Hirsau Town Hall
In1808, King Frederick issued an order "that nothing of the beautiful ruins of Hirschau Monastery should be demolished or altered ...". In 1820, a mayor and a municipal council were elected for the first time. The "monastery seigneurs" became citizens. In 1830, the contract was signed between the state finance administration and the mayor, the citizens' committee and the municipal councillors with the transfer of a number of properties, including the old Hofmeierei (see picture, later the town hall), plus 91 acres of forest and 171 acres of fields, meadows and gardens. Hirsau thus finally became an independent municipality within the district of Calw.
Women's suffrage - first female municipal councillor in Hirsau
At the end of the First World War in 1918, the Council of Representatives issued a declaration with the conclusion: "All elections to public bodies are henceforth to be held according to equal, secret, direct, universal suffrage on the basis of the proportional electoral system for all male and female persons at least 20 years of age". This meant that women were able to vote or be elected throughout Germany for the first time from 1919 . 80 % used their right to vote for the constituent National Assembly, 300 stood for election and won 37 seats out of 423. In 1919, the 66-year-old widow Antonie Stälin stood for election to the municipal council on the Civil Party list and was elected at her first attempt with 71.5 % of the votes cast. In her guesthouse, she catered for a circle of music lovers and was awarded the Charlotten-Kreuz for her services during the war. When she moved to Calw, there was an obituary in Hirsau: "It is a memorable fact and a sign of the esteem in which Mrs Stälin was held here that she was elected to the municipal council as soon as the law allowed and was chosen for all time to lead the ranks of any successors..."
Other female councillors
After 1933, women were barred from being appointed to the municipal council. The German Municipal Code issued by the National Socialists stipulated that women could not be appointed as mayors or councillors. It was not until 1948 that a woman was elected to the municipal council again. Katharina Burg stood as a candidate on the Hirsau-Ernstmühl unity list and achieved the best position on the list. This made her the first female municipal councillor since the Second World War. From 1975, local council elections were held for the large district town of Calw, as Hirsau, Altburg, Stammheim and Holzbronn now belonged to Calw as a result of the municipal reform. Helene Greiner (1916-1981) and Rosemarie Pfrommer (1937-1987) made it onto the Hirsau local council, the latter also onto the Calw local council. They were joined by social worker Hildegund Ederer and Berta Soulier, who was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon for her voluntary work. After the proportion of women grew continuously in subsequent elections, there was a dramatic decline in 2024.
