The record was financed by the members themselves and by the Women's Forum, as was the organization, the development of the cover and the distribution. The eight founders were a close-knit group who derived their energy and creativity from working together and the new experience of female cohesion within the group.
The death of Caroline Muhr in January 1978 was therefore a decisive turning point. The grief for Caroline, who had been such an integral part of the group and had written so many of the texts, made it seem impossible for the group to continue in its original composition. Many of the founding women left the group.
However, the power of the songs and the professionalism of Inge Latz soon led other women to continue. The group was re-formed around Inge Latz with Angela Hoffmann, Gabriele Hertel, Christel Fischer and Gesa Helmers as well as Barbara and Tara Latz. The necessary regular practicing with voice and various instruments often took place in Inge Latz's living room with her piano. The performances became more widespread - the Festival of Songwriters in Unna, the performance in the canteen of the University of Tübingen or in the Agam Hall of the Leoso Hotel in Leverkusen, for example, are fond memories - but they also always accompanied the founding and new projects of the autonomous women's groups in Bonn:
1978: the working groups of the approximately 300 women of the Women's Forum, the new women's regulars' table at Hoppegarten 16, the founding of the women's bookshop "Nora" at Bornheimer Straße 92, the founding of the association Frauen helfen Frauen, the operation of the First Bonn Women's Café Endenich Str./Ecke Mozartstraße, the founding of the theater group "Gänseblümchen"
1979: the opening of the autonomous women's shelter in Bonn. This still works today for women and children who have experienced violence and was soon supplemented by a second house run by the "Hilfe für Frauen in Not" association.
1980: the founding of the magazine "Lesbenstich"
In the magazine "Lesbenstich (0/1980)" (1980 to 1993), which was launched by six women from different cities on January 12/13 in Bonn (!), the Bonn address given is the lesbian group contact via Jo Lindenberg; the meeting place was at "Nora".
The women's initiative was founded on October 6 at Kirschallee 6.
When the Bundestag elections on October 5, 1980 brought only a few women into parliament, women founded this initiative in Bonn a short time later. From then on, they wanted to network in order to be able to react better to politics, provide information about it and initiate their own campaigns. The group was later active nationwide and organized an annual congress in Bonn.
1981: the founding of the women's café "Lila Backstube" in Wolfstraße 30, the founding of the women's newspaper "Lila Lotta" (1981-1991), the founding of a house for women's projects in Bonn "Frauen formen ihre Stadt e.V.",
Im Krausfeld 10, where the Bonn Women's Museum continues to exist today, and also the events of the Bonn Women's Education Workshop, which developed from the association "Frauen lernen gemeinsam" (Women Learn Together) founded in 1975 and still promotes women today on the basis of its statutes.
The songs on the record and others developed into frequently played and catchy hits at women's initiatives in other cities, which obviously met a need of many women and were gladly played by the women's bands that were formed.
The Blaustrümpfe from Bonn about themselves:
"Blaustrumpf was originally a derisive name for the members of a literary circle in the 18th century, which became a nucleus of women's emancipation in England. The ladies wore blue knitted stockings in protest against the affected fashion of the time. In the 19th century, this word was used to mock all women who wanted to expand their horizons beyond the kitchen and nursery. It is precisely because this word was and still is a derogatory name that we have chosen it for ourselves. We are proud to be bluestockings."
By the early 1980s, however, other female bands had emerged that brought a rockier style of music into the world and made a name for themselves: Flying Lesbians, Lysistrata, Unterrock, Schneewittchen (LP "Zerschlag Deinen gläsernen Sarg") etc. Women and their music were more present, so the themes and lyrics also changed. This development was not followed by the Bonn Blaustrümpfen and the group finally disbanded in 1981.
