The friendship (magazine)

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Friendship

description Gay magazine
publishing company Karl Schultz Publishing House
First edition August 13, 1919
attitude March 1933
Frequency of publication weekly - yearly
Editor-in-chief Max H. Danielsen
ZDB 1326102-2

The friendship (or just: friendship ) was a German magazine for homosexual men that appeared from 1919 to 1933. Today it is regarded as the most important German gay magazine of the Weimar Republic , especially in the period up to 1922. In early 1923, however, it lost its importance as a central organ of the German homosexual movement .

historical development

The friendship appeared on August 13, 1919 with an initial circulation of 20,000 copies, which increased continuously. But it probably did not get beyond a print run of 40,000 to 50,000 copies. She contributed to the establishment of homosexual journalism that produced around 20-30 different magazines during the Weimar Republic. The friendship had a pioneering role, which is also clear from the fact that in 1922 two rival papers ( Friendship and Freedom ; Uranos ) were absorbed in the friendship . It was the beginning of mass journalism that left behind more scientific journalism ( Magnus Hirschfeld , the WhK and the yearbook for sexual intermediate stages ) and that of a more elitist movement ( Adolf Brand and Der Eigen ). From 1919 to 1923, the friendship appeared weekly and increased the number of pages from initially four to 16 pages later. Before the inflation, the price was mostly 10 pfennigs per sheet. B. 40 pfennigs for eight pages. Compared to daily newspapers, it was therefore quite expensive, which was criticized by some buyers.

Employees and supporters

The most important person behind the friendship was the editor and publisher Karl Schultz , who later also appeared as a mail-order bookseller with photos and books. From July 1928, the friendship appeared in the Phoebus publishing house by Kurt Eitelbuß. The editor in charge was initially Max H. Danielsen (1920 to 1922), who was later replaced by Georg Plock . Prominent activists such as Ferdinand Karsch-Haack , Kurt Hiller and Richard Linsert , who supported the friendship with contributions, were also important for the success of the magazine . All of these men were close to the early homosexual movement , be it through work in the German Friendship Association (DFV) or through personal contacts.

At the beginning, the journal was also supported by the Scientific Humanitarian Committee (WhK). The chairman Magnus Hirschfeld later supported the makers of the friendship in court. When those responsible were on trial for the dissemination of indecent writings , he certified in an expert opinion that the interest of friendship consisted in raising same-sex relationships to a higher level. In the Friendship published Hirschfeld in 1922 and 1923 in a total of 53 episodes autobiographical texts on the history of homosexuals since the Wilhelmine era , in 1986 under the title From once until now published as a book.

Target group and networking

The magazine was not aimed at gays and lesbians, but mostly friends . Using friendship as a metaphor for homosexuality was typical of the homosexual movement of the 1920s (and later in the 1950s). Some later issues had subtitles such as the monthly for ideal friendship or - more clearly - the monthly for the liberation struggle of differently inclined men and women . In its headings - in particular on § 175 StGB and the repeal of § 175 (Book 1) - the magazine made it unmistakably clear who it wanted to be the mouthpiece for.

With their contributions, the friendship made a decisive contribution to the formation of local friendship associations in many cities and to the networking of these groups. The various friendship alliances that were founded in 1919 and 1920 merged in August 1920 to form the German Friendship Association (DFV) as the umbrella organization. As a result, the friendship also became the organ of the DFV, which in 1923 was renamed the Bund für Menschenrecht (BfM). After the DFV was founded in August 1920, it was subtitled as the Official Organ of the German Friendship Association . Possibly this also happened in order to be less vulnerable to censorship as a supposedly internal club journal.

politics

The magazine had two main political goals: the abolition of § 175 RStGB and the education about homosexuality. In the first and second issue the editors gave under the heading What we want! their concerns and goals so well known:

“ The friendship

- wants to be an enlightening, instructive and entertaining good friend and advisor in all walks of life to all free-thinking friends.

- wants to represent the interests of free-thinking single people in every way.

- wants to be a mediator for all those for whom the longed-for ideal friendly intercourse is made difficult by economic circumstances or [for] other reasons.

- takes the standpoint of free self-determination and disposal of the adult individual over himself.

- does not want to be a scandal and sensation paper, but an enlightening, free-thinking weekly magazine built on an ideal basis, moving with the times. "

Editorial contributions

The Friendship often addressed the legal situation of homosexuals, for example. B. the various attempts to delete § 175 RStGB. The social situation was also regularly examined. From the first issue onwards, the editors also offered advice and clarification for the loyalty of readers to the magazine . The friendship contained sex science reports and articles on same-sex sexuality in other cultures and eras. German and international press articles were quoted or reprinted. In addition, scientific and fictional literature, theatrical performances and films were discussed and information about events in various cities was provided.

Fiction, art and advertising

Prose and poetry by well-known and unknown contemporary and classical authors formed another pillar of friendship . The novels were often continued over several editions. Apparently made possible by modified reproduction processes, the number of images increased from the mid-1920s. In rare cases, subtle nudes and nude drawings were also published. Advertisements also contributed to the financing of the magazine, ranging from dental practices to photo studios and restaurants. Letters to the editor were also printed in almost every issue.

Personals

A typical personal ad for a heterosexual marriage of convenience in "friendship"

There are publicists who assume that it was primarily the personals that attracted gays and lesbians to buy this magazine. Erwin In het Panhuis examined the personals in the friendship from August 1919 to December 1920 for Cologne. He found around 80 gay personals from Cologne. In a different form than they do today, they make clear which attributes and characteristics formerly seemed important to homosexuals, which is reflected in the age and occupation information as well as in the references to social status and attractiveness. In the partner description, loyalty and honesty are often stated as desired characteristics. More than today they worked with ciphers - after all , the editors did not want to risk a criminal complaint for pimping and the readership did not want to attract blackmailers' attention. Because the personal ads often led to blackmail, they were later only sent separately to subscribers. An interesting example of utterances that are comparatively easy to decipher is a personal ad for a comradeship marriage . Here is the speech of a Marriage v . [Or] d . [He] world and by a widow, who understands me . That’s three typical ciphers that express the desire for an arranged mock wedding.

Censorship and bans

A kiosk seller in Berlin who also offered the "friendship" for sale on both newspaper stands on the left (in the middle)

From the beginning, the friendship was threatened by censorship. Immediately after the first two editions, it was banned without giving any reason. Karl Schultz renamed the friendship to Der Freund , from the 4th issue it appeared again under the original title.

Between 1919 and 1923, at least five lawsuits were brought against the friendship , which resulted in three convictions. Mostly it was about the dissemination of indecent writings , but also about the unauthorized publication of a magazine and with the personals about pimping . The police did not take action against similar personals from heterosexual persons in the press. The disputed personals were actually de-sexualized and contained at most cautious statements about body size, stature or hair and eye color. The fact that the friendship was initially also sold at the kiosk cannot hide the limits of the liberalism of the Weimar Republic. For fear of prosecution and convictions, the friendship appeared from August 1928 only on subscription and no longer in street sales.

Lesbian and trans *

The magazine was mostly about gays and the magazine was coined and made by men. Women and lesbians remain underrepresented in the magazine - as in the entire movement of this time.

In rare cases, trans * people and intersex people have also been reported. So appeared in October 1931 in the friendship a contribution entitled: Life fate Lili Elbe. The man who became a woman . Lili Elbe was one of the first people to undergo gender reassignment surgery. Her life was filmed under the title The Danish Girl (2015).

The end of the magazine and the gay movement

The magazine itself did not announce its end. In December 1932, the friendship reported optimistically about Magnus Hirschfeld's trip around the world, from which he would soon be returning. Even in the first three months of 1933 there were no indications of the threat of censorship. In March 1933 the friendship appeared for the last time. Olaf Zibell-Vieth emphasizes the poor economic situation of the newspaper at the beginning of the 1930s caused by legal proceedings and builds on this the conclusion: In order to prevent the publication of the magazine, direct actions by the Nazis after January 30th […] were there too not known yet, not necessary at all . With this he suggests that it could have continued to appear under better economic conditions. The exact process of breaking up the magazines is actually incompletely documented. The historian Claudia Schoppmann traces the end of all gay magazines in March 1933 in her dissertation National Socialist Sexual Policy and Female Homosexuality (1991) to a Prussian decree dated March 7, 1933 to combat lewd writings. Because the magazines were published in Berlin, they were all affected by the Prussian decree and direct individual bans are probably actually unnecessary. The associations behind the magazines were not banned outright, but quickly disbanded under the pressure of events. The smashing of all homosexual scene structures from 1933 onwards was a process that took place particularly early and particularly sharply in Berlin. The previous trials against friendship were at least partly an expression of an aggravated political situation. Out of justified concern for his life, Magnus Hirschfeld did not return to Germany from his world tour and died in exile in 1935.

literature

  • Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic (2008, p. 1–72, here p. 2–14)
  • Schwules Museum (ed.); Akademie der Künste, Berlin (Ed.): Goodbye to Berlin? : 100 years of the gay movement; an exhibition by the Schwules Museum and the Academy of Arts, May 17 to August 17, 1997. Berlin 1997, ISBN 3861490625 .
  • Erwin In het Panhuis: Different from the others. Gays and lesbians in Cologne and the surrounding area 1895–1918. Edited by Center for Gay History . Hermann-Josef Emons-Verlag Cologne 2006, ISBN 978-3-89705-481-3 . (Here as PDF. Pp. 175–178).
  • Olaf Zibell-Vieth: Friendship. Bibliography of a monthly for ideal friendship from the Weimar Republic. The years 1927–1933 . Archeion Phoinix, Archive for Rare Literature Paderborn 2017.

Web links

  • Erwin In het Panhuis: Different from the others. Gays and lesbians in Cologne and the surrounding area 1895–1918. Edited by Center for Gay History . Hermann-Josef Emons-Verlag Cologne 2006, ISBN 978-3-89705-481-3 . ( Here as PDF. Pp. 175–178).
  • Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic (2008, p. 1–72, here p. 2–14)
  • Erwin In het Panhuis: Queer Media. The first gay kiosk magazine turns 100 here

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic. P. 3 , accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  2. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic. P. 3 , accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  3. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic. Pp. 4–5 , accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  4. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic. Pp. 2–3 , accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  5. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic. P. 6 , accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  6. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic. P. 6 , accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  7. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic. Pp. 10–14 , accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  8. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic. P. 4 , accessed on August 16, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Olaf Zibell-Vieth: The friendship. Bibliography of a monthly for ideal friendship from the Weimar Republic. The years 1927–1933. Archeion Phoinix, Archive for Rare Literature, Paderborn 2017, p. 7 .