverian Tanja Kreil complained, whose application was repeatedly rejected on the grounds that she was a woman. A year later, the Federal Council confirmed a corresponding amendment to the Basic Law - and opened up access for women to military service.
Kreil fights through instances
To date, women are welcome in the Bundeswehr - but please only in the music corps or medical service. Kreil felt that too. During her training as an electronics technician in 1996, she looked around for new professional challenges. Through her boyfriend, a regular soldier, she found pleasure in serving in the Bundeswehr. But the young woman was denied access. The center for recruiting young talent in Hanover and the HR office referred to the law.
Kreil finally turned to Volker Rühe (CDU), Minister of Defense from 1992 to 1998 under Chancellor Helmut Kohl (CDU), and was not listened to there either. So Kreil - with the support of the Bundeswehr Association, which paid for the legal fees and travel expenses - went before the administrative court in Hanover. That finally handed the case over to Luxembourg. Kreil persevered - since then everything has changed in the Bundeswehr. In the meantime, however, the plaintiff herself had started working for a civilian employer. She did not switch back to the Bundeswehr.
How many soldiers serve where?
In 2019 there were 22,580 servicewomen
What 20 years ago required many years of pioneering work is now normal. Since all careers - apart from special combat units - have been opened up to women, their number in the troops has been steadily increasing. And thus the number of those who make a career. According to the Bundeswehr, 22,580 soldiers were on duty in 2019 - around twelve percent of the approximately 183,000 military members. 3,529 of them have made a lifetime commitment. 5,869 serve as officers - and counting.
1/11/2020 7:04 am
Editor's note:An earlier version of the article stated that the relevant paragraph of the Basic Law was unlawful. This is of course wrong. The Basic Law is divided into articles, not paragraphs. The editors apologize for this error.