The German brothel: history since the Middle Ages
Prostitution is legal in Germany, as are all aspects of the sex industry, including brothels, advertising and job offers through recruitment companies. Getting into a public house in Germany is not particularly difficult.
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The range of sex services is widely regulated by the German government, which levies taxes. In 2002, the government changed the law and improved the legal status of sex workers. However, the social stigma of sex work persists, and many workers continue to lead double lives.
Middle Ages before Confederation (1815)
Since the 13th century, brothels known as Frauenh& auml; user (“women”s houses”) have existed in some German cities. Some municipalities actively encouraged this, and sex workers often celebrated guests who maintained internal order as the lesser evil, with escapes such as betrayal and rape. Municipalities also received tax revenue from prostitutes. Sex workers were increasingly persecuted in the early 16th century, with the onset of the Reformation and the emergence of syphilis. In 1530, Charles V ordered the closure of brothels throughout the empire. All about sex in the Middle Ages in our article Next!
Confederacy (1815–1871)
Beginning in the 19th century, workers in many local sex businesses were required to register with the police or local health authorities and undergo regular medical examinations to monitor sexual diseases. The Bremer Rules of 1852, sealed by SO-Caled, stated that prostitution “is not a trade in the true sense of the word.”
German Empire (1871–1918)
In Imperial Germany (1871-1918), attitudes towards sex work were ambivalent. Sex work was seen as a necessary function for the provision of male sexuality outside of marriage, but also as a threat to modern moral ideas about female sexuality. Therefore, government policy was aimed at regulating rather than eliminating brothels. This mainly happened at the municipal level. The Criminal Code of 1871 prohibited brothels and “commercial debauchery.” However, in the 1876 version, prostitution was punished only if the girls in the brothels worked without police supervision.
Read also: History of brothels: how did prostitutes exist in ancient times? the very term “brothel” in society is already recognized as a dirty word on a subconscious level, where prostitution is rightly called promiscuous.
The authorities were especially strict regarding prostitution in the port of Hamburg. The rules included guidelines for dress and behavior both in and outside the brothel. This allowed the profession to be defined as a separate class of women in society. German brothels were not a stigma that drove women out of society.
Republic (1918–1933)
During the Weimar period, the economy collapsed due to the losses of World War I and the introduction of war reparations under the Treaty of Versailles. As a result, the middle class lost their savings and the working class found itself unemployed. The Republic stopped printing money to pay its bills, leading to hyperinflation in 1923. All this led to millions of women, including war widows, turning to prostitution. Weimar Berlin is famous for its decline. STD laws were discussed and passed in 1927, at the same time as prostitution was decriminalized.
Nazi era (1933–1945)
10 spicy facts about the life of medieval prostitutes!
German Democratic Republic (GDR 1945–1990)
After World War II, the country was divided into East and West Germany. In East Germany, as in all countries of the communist Eastern Bloc, sex work of any kind was illegal and, according to the official position, it was not. However, hotels in East Berlin and other large cities employed high-class sex workers, targeting mainly Western visitors.
Federal Republic of Germany (1945–2001)
In West Germany, registration and inspection requirements remained in place, but were implemented differently in different parts of the country. In Bavaria, regular HIV testing was required in addition to STD screenings planned since 1987. Many sex workers avoided registration and did not face these checks. In 1967, the largest brothel in Europe, the six-story Eros Center, opened in what was then Hamburg. Mandatory registration and audit of workers was abolished in 2001. Everyone, including illegal immigrants, has access to free, anonymous and voluntary medical tests.
Male prostitution
Relatively few men provide sexual services to women, usually in the form of escort services and hotel meetings. Most male prostitutes provide services to male clients. In 2007, there were an estimated 2, 500 male prostitutes in Berlin. The brothels in Pasha are reserved for male prostitutes and transsexuals on the ground floor.
