Hilde Böhmer 

1906, Vienna – 2003, Vienna

Hildegarde Böhmer, who called herself Hilde, graduated from the Schönbrunner Erzieherschule (‘Schönbrunn Teacher Training College’). She was active in the Arbeitsgemeinschaft sozialistischer Erzieher (‘Working Group of Socialist Educators’) and ran the first Workers’ Children’s Home in the late 1920s. She lived with her husband, Josef Böhmer, at 94 Laxenburger Straße in Favoriten.
From 1930, she worked as a social worker in the youth welfare office, most recently at the Favoriten District Youth Welfare Office. In 1934, fearing political repression, she and her husband undertook a motorcycle tour lasting several months from Cape Town to Cairo, about which she wrote a book.

The couple used lecture tours about her trip to Africa to smuggle leaflets and documents across Europe. They secretly helped political comrades make preparations to flee. Josef Böhmer refused to do military service and attempted to escape to the USA. In 1939, they managed to flee to the USA via Cuba. In New York, Hilde Böhmer completed a Master’s degree in Social Work. Her Master’s thesis compared the social welfare systems of Europe and the USA.

From 1959 to 1964, she held a senior position in hospital social work. In 1981, she was awarded the Silver Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria and later returned to Vienna. She was co-editor of a book about the graduates of the Schönbrunn School.