Abstract
This paper focuses on queer life in Berlin from the beginning of the Weimar period (1918-1933) to the end of the Nazi Period (1933-1945) and is divided into chronological sections: queer culture in Weimar Berlin: Late 1920s-1932, Hitler’s Seizing of Power: 1933-1936, The Rise of the Third Reich: 1936-1939, and War Period: 1939-1945. I analyze the media and cabaret, Magnus Hirschfeld, the threat of Mannerbund, Nazi policy against homosexuality, closure of night clubs and arrests. My main sources are primary sources including photographs, newspaper articles, film, memoirs, police records and registries, German law and translated speeches. I argue that queer life in Berlin was not only surviving but thriving in Weimar Berlin and that it continued to exist throughout the Nazi period despite its persecution from the public sphere. The purpose of my essay is to analyze how the Queer population navigated Hitler’s Berlin in comparison to Weimar Berlin as well as how urban spaces allowed queer culture to survive in both time periods.
Recommended Citation
Kimes, Lauren
(2025)
"A Comparative Study of Gender and Sexuality in Berlin: 1918-1945,"
Proceedings of GREAT Day: Vol. 16, Article 10.
Available at:
https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/proceedings-of-great-day/vol16/iss1/10