One two two

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Facade of the One Two Two today

The One Two Two , just 122 , was one of the most famous brothels in Paris of the 20th century. It was named after the address at Paris rue de Provence 122 in the 8th arrondissement ; the English pronunciation was an allusion to the numerous English visitors to this establishment during the interwar period . It was founded and managed by a certain Marcel Jamet , called “Fraisette” (after an extremely popular cocktail made from strawberry syrup and Vichy at the time ).

history

Thanks to his first girlfriend, who worked for him as a prostitute , Jamet had made a small fortune in Argentina after the First World War and had then returned to Paris. He first bought a small villa on Avenue Junot and in 1924 bought a modest brothel at 122 rue de Provence, later called One Two Two . Jamet planned to turn it into the best brothel in Paris. So he had the entire house rebuilt, fired the old ones and hired completely new women.

“Salons are being built and the rooms are being renovated. Highlife. Everything has to be as chic as possible, including the staff. Thirty girls who don't need to be ashamed of their bums and smile friendly. Always ready, that is the motto. Monsieur Marcel is not only an artist, but also an active man who knows how to bring momentum to the shop. "

Jamet filled a gap in the market: a combination of a brothel and a fine restaurant. The waitresses served boef à la ficelle (beef on a thread) in fancy costumes or completely naked with only a small apron , one ate with real silverware from the finest china and drank the finest champagne from crystal glasses. The French writer Alphonse Boudard called it the Comédie-Française des co-sleeping for derusting urban tails and wrote:

“[It was] a symbol of a bygone era, a civilization that had disappeared forever. Prostitution in red armchairs. Old dreams of ancient Greece and sketches by Toulouse-Lautrec . A place of freedom, luxury and convenience. The earth seemed young. Love a game. And the pleasure of playing a game in this game. When visiting the brothel, you naturally wore a three-piece suit, a wide-brimmed hat and gaiters. Relaxation in the afternoon without any fuss. Nobody saw anything bad in it. "

Second World War

When the Germans occupied Paris, it was busy in 122, with Jamet playing a double role: on the one hand, he was involved in the Resistance , on the other, the noble brothel was the main contact point for officers of the German Wehrmacht . The 122 generated high revenues. In 1939 two Cadillacs were registered, one owned by Sacha Guitry and the other by Marcel Jamet. The German officers even received brochures such as Das Bordellwesen in Paris (ed. 1940–41) or lodging hotels for passing officers who are under German sanitary supervision with detailed illustrations of the rooms and staff of the establishments. In addition to the officers of the Wehrmacht, the establishment was frequented by the crooks and smugglers of Paris and the Carlingue , the French Gestapo. Fabienne recalls:

“We had never experienced such a boom. During the Battle of London, the pilots of the bombers and fighter planes used to pay a visit to the 'One' before it was deployed. Maybe it was their last champagne, their last night of love ... The nights of the occupation were fantastic. In the first few months we even played the song from ' Tipperary ' on the gramophone . My girls were crazy about it. They always put the record on when officers were present and I broke out in a cold sweat because it was ultimately a provocation. But they even seemed to like it. One evening they were all singing in a choir. Just imagine: The German pilots in France sang the English soldier's song! "

After the war

After Paris was liberated, Jamet was arrested by patriots on charges of "serving" the occupiers, but it turned out that he was also active in the Resistance the whole time. When the Anglo-French Society even confirmed in writing that he had rendered important services to the "allied cause", he was released. However, he still had to close 122 and sell it when Law No. 46658, known as Loi Marthe Richard , passed on April 13, 1946 by an alliance of Christian Democrats ( MRP ) and Communists , came into force. The bill was introduced by Marthe Richard , a former street prostitute who had gained influence and power through marriage and who had finally become a city ​​councilor of Paris. In the book Paris - Eros, Hans-Jürgen Döpp comments on her as follows: “Now she was able to demonstrate her virtue on display.” Fabienne Jamet said quite unpatriotically: “Today I know one thing, if the Germans had won the war, it would be ours Brothels still in operation. "

Rue de Provence 122

The rooms

The erotic offer spanned a Venice room with an original gondola, a replica igloo with polar bear skins, sleeping cars in the style of the Orient Express with landscapes flying past in front of the window and the noises of trains , the romance of shipping with a built-in porthole and even lifebuoys, Egyptian Cleopatra or Loire locks - Flair, for the delicately strung country love with young farmer's wife, fresh eggs and the twittering of birds and for the lovers of somewhat harder games a torture chamber with neck iron, cross with leather loops and whips.

A prostitute working there recalls:

“In the salon, the advantages of women are really presented in the best light. Columns everywhere! And pedestals on which we then climb. What do you think the clothes look like then! We are at least fifty to sixty women ... "

Role-playing games were also part of the offer. Fabienne Jamet, the second wife of the brothel operator, describes her experiences with guests in her autobiography The next gentleman, s'il vous plaît, memories from One Two Two, Rue de Provence as follows:

"I often disguised myself as a first communicator or as a schoolgirl and then had to obey the customer."

They understood even more unusual requests. Fabienne:

“[...] The banker made himself comfortable in a magnificent coffin lined with dark red velvet. An orchestra he had ordered and paid for (the coffin was also on his account) played religious songs while he sipped champagne in his coffin surrounded by six stark-naked women. After dreaming for half an hour, he chose one of the ladies and did it with her in the 'morgue'. "

The public

Within three years, the house had not only become the most famous brothel in France, but also an internal meeting place for art and culture. Not only were the top of Parisian (“better”) society regular customers, the brothel also became a cultural term internationally. Fabienne expresses herself somewhat casually about the peculiarities of various nations:

“The Englishman was always very, very cosmopolitan. I remember someone who was once very drunk. He had laid down in one of the waiting cubicles on the first floor and absolutely did not want to go home. 'Never!' 'But monsieur, you are a gentleman, as an Englishman you cannot act like that!' The result was amazing. He got up, bowed slightly, and then marched out stiffly as a tin soldier. It was enough to remind him that he was a gentleman and he acted accordingly. The Americans were less well-bred, the Russians raw and brutal, the Germans excellent customers, the Belgians good country uncles who made no stories, the Italians with a few exceptions shoddy pack, the Spaniards and South Americans horrible guys - but the worst were the Japanese. They arrived in hordes of ten to twelve men. Only one person went up, but everyone made their way into the selection salon and everyone added their mustard to the selection of the only customer, gave advice and had complaints about everything. And they paid the strict minimum. And the French? Actually very good customers, only you had to give them a little nudge from time to time because of the tip. "

Celebrities came and went, like the Belgian King Leopold III. , the young Randolph Churchill or the French screen stars Martine Carol and Michel Simon . Hollywood also showed up such as Marlene Dietrich , Katharine Hepburn , Humphrey Bogart , Cary Grant and Charlie Chaplin as well as Marcel Vertès with his friend Erich Maria Remarque ;

Fabienne writes in her autobiography:

“The painter Vertès often accompanied us on our nightly drinking tours. He was always bothering me and desperately wanted me to model him, but I had seen some pictures of his private pornographic collection on him. In these pictures he always portrayed beautifully grown, attractive women together with disgusting, fat-bellied old lustful newts, or he drew beautiful, petite boys who had sex with hideous old witches. I refused his request ... and today I very much regret it, because these paintings by Vertès are now fetching astronomical sums at the Paris art auctions. "

Film adaptations

In 1978 the story of the brothel was made into a film based on the memories of Fabienne Jamet under the title The House of Joy in the Rue Provence ( One, Two, Two: 122, rue de Provence ) under the direction of Christian Gion .

The docu-drama series War of Dreams , broadcast for the first time on ARTE in September 2018 on the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, episodically depicts the experiences of Marcel and Fabienne Jamet. They were played by Robinson Stévenin and Emilie Gavois-Kahn .

See also

literature

  • Fabienne Jamet: One Two Two - 122 rue de Provence. Olivier Orban, Paris 1975.
    • Fabienne Jamet: The next gentleman, s'il vous plaît. Memories from One two two, Rue de Provence. Retold by Albert Kantof and René Havard. Translated from the French by Helmut Kossodo. List, Munich 1976.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The golden age of the brothel , Alphonse Boudard and Romi, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich ISBN 3-453-05181-5 , p. 65 / One Two Two.
  2. ↑ Alexander Sixtus von Reden, Josef Schweikhardt: Lust and Passion around 1900 . Tosa-Verlag, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-85492-203-5 , p. 47 . P. 44.
  3. ^ A b Paris Eros - The Imaginary Erotikmuseum, Hans-Jürgen Döpp, Parkstone Press Ltd., New York 2004 (German version), ISBN 1-85995-759-5 , p. 233.
  4. ↑ a b c d Alexander Sixtus von Reden, Josef Schweikhardt: Lust and Passion around 1900 . Tosa-Verlag, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-85492-203-5 , p. 47 . Pp. 44/47/54.
  5. ^ A b Hans-Jürgen Döpp: Paris Eros - The imaginary erotic museum. Parkstone Press Ltd., New York 2004 (German version), ISBN 1-85995-759-5 , p. 238.
  6. ^ A b c Hans-Jürgen Döpp: Paris Eros - The imaginary erotic museum. Parkstone Press Ltd., New York 2004 (German version), ISBN 1-85995-759-5 , pp. 238/239.
  7. ↑ a b Fabienne Jamet: The next gentleman, s'il vous plaît. Memories from the One Two Two, Rue de Provence. Rowohlt-Verlag, 1979, ISBN 3499143151 .
  8. ^ A b Hans-Jürgen Döpp: Paris Eros - The imaginary erotic museum. Parkstone Press Ltd., New York 2004 (German version), ISBN 1-85995-759-5 , p. 234.
  9. ↑ Chimelli, Rudolph: Where nobody goes (III): The summer correspondent in search of lost lust The Sphinx in the house of joy . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 17, 1996, page 3, reports.

Coordinates: 48 ° 52 ′ 27.1 "  N , 2 ° 19 ′ 35.1"  E