Die Freundschaft

Last updated

Die Freundschaft (Friendship) was a German Weimar-era gay magazine that was published from 1919 to 1933.

Contents

History

Die Freundschaft was founded by Karl Schultz on 13 August 1919, and was alternatively subtitled "Mitteilungsblatt des Klubs der Freunde und Freundinnen" ("News bulletin of the Club of [male] friends and [female] friends") [1] or "Monatsschrift für den Befreiungskampf andersveranlagter Männer und Frauen" ("Monthly magazine for the liberation of men and women of different disposition"). [2] It became the first gay publication to be sold openly at newsstands. [3] It was edited by Max Danielsen until 1922, when he was replaced by Georg Plock. [1] Rudolph Ihne was also involved in overseeing the magazine's publication. [4] In 1922, two competing gay publications were merged into Die Freundschaft: Adolf Brand's Freundschaft und Freiheit (Friendship and Freedom) and René Stelter's Uranos. [1]

Die Freundschaft's offices were located in Berlin's Baruther Straße. [1] It was originally published weekly for the organisation Deutscher Freundschaftsverband (DFV), which became in 1923 Bund für Menschenrecht, but was later slowed to a monthly and then a semi-annual publication. [5] Although each issue cost 50 pfennigs, which was relatively expensive, the magazine regularly sold out on its first day of publication in major German cities. [1]

Most of Die Freundschaft's authors wrote under pseudonyms initially, but after a debate which concluded that the use of pseudonyms was counterproductive to the gay rights movement, most writers used their true names. Contributors wrote about the history of homosexuality and argued for its decriminalisation. [1] They mostly approached the topics of homosexuality and gender variance from a spiritual rather than a science-based perspective, and considered how these topics could fit into existing religions. The magazine strongly promoted the ideas of reincarnation and karma. [5] It also contained personal advertisements, photographs, and illustrations. [1]

In 1928 the magazine was forced to dramatically change its format to avoid censorship, and in 1933 it was forced to cease publication by Nazi authorities. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weimar culture</span> Emergence of art and science in the Weimar Republic

Weimar culture was the emergence of the arts and sciences that happened in Germany during the Weimar Republic, the latter during that part of the interwar period between Germany's defeat in World War I in 1918 and Hitler's rise to power in 1933. 1920s Berlin was at the hectic center of the Weimar culture. Although not part of the Weimar Republic, some authors also include the German-speaking Austria, and particularly Vienna, as part of Weimar culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnus Hirschfeld</span> Jewish German physician and sexologist (1868–1935)

Magnus T. Hirschfeld was a Jewish German physician and sexologist, whose citizenship was later revoked by the Nazi government. Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and World League for Sexual Reform. He based his practice in Berlin-Charlottenburg during the Weimar period. Performance Studies and Rhetoric Professor Dustin Goltz characterized the committee as having carried out "the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Henry Mackay</span> German anarchist writer (1864–1933)

John Henry Mackay was a Scottish-German egoist anarchist, thinker and writer. Born in Scotland and raised in Germany, Mackay was the author of Die Anarchisten and Der Freiheitsucher.

<span title="German-language text"><i lang="de">Institut für Sexualwissenschaft</i></span> German sexology research institute (1919–33)

The Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was an early private sexology research institute in Germany from 1919 to 1933. The name is variously translated as Institute for Sexual Research, Institute of Sexology, Institute for Sexology, or Institute for the Science of Sexuality. The Institute was a non-profit foundation situated in Tiergarten, Berlin. It was the first sexology research center in the world.

<i>Different from the Others</i> 1919 German film

Different from the Others is a silent German melodramatic film produced during the Weimar Republic. It was first released in 1919 and stars Conrad Veidt and Reinhold Schünzel. It was directed by Richard Oswald, and the story co-written by Oswald and Magnus Hirschfeld, who also had a small part in the film and partially funded the production through his Institute for Sexual Science. The film was intended as a polemic against the then-current laws under Germany's Paragraph 175, which made homosexuality a criminal offense. It was one of the first sympathetic portrayals of gay men in cinema.

Julian Gumperz was a United States-born German sociologist, communist activist, publicist, and translator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific-Humanitarian Committee</span> German LGBT rights organization founded in 1897

The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee was founded by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin in May 1897, to campaign for social recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and against their legal persecution. It was the first LGBT rights organization in history. The motto of the organization was "Per scientiam ad justitiam", and the committee included representatives from various professions. The committee's membership peaked at about 700 people. In 1929, Kurt Hiller took over as chairman of the group from Hirschfeld. At its peak, the WhK had branches in approximately 25 cities in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.

<i>Der Eigene</i>

Der Eigene was one of the first gay journals in the world, published from 1896 to 1932 by Adolf Brand in Berlin. Brand contributed many poems and articles; other contributors included writers Benedict Friedlaender, Hanns Heinz Ewers, Erich Mühsam, Kurt Hiller, Ernst Burchard, John Henry Mackay, Theodor Lessing, Klaus Mann, and Thomas Mann, as well as artists Wilhelm von Gloeden, Fidus, and Sascha Schneider. The journal may have had an average of around 1500 subscribers per issue during its run, but the exact numbers are uncertain.

<span title="German-language text"><i lang="de">Schwules Museum</i></span> Museum of LGBT+ history in Berlin

The Schwules Museum in Berlin, Germany, is a museum and research centre with collections focusing on LGBTQ+ history and culture. It opened in 1985 and it was the first museum in the world dedicated to gay history.

This is a list of events in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex (LGBTQ+) history in Germany.

<i>Die Freundin</i> German lesbian magazine from 1924 to 1933

Die Freundin was a popular Weimar-era German lesbian magazine published from 1924 to 1933. Founded in 1924, it was the world's first lesbian magazine, closely followed by Frauenliebe and Die BIF. The magazine was published from Berlin, the capital of Germany, by the Bund für Menschenrecht, run by gay activist and publisher Friedrich Radszuweit. The Bund was an organization for homosexuals which had a membership of 48,000 in the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannes Holzmann</span> German anarchist writer and activist (1882–1914)

Johannes Holzmann was a German anarchist writer and activist who generally went by the pseudonym Senna Hoy.

Karl-Günther Heimsoth, also known as Karl-Guenter Heimsoth, was a German physician, polygraph, and politician. Heimsoth was a member of the Nazi Party and later the Communist Party of Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selli Engler</span> German lesbian activist (1899–1972)

Selma "Selli" Engler was a leading activist of the lesbian movement in Berlin from about 1924 to 1931.

Garçonne was a Weimar-era German magazine for lesbians. It was published from 1926 to 1930 under the title Frauenliebe and from 1930 to 1932 as Garçonne.

<i>Die BIF</i> 1926–1927, worlds first lesbian magazine published, edited and written solely by women

Die BIF – Blätter Idealer Frauenfreundschaften, subtitled Monatsschrift für weibliche Kultur, was a short-lived lesbian magazine of Weimar Germany, published from either 1925 or 1926 until 1927 in Berlin. Founded by lesbian activist Selli Engler, Die BIF was part of the first wave of lesbian publications in history and the world's first lesbian magazine to be published, edited and written solely by women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotte Hahm</span> Lesbian activist Weimar Germany (1890–1967)

Charlotte "Lotte" Hedwig Hahm was a prominent activist of the lesbian movement in Berlin during the Weimar Republic, National Socialist period, and after 1949, in the Federal Republic of Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First homosexual movement</span> German social movement, late 19th century to 1933

The first homosexual movement was a socio-political movement which thrived in Germany from the late nineteenth century until 1933. The movement began in Germany because of a confluence of factors, including the criminalization of sex between men and the country's relatively lax censorship. German writers in the mid-nineteenth century coined the word homosexual and criticized its criminalization. In 1897, Magnus Hirschfeld founded the world's first homosexual organization, the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, whose aim was to use science to improve public tolerance of homosexuality and repeal Paragraph 175. During the German Empire, the movement was restricted to an educated elite, but it greatly expanded in the aftermath of World War I and the German Revolution.

Erwin von Busse also known as Granand or Erwin von Busse-Granand was a German writer, painter, theater director, art historian and art critic. His 1920 short story collection Das erotische Komödiengärtlein—literally "Erotic Comedy Garden"—featured stories exploring erotic male relationships, which lead to it being banned by courts in both Berlin and Leipzig; it was republished in German in 1993 and in an English translation in 2022 as Berlin Garden of Erotic Delights. As a stage director for several years he worked with some of the most prominent figures of his time and directed the 1919 world premiere of James Joyce's drama Exiles. He devoted himself to painting in his later years, living in exile in Brazil from 1928 onward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transgender people in Nazi Germany</span> Persecution and treatment of transgender people in Nazi Germany

In Nazi Germany, transgender people were prosecuted, barred from public life, forcibly detransitioned, and imprisoned and killed in concentration camps. Though some factors, such as whether they were considered "Aryan", heterosexual with regard to their birth sex, or capable of useful work had the potential to mitigate their circumstances, transgender people were largely stripped of legal status by the Nazi state.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Tamagne, Florence (2004). A History of Homosexuality in Europe, Vol. I & II: Berlin, London, Paris, 1919–1939. Algora Publishing. pp. 74–75. ISBN   9780875863559.
  2. Pochmara, Anna (2011). The Making of the New Negro: Black Authorship, Masculinity, and Sexuality in the Harlem Renaissance. Amsterdam University Press. p. 83. ISBN   9789089643193.
  3. Beachy, Robert (2014). Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 205. ISBN   9780385353076.
  4. Whisnant, Clayton J. (2012). Male Homosexuality in West Germany: Between Persecution and Freedom, 1945–69. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 80. ISBN   9781137028341.
  5. 1 2 3 Fassnacht, Max (2008). Enchanted desires, sacred embodiments: sex and gender variant spiritualities in Weimar Germany (PDF) (M.A. thesis). University of British Columbia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.