Third Reich Arbeitsbuch – Rosa Höltermann, Emsdetten 1940

Description

Third Reich Arbeitsbuch – Rosa Höltermann, 1940

This original Third Reich Arbeitsbuch was issued on 23 October 1940 to Rosa Höltermann, a German woman living in Emsdetten, in the district of Steinfurt.

Unlike an anonymous or unused example, this Arbeitsbuch retains detailed personal information, official Arbeitsamt stamps and an employment entry apparently documenting Höltermann as self-employed in an agricultural activity.

The booklet was issued by the Arbeitsamt Rheine, whose circular and purple office markings remain clearly visible on the official issue page.

Personal Details of Rosa Höltermann

The document records the holder as:

Rosa Höltermann
née approximately Böhmige / Böhmig

Her personal-information page gives the date of birth:

8 June 1898

and the birthplace appears to read:

Nordwalde

in Kreis Steinfurt.

Nordwalde and Emsdetten are both located in the Steinfurt area of North Rhine-Westphalia, giving the document a strong local geographical connection.

The nationality field is stamped:

Deutsches Reich

Her marital status is entered as:

verw.

an abbreviation for verwitwet, or widowed.

One dependent/minor child is recorded with the birth year:

1920

The residential entry reads:

Emsdetten
Hollingen 55

These personal details transform the book from a generic government form into a traceable civilian record.

What Was a German Arbeitsbuch?

The Arbeitsbuch was an official employment record introduced as part of the National Socialist government’s increasing regulation of the German labour market.

From May 1935 onward, growing numbers of German workers were required to possess one. The system was eventually expanded across the working population. Local employment offices created Arbeitsbücher and corresponding administrative cards, while employers entered workplace information. e-Guide

The document recorded information such as:

• personal identity;
• professional skills;
• occupational classification;
• employer;
• place of employment;
• type of work;
• dates of employment.

No worker subject to the Arbeitsbuch requirement could simply move between jobs without the documentation being updated through the appropriate administrative process. e-Guide

For collectors today, these books preserve a detailed view of everyday civilian administration under the Third Reich.

Issued by Arbeitsamt Rheine in 1940

The issuing page of DOC182 contains the date:

23.10.40

or 23 October 1940.

The book was issued through the:

Arbeitsamt Rheine

The circular office stamp is clearly visible, together with an additional purple office marking and handwritten official signature.

The document also records:

Berufsgruppe 1
Berufsart A1

These were administrative occupational classifications used by the labour office.

Because the precise meaning of those handwritten classification codes has not been independently verified for this individual record, they are preserved in the description without speculative expansion.

Rosa Höltermann – Agricultural Self-Employment

One of the most interesting aspects of this particular Third Reich Arbeitsbuch is the first visible employment entry.

The employer/business column again names:

Rosa Höltermann
Emsdetten
Hollingen 55

The adjacent business-description field appears to include:

Landwirtschaft

or agriculture/farming.

Most importantly, the type-of-employment column appears clearly to read:

selbständig

meaning:

self-employed / working independently

This strongly suggests that Höltermann was recorded in connection with her own agricultural or farm business rather than being employed by an unrelated industrial company.

That gives DOC182 a somewhat different social-history character from the many surviving Arbeitsbücher belonging to factory workers, labourers or employees.

It provides a small documentary glimpse into female rural economic activity in wartime Germany.

Women and the Arbeitsbuch System

The Arbeitsbuch requirement applied to German working women as the system expanded.

Employment offices maintained their own corresponding Arbeitsbuch files, and Arolsen Archives notes that administrative work-book cards were even separated according to sex, with specific card forms for women. e-Guide

Women’s Arbeitsbücher therefore form an important part of the surviving record of German civilian labour.

DOC182 is particularly useful because the holder was already over forty when the document was issued and appears to have been associated with an independent agricultural enterprise rather than a newly mobilised wartime factory position.

Standard German Version – Not Arbeitsbuch für Ausländer

This is the normal Deutsches Reich Arbeitsbuch used for German workers.

It should not be confused with the later:

Arbeitsbuch für Ausländer

Foreign workers were initially recorded using related systems, but in May 1943 a separate Arbeitsbuch für Ausländer was introduced. e-Guide

Those later documents are usually collected separately because of their connection with foreign and frequently forced labour.

DOC182 instead documents an ordinary German civilian within the domestic labour-registration system.

Civil Administration and Everyday History

Documents such as this Arbeitsbuch rarely contain dramatic military events or famous signatures.

Their importance is different.

They preserve the structures governing everyday life:

where somebody lived,
when they were born,
their family status,
where they worked,
what kind of business they operated,
and which employment office supervised their record.

That information makes civilian documents valuable to collectors interested in social history rather than exclusively military history.

In this case, the combination of Emsdetten, Nordwalde, Arbeitsamt Rheine and the Hollingen address gives the piece a well-defined regional context.

Collector Interest

This Third Reich Arbeitsbuch may particularly appeal to collectors of:

• German civilian documents
• women’s historical documents
• Arbeitsamt records
• German labour history
• agricultural history
• Emsdetten / Rheine local history
• Third Reich bureaucracy
• paper militaria
• genealogy and social history

It is not a rare document type in itself.

However, its identified female holder, clear 1940 issue, local history and apparent self-employed agricultural status make it more informative than a blank or minimally completed example.

Condition and Authenticity

The booklet remains in good used period condition.

Visible characteristics include:

• general cover rubbing;
• natural paper toning;
• minor spotting and foxing;
• light edge and corner wear;
• original handwritten entries;
• official Arbeitsamt stamps;
• period administrative signature.

The binding appears intact.

Interior printing and personal information remain clearly readable.

This item is offered as an original period Deutsches Reich Arbeitsbuch issued in 1940.

The photographs show the actual item being offered and form an integral part of the condition description.

Historical Responsibility Notice

This document is offered strictly for historical, documentary, genealogical and collecting purposes. Political symbols visible on the book form part of its original government design. Autographs & Militaria does not endorse National Socialism or any ideology represented by the object.

Who was Rosa Höltermann?

The Arbeitsbuch identifies Rosa Höltermann as a German woman born on 8 June 1898, apparently in Nordwalde, Kreis Steinfurt. She lived at Hollingen 55 in Emsdetten when the Arbeitsbuch was in use.

When was Rosa Höltermann’s Arbeitsbuch issued?

It was issued on 23 October 1940 by Arbeitsamt Rheine.

What work did Rosa Höltermann do?

The visible entries indicate an agricultural business and the occupation status selbständig, meaning self-employed. The document therefore appears to record her as working independently in agriculture.

What does “verw.” mean in a German Arbeitsbuch?

It is an abbreviation for verwitwet, meaning widowed.

Was an Arbeitsbuch a military document?

No. It was a civilian employment record used by German labour offices to document and regulate employment.

Is this an Arbeitsbuch für Ausländer?

No. It is the standard Deutsches Reich Arbeitsbuch for a German worker. A separate form for foreign workers was introduced in 1943. e-Guide

Are female Arbeitsbücher collectible?

Yes. Standard examples are relatively common, but identified women with unusual occupations, interesting employers or strong regional associations can be more appealing than anonymous examples.