Scientific-Humanitarian Committee

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (WhK) was the first attempt in history to organize against anti-homosexual penal laws and to educate the public about the "nature of male-male love".

1897-1933

The WhK was founded on May 15, 1897 (four days before Oscar Wilde's release from prison) by Magnus Hirschfeld together with the publisher Max Spohr , the lawyer Eduard Oberg and the writer Franz Joseph von Bülow in his apartment at Berliner Allee 104 (today Otto-Suhr -Allee ) in Berlin. The purpose of the committee was to mobilize a critical public for the deletion of paragraph 175 , which threatened sexual intercourse between men with imprisonment. Adolf Brand , Benedict Friedlaender , Kurt Hiller , Hugo Marcus and Eduard Bertz joined the organization, among others. Magnus Hirschfeld's deputy in the WhK was the Berlin doctor Georg Merzbach from 1905 until the First World War .

The WhK was closely associated with Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexology . From this it took over a number of scientific theories, all of which amounted to constructing homosexuals as a biological “ third sex ” between men and women. This type of theory building already got into an outsider role in the Weimar Republic . Their aim was to make criminal law inapplicable by proving the innate existence of homosexuality.

The biological tendency that Hirschfeld gave to the committee met with opposition within the WhK from the start. But it was not until November 24, 1929 that his internal competitors, above all the KPD functionary Richard Linsert , succeeded in forcing Hirschfeld to resign. He was succeeded by the medical councilor Otto Juliusburger , and Kurt Hiller was elected second chairman. The third assessor on the new board was the writer Bruno Vogel . In the short time that remained until the committee was dissolved by the National Socialists in 1933, Juliusburger brought about a reorientation of the WhK that freed it from its academic isolation. Instead of biological research, the emphasis has now been placed on psychological and sociological research.

The committee had its seat in Berlin and branches in about 25 German, Austrian and Dutch cities. Although it never had more than 500 members, mostly academics and educated people, it is considered an important milestone in the homosexual emancipation movement . The mass organization, on the other hand, was the Federation for Human Rights founded by Friedrich Radszuweit in 1923 . Partially offsetting positions represented the community of treasury of Adolf Brand .

Branches

In some cases, only a small amount of data has been preserved on the branches; In particular, the dissolution or falling asleep of the activities are naturally rarely documented.

Munich

A branch existed in Munich from 1902 to 1908. The initiator of the subcommittee was the pharmacist Joseph Schedel . On August 6, 1902, there was a preliminary meeting in his apartment at Amalienstraße 16. Magnus Hirschfeld , Wilhelm Walloth , August Fleischmann and Alfred Schuler were also present. On September 24, 1902, the Scientific Humanitarian Committee Munich (WhKM) met for its founding meeting. Very soon they distanced themselves from August Fleischmann because of his Veritas association ; from the fifth meeting on December 19, 1902, he was no longer allowed to sign as chairman, and later he was repeatedly distanced. In the course of time, Magnus Hirschfeld was repeatedly criticized for some views and actions, namely for offensive actions and his theory of sexual intermediate stages. Thoughtfully one was closer to Adolf Brand . Lectures were organized and petitions were written, also to the episcopal ordinariates and to the Protestant consistories of southern Germany. Meetings and social evenings of the WhKM took place in the Hotel Rheinpfalz , Café Royal , Café Kaiser Franz Josef and the Bayerischer Hof . Because of the case of Friedrich Alfred Krupp , an extraordinary meeting was called on December 18, 1902. In October 1906 Schedel was elected chairman at the WhK annual meeting in Charlottenburg. On December 14, 1907, he resigned from this office.

At the 38th meeting of the WhKM on May 29, 1908, it was unanimously decided to dissolve the WhKM “in view of the unfavorable circumstances of the time and the complete hopelessness of any agitational activity ...”. The Harden-Eulenburg affair had just been going on for about a year. Schedel remained the contact person for the WhK and the committee's library was handed over to him. Today it is located with his estate in the Bavarian State Library in Munich and is the only, at least partially preserved, “gay” library of that time.

Frankfurt am Main

The branch in Frankfurt am Main was founded on March 9, 1921. Initiators were the manor owner Wilhelm Jansen (1866–1943) and especially the bank clerk Hermann Weber (1882–1955), who was again active in the gay movement in the 1950s. Awareness-raising and lobbying work was carried out and lecture evenings were organized. People also met for hiking, dancing in May or for costume evenings. According to a publication in the yearbook for sexual intermediate stages from 1922, the situation in Frankfurt was not as acute as that in Bavaria.

Vienna

The engineer Joseph Nicoladoni had been a contact in Vienna since the turn of the century . Hirschfeld's acquaintance with Sigmund Freud was probably helpful for the rest of the world, although Hirschfeld otherwise stayed away from psychoanalytic ways of thinking. Wilhelm Fliess had developed the theory of the bisexuality of all people shortly before Otto Weininger published his work Gender and Character in 1903 . Fliess felt he was being stolen and accused Sigmund Freud of "knowledge transfer". After some correspondence, there was also a public exchange of blows between Fliess, Freud and acquaintances of both. Hirschfeld campaigned for Freud's innocence as a journalist. In addition, Hirschfeld later helped found the Berlin Psychoanalytical Association (1908).

In 1906 the branch was founded by the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel . Nicoladoni was there too. Other board members were the bank clerks Rudolf Vieröckl and Newkluff, who both died in the First World War. Two letters to the editor to the Illustrierte Österreichische Kriminalzeitung (IÖKZ, published September 9, 1907) and the Wiener Kriminal- und Detektiv-Zeitung (WKDZ, published less than a week later) are the only evidence of the Vienna representation of the Scientific and Humanitarian Committee in Berlin . In the case of the IÖKZ, who also wrote to Hirschfeld personally and sent information material, a clear change in attitude was demonstrably achieved; they even called for an action to abolish section 129b. However, after a wave of targeted confiscations in late October , she dropped the issue of homosexuality completely. There may also be a connection with the falling asleep of the first WhK and the dissolution of the connection between Hirschfeld and Freud after the 3rd International Psychoanalythic Congress in 1911, where Freud's student CG Jung had insulted Hirschfeld. Stekel mutated into one of the most homophobic analysts alongside Alfred Adler in the 1920s .

The Vienna branch was reconstituted in 1922. Apart from the two letters to the editor, there is no more detailed information about the activities of the two branches.

Further

Branches were also established in the Netherlands (1911) and Sweden (1930). Arnold Aletrino took part in the Netherlands .

Published periodicals

  • 1899–1908, 1913–1914, 1919–1923: Yearbook for sexual intermediate stages with special consideration of homosexuality. Ed .: Magnus Hirschfeld, ZDB -ID 218037-6
    • In between with partially retained year numbering:
      1909–1912, 1915–1918: quarterly reports of the Scientific and Humanitarian Committee. Ed .: Magnus Hirschfeld, ZDB -ID 1121856-3
  • 1901–1907: Monthly Report of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. ZDB -ID 534918-7
    1908 continued in: Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft. ZDB -ID 534919-9
    Appeared in: Sexual Problems - Journal for Sexual Science and Sexual Policy. (1908-1914 / 15) ZDB ID 534920-5
  • 1926–1932 / 33: Announcements from the Scientific and Humanitarian Committee. Ed .: Friedemann Pfäfflin, ZDB -ID 152280-2

Attempts by start-ups

1949 - Giese-WhK

On October 19, 1949, Hans Giese and Hermann Weber (1882–1955), who was head of the Frankfurt local group from 1921 to 1933, established a new WHK in Kronberg . Kurt Hiller also worked, but this cooperation ended after a few months due to the feeling of competition and inner distance between the two researchers. In Berlin-Zehlendorf a Greater Berlin group of the WHK was constituted by Werner Hesse, Werner Becker and Hans Borgward . The WHK was refused entry in the register of associations; Giese declared the same to be dissolved at the end of 1949 or beginning of 1950 and instead founded the Gesellschaft für Reform des Sexualstrafrechts e. V., which existed until 1960.

1962 - Hiller

In 1955 Kurt Hiller returned to Hamburg and wanted to re-establish the WhK there in 1962. But he remained isolated and the attempt failed.

1998 - The new "whk"

In 1998, a new association and an associated support association were founded under the name of the Scientific and Humanitarian Committee (whk) - among other things, a result of the "Beck ab!" Initiative against the Bundestag member Volker Beck . A reference to the historical WhK exists only through the name and the use in gay and lesbian topics. On many issues, the new association takes a contrary position to the LSVD, which it regards as bourgeois-conservative, and feels connected to the revolutionary left. The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee publishes the magazine Gigi - magazine for sexual emancipation , which was awarded a special prize by the Association of Lesbian and Gay Journalists in 2001. Gigi was hired in 2010 .

On the website of the new whk it says:

“So we decided to take up the basic idea of ​​the historical Whk again and - consequently under the same name - to apply it creatively to our time, its specific circumstances. In our opinion, this presupposes a radical examination, criticism and questioning of all social conditions, in addition to close connections to other liberation efforts and movements. Because the liberation of sexuality in an otherwise unfree society is absolutely impossible. "

Web links

Commons : Scientific-Humanitarian Committee  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Norman Domeier: “Magnus Hirschfeld”, in: 1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. By Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, April 7, 2016. doi: 10.15463 / ie1418.10887 .

swell

  1. ^ Christian Setzepfandt : Schwules Frankfurt. On setzepfandt.net from November 19, 2007. Last accessed : December 20, 2013.
  2. ↑ Petra M. Springer: stories of movement . In: Wolfsmutter.com - Adventure Feminism . September 11, 2006. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013., Review by Ulrike Repnik: The history of the lesbian and gay movement in Austria
  3. ↑ a b Andreas Brunner , Hannes Sulzenbacher (ed.): Schwules Wien - travel guide through the Danube metropolis. Promedia, 1998, ISBN 3-85371-131-6 , pp. 59 f.
  4. ↑ a b c Andreas Brunner , Ines Rieder , Nadja Schefzig, Hannes Sulzenbacher , Niko Wahl: Secret thing: live - gays and lesbians in Vienna in the 20th century. Löcker Verlag, Vienna 2005, ISBN 3-85409-435-3 , pp. 15, 18, 34.
  5. ^ Gudrun Hauer: Lesbian and gay history. Discrimination and Resistance. In: Michael Handl, Gudrun Hauer, Kurt Krickler u. a. (Ed.): Homosexuality in Austria. Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-900370-84-2 , p. 56 f.
  6. ^ Gudrun Hauer; Elisabeth Perchining: Homosexualities in Austria. On the connections between political identity and practice, pilot study, final report. Research project within the Department for Society-Related Research VIII / A / 3 - Gender Studies, BMBWK , Vienna 2000, p. 19.
  7. ↑ Barry D. Adam: The Rise of a Gay and Lesbian Movement. New York 1995, p. 19.
  8. ↑ Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller : Man for man. A biographical lexicon. ISBN 3-518-39766-4 , ISBN 3-928983-65-2 .
    Entries for Hans Giese p. 278 and Kurt Hiller p. 357 ( quotations ).
  9. ↑ Jürgen Müller: Review of Andreas Pretzel (ed.): Nazi victims with reservations. Homosexual men in Berlin after 1945. LIT, Münster 2002. Last accessed: December 20, 2013.
  10. ^ Online exhibition of the Magnus Hirschfeld Society: Person Kurt Hiller . Last accessed: December 20, 2013.
  11. ↑ See the history of the new whk. Last accessed: December 20, 2013.
  12. ↑ Gigi - magazine for sexual emancipation . Last accessed: December 20, 2013.
  13. ↑ gigi-online. Last accessed: December 20, 2013.
  14. ^ Website of the new whk . Last accessed: December 20, 2013.

Coordinates: 52 ° 31 ′ 3 ″  N , 13 ° 18 ′ 28 ″  E