Familie – family

Trudy Ederle conquers the English Channel

In 1926, the American Gertrude ‘Trudy’ Ederle became the first woman to cross the English Channel between France and England. The dedicated member of the American Women’s Swimming Association (WSA), Olympic champion and world record holder, came from a family in Bissingen an der Teck on her father’s side. According to her own statement, she learnt to swim in Lake Bissingen while visiting her grandmother. The ‘Queen of the Waves’ conquered the strait in 14.5 hours and covered around 56 kilometres in this time due to the strong current. Hundreds of thousands honoured her sporting achievement with a confetti parade in her home city of New York. She became an icon of equal rights for women in swimming and her achievement was also euphorically celebrated in her father’s home country.

Fräulein overboard!
A girl from the USA,
named Gertrud Ederle,
strains her nerves and her veins,
she shakes herself like a little puddle,
swims easily, like a puff pastry puddle
to England through the swirls! […]’

Poem from the ‘Teckbote’, Kirchheim unter Teck, 25th of August 1925

Portrait of Trudy Ederle, c. 1922
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Trudy Ederle before her successful canal crossing on 6 August 1926, photograph
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Trudy Ederle with dumbbells, around 1925
Ullstein picture

Trudy Ederle crawling in the water, 1926
picture Alliance/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Homecoming in Bissingen, 1926
Esslingen district archive

Queen of the Waves, around 1926
Getty Images

Parade of Gertrude Ederle on Broadway in New York, 1926
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Interview with Else Ederle. The 90-year-old Bissingen lamb landlady remembers her aunt Trudy, film contribution by Hansjörg Richter and Richard Umstadt, 2011

Newsreel reports on Trudy Ederle’s English Channel crossing, 1926

Gemeinsames Baden in Tübingen – bathing together in Tübingen

For a long time, women in Tübingen were not allowed to bathe in public and were strictly separated from men. A photo from 1925, however, shows three women ‘freely’ splashing around in the shallow Neckar. The bathing area was located approximately at the level of the university sports ground. The city built an outdoor pool there in 1930. Photos taken by school pupil Hans Rath show boys and girls enjoying themselves together. The change in bathing culture went hand in hand with the democratisation and emancipation of women after 1918. In some cases, mothers and fathers were already allowed to bathe together with their children during the German Empire. From the 1920s onwards, the ‘family bath’ for women and men became increasingly popular. There were also economic motives behind this, as more people could swim in indoor pools at the same time.

Women bathing in the Neckar near Tübingen, around 1925
Tübingen city archives

A friend of Hans Rath swims in the Neckar, around 1930
Tübingen city archives

Friends and a girlfriend of Hans Rath swimming in the Neckar, around 1930
Tübingen city archives

Friends and girlfriends of Hans Rath playing in the Neckar, around 1930
Tübingen city archives

Friends of Hans Rath at the Tübingen outdoor pool on the Neckar, around 1930
Tübingen city archives

Bademode der 1920er und 1930er-Jahre – swimwear from the 1920s to 1930s

In the 1920s, the beach and swimming pool developed into a natural leisure activity and meeting place for the public. Thanks in part to improved public transport, swimming in nature, lakes, rivers and urban outdoor and indoor pools became popular. The traditional swimwear for women was black and usually covered the body completely. Colourful swimming costumes were not worn until the mid-1920s. They represented a new, athletic body ideal that also allowed tanning. Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of the new swimwear, however, was that the models for men and women often only differed in cut, but not in design.

Ladies‘ beach and bathing dress with colourful, abstract patterns, Wilhelm Benger Söhne, around 1925
Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg

Ladies‘ beach and bathing dress with straight (bateau) neckline and straps, Wilhelm Benger Söhne, around 1928
Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg

Orange ladies‘ swimming costume with abstract patterns, Wilhelm Benger Söhne, around 1929
Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg

Ribana swimming costume for men, Wilhelm Benger Söhne, around 1930
Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg

Ribana swimming costume for women, Wilhelm Benger Söhne, around 1930
Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg

Advertising poster by Harry Meier, Wilhelm Benger Söhne company, around 1930
Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg