Background
Elisabeth Röhl was the daughter of a carpenter called Theodor Gohlke and his wife Henriette.
politician Member of Landtag of Prussia
Elisabeth Röhl was the daughter of a carpenter called Theodor Gohlke and his wife Henriette.
Her second marriage was to the fellow politician Emil Kirschmann, as a result of which sources after 1922 generally identify her as Elisabeth Kirschmann-Röhl. Her elder sister was Marie Juchacz. Their childhood was marked by rural poverty.
After successful completion of her education at the local school Röhl undertook an apprenticeship in dressmaking.
She was active in the Association of Tailors and Dressmakers. This involved setting up sewing centres to give women the opportunity to work from home, along with other support for war widows and orphans.
The national election, which had taken place on 19 January 1919 had been the first in Germany in which women had been entitled to vote. Elisabeth"s sister, more than nine years her senior, was Marie Juchacz.
The sisters were also closely aligned politically, and worked together on several political books during the 1920s.
She was also a member of the so-called Food Commission (Lebensmittelkommission) which set up and operated soup kitchens. Between 1921 and her death she sat as a member of the Prussian Landtag (regional parliament).