Dorian Gray (hall)
The Dorian Gray was a so-called hallway on Bülowstrasse in Berlin . It was founded in 1921 and existed until March 1933 when it was closed by the National Socialists . During its existence, the Dorian Gray was one of the most famous dance halls and cultural meeting point for the homosexual movement of what was then Berlin, especially for the city's lesbian scene.
history
The Dorian Gray was opened in early 1921 by Richard Bytomski in Bülowstrasse 57. It got its name from the book The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde , who was sentenced to prison in 1895 for his homosexuality. Bytomski had already founded the Margrave Casino two years earlier with the same objective , but had to close the bar again after a year. The Dorian Gray quickly became known. Bytomski was not only a landlord, but also a member of the so-called "Local Owner Club", an association of gay and lesbian restaurants that existed from 1921 to 1925 and a member of the board of the Bund für Menschenrechte , one of the two large organizations of the homosexual movement.
On February 13, 1927, Bytomski died surprisingly at the age of 28 after a brief, serious illness. Two friends continued to run the restaurant in its place until it was taken over by Richard Bytomski's mother Franziska in 1931 and continued with the support of "Frau Anneliese" - presumably it was Anneliese Mater , who in 1932 was just a few steps away from Dorian Gray local Olala opened.
In January 1933, Franziska Bytomski withdrew from the business and handed it over to Carl Bergmann , the publisher of numerous homosexual magazines and chairman of the German Friendship Association . Bergmann's leadership was short-lived, however, because on March 3, 1933, just a few weeks after the Nazi seizure of power, the city's fourteen best-known homosexual meeting places were closed, including Dorian Gray .
profile
A description from the magazine Der Eigen from 1921 praised the atmosphere with the key words “Ingratiating music, elegant audience, comfortable armchairs; silhouettes on the walls. ”The Dorian Gray was open to lesbian women and gay men alike and quickly became known as a dance venue for a young audience. Numerous events took place, especially on weekends, in addition to evening performances by the own house band, performances by singers, comedians and dancers (including Harry Braun and Ilonka Stoyka , who are well -known in the scene), variety shows, themed parties, as well as author and reading evenings. With this combination, the Dorian Gray was the first of its kind in Berlin.
After Bytomski's death, Dorian Gray's profile changed to a greater focus on the city's lesbian scene and it received the reputation of a “ladies' bar”. In 1928 it was the first meeting point of the Monbijou women's club , which in the following years became the largest lesbian club in town, and from 1930 its clubhouse. Ruth Margarete Roellig wrote in 1928 that “everything possible has been done to make both rooms [...] intimate and cozy” and summed up: “And if the DG, as the abbreviation says, has also been used in recent years is no longer as up-to-date as it used to be, it still means an interesting site that cannot be ignored when listing the lesbian bars in Berlin. ”Since 1929, it has been the regular meeting point for the editors of Frauenliebe magazine and its successor , the Garçonne . Annette Eick , author of the Garçonne since 1930 , reported in retrospect: “It was absolutely pleasant and friendly there. There was a piano in the back room, you could dance and talk. ”In 1931 Curt Moreck wrote about the Dorian Gray :“ The restaurant is one of the oldest of its kind, already consecrated to the Sapphic Eros, but also to the male brother is granted. However, with a clean divorce. The men's and women's evenings are separated. "
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Dorian Gray (1921–1933). The preferred meeting point in the west. In: Andreas Pretzel : From Dorian Gray to Eldorado. Historical places and dazzling personalities in the Schöneberg Regenbogenkiez (= Maneo-Kiezgeschichte 1). Self-published, Berlin 2012, pp. 35–42.
- ↑ Ruth Margarete Roellig: Berlins lesbian women. Bruno Gebauer Verlag für Kulturprobleme, Leipzig 1928, pp. 33–35.