The organisation was originally named (Cultural Federation of German Jews in 1933, but in April 1935 the Nazi authorities - forcing the organisation to delete the term German from the name - imposed a change of the name into , i.e.
Following the Kristallnacht pogroms on November 9/10, 1938, the Kulturbund was allowed to continue its activities; however, the discrimination and persecution of Jews had driven many into impoverishment.