This was especially true in big cities such as Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, and Frankfurt am Main. Sex and sexuality became points of contention in politics and culture.
As part of the cultural and social transformations of the time, Germans publicly challenged gender and sexual norms. This was a moment of political turmoil and economic distress, but also a time of cultural and artistic freedom. Gay communities and networks in Germany continued to grow and develop during the Weimar Republic (1918–1933). Gay Men during the Weimar Republic (1918–1933) In the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, LGBTQ+ communities have built on, and challenged, this language. Although no longer widely accepted, these German words were early attempts to describe sexual orientation. With time, they became part of the international lexicon on sexuality. These new German words were adopted into both English and French. At the time, however, they came into common use in Germany and beyond. Today, the terms “ Homosexualität ” and “ homosexuell ” are often considered derogatory. The newer slang word “ schwul ” (often translated into English as “gay”) was also increasingly popular among certain groups. There were also other terms used by advocates for reform, for example, “ Urning ” or “ dritten Geschlecht ”. The latter term dated to 1869, when a pamphlet advocating for decriminalization of sexual relations between men used the term “ Homosexualität ” (“homosexuality”). Among these terms were “ gleichgeschlechtlich ” (“same-sex oriented”) and “ homosexuell ” (“homosexual”). In addition to the older German slang phrase “ warmer Bruder ” (“warm brother”), some men described themselves using new words. It was in this context that some German men who were attracted to other men began to describe themselves using a new vocabulary.
These efforts helped men connect with each other and form early networks and communities. In addition to joining such groups, men who were attracted to other men also began to socialize at bars and other meeting places. Eventually, individual campaigners began to organize together into groups dedicated to decriminalization. Political and social conditions in nineteenth-century Germany allowed people to publicly campaign for the decriminalization of sexual relations between men and the repeal of Paragraph 175. It was enacted in 1871 following the unification of the German Empire and the codification of German law.
Paragraph 175 was the statute of the German criminal code that banned sexual relations between men. Germany was at the forefront of this development, not least because of debates regarding Paragraph 175. At this time, the nature of human sexuality became an area of scientific investigation and debate in Europe and the United States. Gay Men in Germany, circa 1900Īlready in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, there were indications of nascent and growing gay communities in Germany. And gay Jewish men faced Nazi persecution and mass murder as Jews. For example, gay men active in anti-Nazi political movements risked being arrested as political opponents. This diversity meant that gay men had a wide range of experiences in Nazi Germany. Among them were supposed racial identity, political attitudes, social class, and cultural expectations about how men and women should behave (i.e., gender norms). However, other factors also shaped gay men’s lives during the Nazi era. Being gay could and often did result in persecution. Gay men in Germany were not a monolithic group, nor did the Nazi regime view them as such.
However, the Nazi campaign against homosexuality and the regime’s zealous enforcement of Paragraph 175 made life in Nazi Germany dangerous for gay men. Identifying as a gay man was never explicitly criminalized in Germany. However, any man who had sexual relations with another man faced potential arrest in Nazi Germany, regardless of how he understood his own sexuality. It is important to note that not all of the men arrested and convicted under Paragraph 175 identified as gay.
In some cases, this led to their imprisonment in concentration camps. Approximately fifty percent of these men were convicted. During the Nazi period, the police arrested about 100,000 men for allegedly violating this statute. They also arrested large numbers of gay men under Paragraph 175. It is unclear how many of these men publicly or privately identified as gay or were part of gay communities and networks that had been established in Germany before the Nazi rise to power.īeginning in 1933, the Nazi regime harassed and dismantled these communities. This campaign persecuted men who had sexual relations with other men. The Nazi regime carried out a campaign against male homosexuality between 19.