The Einstein of Gay Sex: Magnus Hirschfeld and LGBTQ+ Berlin of the 20s

Professor Andrew Lear is a world-renowned expert on sexuality in art and the author of the best-known book on sexuality in Greek vase-painting.  He is the founder of Oscar Wilde Tours, the gay history tour company, and Shady Ladies Tours, the woman's history tour company.

Andrew Lear

You know Berlin was the hottest LGBTIQ+ city of the 20s. But do you know about Magnus Hirschfeld, father of the modern gay rights movement?

<p><strong><em>Can't make the live event?  No problem, you can watch the event at your convenience for 2 weeks.</em></strong></p><p>In this seminar, we’ll discuss the life and work of the Jewish doctor and gay rights activist Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), an icon of Berlin’s wild Weimar years. Hirschfeld was an integral member of the small band of Austro-German physicians who made ‘sexology’ - the study of sexuality - their field at the turn of the twentieth century. Moving to Berlin while the Kaiser was still upon his throne, Hirschfeld quickly found himself immersed in a fledgling gay subculture - and soon garnered a reputation not just as a general practitioner but an empathetic listener, moved by his patients’ tales of blackmail, familial pressure, and indeed the very present threat of prosecution under the anti-homosexuality law Section 175. Hirschfeld found himself summoned to give testimonials at trials such as that of Prince Philipp of Eulenberg, as scandalous and salacious as Oscar Wilde’s ordeal had been a decade earlier. Hirschfeld - and his band of friends - would campaign vehemently to have Germany’s anti-homosexuality law be repealed. Here, they would see no success. Quite the opposite: during Hirschfeld’s last two years, spent in exile, he would see the Nazis set upon Germany’s LGBTIQ+ population: with particular excesses of violence, upon gay men. And in the spring of 1933, while Hirschfeld tried to re-establish himself in Paris, he would learn of the raid upon his Berlin offices and the public burning of his library: the world’s first archive, with its innumerable files and case studies chronicling Queer life.</p><p>But in this seminar, we will focus upon Hirschfeld’s long list of achievements: establishing the first research institute focusing upon ‘sexual variance,' with its 'Museum of Sex' the definitive highlight of any Berliner school excursion. There, he received guests from writers Christopher Isherwood and Andre Gide to filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein; as well as the doctors who became his disciples, such as Harry Benjamin, a pioneer of treatment for trans people in the USA during the Cold War. Here, Hirschfeld and his colleagues embarked upon some of the first studies of transgender and non-binary identity, and even offered the first known gender confirmation surgeries for trans people. Come and join in if you’d like to learn more about ‘Aunt Magnus,’ a world pioneer to whom we owe our thanks.</p>

<p>Dr. Finn Ballard is a transgender historian from Ireland, living and working in Berlin. He leads tours on Berlin's LGBTIQ+ history, teaches Gender and Sexuality Studies at two colleges in the city, guides visitors through the Schwules Museum (Gay Museum), writes for Berlin's Queer magazine 'Siegessaeuele,' and works as a historical advisor for media productions set in Weimar and Third Reich-era Germany (such as the Emmy-award-winning 'Transparent').</p>

<h2>FAQs</h2><h3>When will the Zoom invite come?</h3><p>The Zoom invite will be in the CONFIRMATION EMAIL from your order—IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE IT IN YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL PLEASE MESSAGE US IMMEDIATELY. Subsequent to this, the Zoom invite will be sent to your email address at 48hrs, 2hrs, and 10mins before the event. PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM AND SOCIAL FOLDERS IF YOU DO NOT SEE THE ZOOM INVITE IN YOUR INBOX.</p><h3>If I can't make the live recording, can I watch the event at another time?</h3><p>The event will be recorded, and all ticket holders will receive a link to the recording by email the evening after the presentation, with a password to access it.  It will be available to view for 2 weeks after the live event. If you do not receive the link to the recording a couple of hours after the live event please email us—sometimes Eventbrite emails can get lost in spam/social folders.</p><h3>What time zone is the event scheduled in?</h3><p>The event is scheduled for 2pm EST (i.e. New York time). You can watch it in any time zone but please adjust to the time zone you are in.</p><h3>Refund policy?</h3><p>Refunds are available up to the start time of the event. After the start time, refunds are only available if you have been unable to access the event.</p>

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

The Einstein of Gay Sex: Magnus Hirschfeld and LGBTQ+ Berlin of the 20s

More events from Andrew Lear

Discover more events from Andrew Lear, from Community to other experiences you might love.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.

The Einstein of Gay Sex: Magnus Hirschfeld and LGBTQ+ Berlin of the 20s

More events from Andrew Lear

Discover more events from Andrew Lear, from Community to other experiences you might love.

You might also like...

Browse more events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all online events to browse and filter by date, category, and more.