Sex and the Weimar Republic: German Homosexual Emancipation and the Rise of the Nazis
Laurie Marhoefer
Liberated, licentious, or merely liberal, the sexual freedoms of Germany’s Weimar Republic have become legendary. The home of the world’s first gay rights movement, the republic embodied a progressive, secular vision of sexual liberation. Immortalized – however misleadingly – in Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories and the musical Cabaret, Weimar’s freedoms have become a touchstone for the politics of sexual emancipation.
Yet, as Laurie Marhoefer shows in Sex and Weimar Republic, those sexual freedoms were only obtained at the expense of a minority who were deemed sexually disordered. In Weimar Germany, the citizen’s right to sexual freedom came with a duty to keep sexuality private, non-commercial, and respectable.
Sex and the Weimar Republic examines the rise of sexual tolerance through the debates which surrounded “immoral” sexuality: obscenity, male homosexuality, lesbianism, transgender identity, heterosexual promiscuity, and prostitution. It follows the sexual politics of a swath of Weimar society ranging from sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld to Nazi stormtrooper Ernst Röhm. Tracing the connections between toleration and regulation, Marhoefer’s observations remain relevant to the politics of sexuality today.
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About Laurie Marhoefer
Reviews for Sex and the Weimar Republic: German Homosexual Emancipation and the Rise of the Nazis
Katja Hausten
Times Literary Supplement, April 1, 2016
‘This is a clear, beautifully written, and – unlike many North American books on German history – superbly edited book (German phrases, concepts, and names are error-free)…This valuable contribution should put to rest the long-lasting thesis that sexuality was responsible for the decadence of the first German republic.’
Norman Domeier
H-Soz-Kult April 2016
‘Marhoefer’s book will be an excellent addition to graduate collections in German history and cultural studies, European studies, and history of sexuality… The book will also make fine addition to upper-division undergraduate courses.’
B. Boovy
Choice Magazine vol 53:10:2016
‘In her highly original and wide-ranging study, Laurie Marhoefer makes a number of provocative and persuasive arguments regarding the character and significance of sexual politics in the Weimar Republic.... A multifaceted and analytically rigorous contribution.’
Kirsten Leng
German History, vol 34:03:2016
‘In her excellent book, Marhoefer has certainly succeeded in drawing attention to what she calls the "complexity and ugliness" of homosexual emancipation. At the same time, she ends up reproducing a dynamic common in the field of gay, lesbian, and queer history.’
Craig Griffiths
H-Histsex November 2016
‘Splendid study…Laurie Marhoefer encourages the reader to think carefully along with her, and one cannot ask for more than that in this engaging first book.’
Geoffrey J. Giles
Canadian Journal of History vol 51:03:2016
‘Marhoefer’s interlocking theses are impressive for their synthesis and creativity… With her impressive research Marhoefer exposes a pronounced language of exclusion, at least on the part of some reformers.’
Robert Beachy
Journal of Modern History December 2017