In the preface to the first part of the Handbuch der Frauenbewegung, its publisher, Helene Lange, states that there «hardly exists a question about our economical and intellectual life that is being discussed with so little knowledge of its basics than the 'woman question'». She sees the reasons for that in «traditional prejudices» on the one hand, «and, on the other hand, in the difficulties ... to obtain a general account of the entire topic which is being summed up by terms such as 'women question' and 'women's movement'». She concludes from it the necessity that «there must be a handbook presenting the collected and arranged material.»

The Handbuch der Frauenbewegung was the first comprehensive treatment of the sources of the «woman question» in Germany. In order to take the fast development of the «woman question» into account, a fifth part was added to the handbook which was originally concipated for four volumes only. It broadened and updated the fourth volume's topic «The professional Woman». Today, the «Handbuch der Frauenbewegung» is one of the most comprehensive sources when studying the situation of women's movement at the turn of the century.