Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz was a German designer, printer and sculptor. He initially leaned towards naturalism and later turned to expressionism. His subjects were mostly poverty, hunger and war.

On May 1, 1919, members of the Weimar Republic Parliament in Germany declared the first official day, Labor Day. Käthe Kollwitz, along with her husband Carl and son Hans, are in Berlin for the rally.

She writes in her diary that evening:

After cold, humid, sunny and slightly warmer days. I wake up feeling an important holiday. At 10 o'clock Carl and Hans and I go to the parade site. Red flag trains. Even children on the train. Inscriptions: Serving Freedom!

A sense of social and political injustice to the working class affected Käthe Kollwitz, who had grown up in liberal-socialist homes. Especially in the 1920s, he condemned the common abuses in his work.