This book explores the queer history of the easternmost provinces of the German Reich—regions that used to be German, but which now mostly belong to Poland—in the first third of the twentieth century, a period roughly corresponding to the duration of Germany's first queer movement (1897-1933). While the amount of queer historical studies examining entire towns and cities in the German Reich has grown to an impressive size since the 1990s, most of that research concerns, firstly, the usual, large metropoles such as Berlin, Hamburg or Cologne, and, secondly, municipalities located in Germany 'proper'; that is, within its modern borders, not those of the German state in the first half of the twentieth century. Smaller cities (not to mention rural areas) in particular have received very little scholarly attention. This book is therefore one of the first to examine queer history—that of spaces, culture, sociability and political groups specifically—from this geographical perspective.
Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Cultural Studies - GLBT / LGBT, grade: 1,0, Eastern Illinois University, language: English, abstract: This paper examines the course of the homosexual liberation movement in Weimar Germany (1919-1932). The study is guided by the following research question: what were the goals of the gay rights movement in the Weimar Republic? In order to answer this question, the main actors who belonged to this movement will be identified. This brief description of the homosexual emancipation movement in Weimar Germany is followed by an examination of its four main goals, which includes the context in which they were pursued, the means which were employed to achieve them and how successful the movement was in its efforts. A concluding section then summarizes the main findings of this study and connects them with the broader theoretical context of this topic. It is commonly viewed that the struggle for gay rights is a rather recent phenomenon. According to this view, the Stonewall riots of 1969 mark a turning point in the advocacy of equality and tolerance for homosexuals as well as the birth of the gay rights movement. While it is important to stress the significance of Stonewall for the LGBT community, it would be wrong to perceive of the gay rights movement as an entirely contemporary phenomenon. In fact, the struggle for equality and tolerance for gays and lesbians has been going on for quite some time now, more than 150 years to be precisely. Thus, it is important to historicize the course of the early homosexual liberation movement, not only to give credit to the pioneers in the fight for the advancement of sexual minorities but also to better understand the origins and therefore the tactics and obstacles of today ́s gay rights movement and social movements in general. Germany is of special importance to the history of the homosexual emancipation movement: it is both the birthplace of the gay rights movement and the country in which the most gruesome atrocities against homosexuals were committed. Over the last two or three decades, the Nazi crimes against sexual minorities have been examined by an increasing body of literature. The course of the gay rights movement and homosexuals in Germany before the Third Reich has also received quite some coverage in scholarly literature, but by far not as much as the Hitler years.
The Seduction of Youth offers a new perspective on the history of the Weimar Republic by exploring the intersection between the homosexual movement, print culture, and homophobic fears about the seduction of young boys.
Uses historical case studies to illuminate women's claims to emancipation and to sexual subjectivity during the tumultuous Wilhelmine and Weimar periods in Germany.
Explores the portrayal of the masculine woman in Berlin-based mainstream print media, six sub-cultural magazines aimed at homosexual women, and selected films and literary texts.
German National Cinema is the first comprehensive history of German film from its origins to the present. In this new edition, Sabine Hake discusses film-making in economic, political, social, and cultural terms, and considers the contribution of Germany's most popular films to changing definitions of genre, authorship, and film form. The book traces the central role of cinema in the nation’s turbulent history from the Wilhelmine Empire to the Berlin Republic, with special attention paid to the competing demands of film as art, entertainment, and propaganda. Hake also explores the centrality of genre films and the star system to the development of a filmic imaginary. This fully revised and updated new edition will be required reading for everyone interested in German film and the history of modern Germany.
"In looking back at German history, the Weimar Era and the 1920s, in particular, are often regarded as a time of unrestricted frivolity and the catharsis of post-war anxiety. In retrospect, it can be temptingly easy to credit the changing political landscape and liberalization of German society between 1918 and 1933 as a brief but inherently doomed moment of progressivism that necessarily would give way to a strident, reactionary backlash. Often, the increased visibility and acceptance of LGBTQ individuals during this time is regarded as a symptom of the “anything goes” attitude for which the Weimar Era has been famous. Dismissing the Weimar Republic as frivolous experiment in this way is an oversimplification that overlooks the important progress achieved in the fields of psychology and sexology during this time. In reality, the research performed by scientists like psychologist Magnus Hirschfeld proves that the progress being made for queer Germans during the Weimar years was meaningful and anything but frivolous. In the years following World War II, policymakers of East and West Germany attempted to regain stability, and in doing so adopted a more conservative approach to the issue of homosexuality than their Weimar Republic predecessors. The reactionary movement helped to confirm the sweeping dismissal of the Weimar Era as a moment of chaos and confusion best left behind. This reestablishment of gender norms is clearly illustrated in both the later version of Mädchen in Uniform and Anders als du und ich, in which changing rhetoric and scientific understandings of sexuality demonstrate a significant shift in the way Germans were thinking about queerness"--Provided by author.
