Review, Present

Women in politics: “Strange surprise”

The plenary chamber of the Tyrolean parliament today. In 1919, two women became members of parliament for the first time in this country.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Political scientist and author Gisella Schiestl probably knows best when it comes to women in Tyrolean politics. She answered questions for the "Krone" and provided fascinating insights into the story.

"One of the strangest surprises that brought about the outcome of the war and its aftermath for many is undoubtedly the fact that women's suffrage was now completely established," read the Allgemeine Tiroler Anzeiger in November 1918 - the year in which women's suffrage was introduced. It continued: "If someone had told us four years ago that, after the war, women would also be able to vote as equals, we would certainly have declared them completely ready for Hall." Hall, that is, to psychiatry.