Women use your vote! – 100 years of women’s right to vote

2018 marks the centenary of the adoption of women’s suffrage in Austria. On 12 November 1918 women were granted the right to vote and to stand for election. It was only with the adoption of voting rights for women that their exclusion from political decisions came to an end. In 1919 they were able to vote for the first time on equal terms with men.

The adoption of women’s suffrage was also about redefining what was considered the “male-only” State and opening it to the “female” gender. Constitutional democracies are founded on the principle of political participation by its citizens as a fundamental right. The most important means of doing so is the right to elect to Parliament and all other representative political institutions.

This virtual exhibition traces the path to the election day on 16 February 1919, beginning with the 1848 revolution – using contemporary illustrations, newspaper cuttings, photos, posters and leaflets from the Austrian National Library collections.

This is an enlarged and revised version of the online exhibition on 85 years of women’s right to vote which was produced by Sonja Edler, Lydia Jammernegg, Julia Köstenberger and Brigitte Noelle in 2004.