German Hat Workers' Union

The German Hat Workers' Union (German: Deutscher Hutarbeiter-Verband, DHAV) was a trade union representing hatters in Germany.

German Hat Workers' Union

Deutscher Hutarbeiter-Verband
Successor	Industrial Union of Clothing (E Germany), Textile and Clothing Union (W Germany)
Founded	1 January 1872 (1872-01-01)
Dissolved	May 1933 (1933-05)
Headquarters	65 Wallstraße, Berlin
Location	Germany
Members	18,509 (1928)
Publication	Der Deutsche Hutarbeiter
Affiliations	ADGB, IUH

The union was founded on 16 July 1871, although it later gave its official founding date as 1 January 1872. Initially, it was named the Central Union of German Hatters, and was based in Offenbach am Main. Membership was initially 1,165, and grew to 2,667 by 1879. That year, the union was banned under the Anti-Socialist Laws, but the union leaders formed the Hatter's Health and Death Fund to carry on its work, and when the Anti-Socialist Laws were repealed, the union was re-established, as the "German Hat Workers' Union".[1]

The union was a founding constituent of the General German Trade Union Confederation in 1919, and by 1928, it had 18,509 members. It was banned by the Nazis in 1933. After World War II, hatters were instead represented by the Textile and Clothing Union.[1]