 Membership of the city council in 1919 made her one of the first women in the new republican Germany to hold political office.Working with her party colleague and fellow councillor she energetically promoted welfare measures, support for the blind, schooling for girls and women's health, along with measures in support of the arts and education more generally.According to one source it was the level of energy that Helene von Forster applied to her role as a campaigning city councillor that hastened her death.