Katholischer Deutscher Frauenbund

The KDFB was founded on 16 November 1903 in Cologne for women of the Catholic laity as part of the Women's Movement in Germany. The founding chairwoman was Emilie Hopmann, who served as chair of the association until 1912. Hopmann co-founded the KDFB with Minna Bachem-Sieger and Hedwig Dransfeld. Dransfeld worked closely with the women's rights activist Ellen Ammann, who founded the Munich branch of the KDFB in 1904. Later that year Emy Gordon founded a branch of the KDFB in Würzburg. In 1911 Marie Zettler and Countess Pauline von Monteglas helped start the Bavarian branch of the organization. Zettler was elected as the Bavarian Secretary of KDFB in 1912 and remained in the position for forty years. The organization was originally called Katholische Frauenbund. The name changed in 1916 to Catholic Women's Association of Germany. It changed again in 1921 to Katholischer Deutscher Frauenbund.

The KDFB originally served as a union of Catholic women from all social and economic classes, ages, and professions focused on service to the Catholic Church and the German people. The primary goal of the organization was to provide education to women, opening social women's schools in Munich, Cologne, Aachen, and Berlin. The KDFB also opened marriage counseling centers, family education centers, and helped organize maternity holidays. During the Great Depression in Central Europe, the KDFB campaigned for working rights for unmarried women and opened career counseling centers in Cologne and Berlin.