The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin Annette F

Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-19539-3 - The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin Annette F. Timm Frontmatter More information

The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin

What impact does a falling birth rate have on the strength and vitality of a nation? Are citizens duty-bound to think about this question when they make reproductive and sexual choices? Few countries have grappled with these questions as intensely and with such dramatic consequences as Germany. The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth- Century Berlin tracks how fears of a declining population influenced reproductive and sexual health policy in four German regimes, from the end of World War I through the period of German division in the Cold War. A case study set in Berlin, the book examines local measures to control fertility-threatening venereal diseases and influ- ence reproductive choices in marriage counseling clinics. It investigates how policies meant to encourage higher birth rates created feelings of belonging even as they infringed on personal autonomy. The idea that sexual duty should be central to conceptions of citizenship only died with the changing technological and political circumstances of the late Cold War.

Annette F. Timm is Associate Professor of History at the University of Calgary. Her work has appeared in multiple books and journals, including the Canadian Journal of History and the Journal of the History of Sexuality. She is the coauthor, with Joshua A. Sanborn, of Gender, Sex and the Shaping of Modern Europe: A History from the French Revolution to the Present Day.

© in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-19539-3 - The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin Annette F. Timm Frontmatter More information

The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin

ANNETTE F. TIMM University of Calgary

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Timm, Annette F. The politics of fertility in twentieth-century Berlin / Annette F. Timm. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-521-19539-3 (hardback) 1. Fertility, Human–Government policy–Germany–Berlin. 2. Fertility, Human–Germany– Berlin–History–20th century. I. Title. hb1006.b5t56 2010 306.6ʹ3209431550904–dc22 2010024586

isbn 978-0-521-19539-3 Hardback

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For my parents, Jochim and Christa Timm

Contents

List of Figures page ix List of Tables xi Acknowledgments xiii List of Abbreviations xvii

Introduction: Birth Rates, Ideology, and Sexual Duties 1 1 Venereal Disease and the Crisis of Sexuality in the Weimar Republic 35 2 Marriage Counseling in the Weimar Republic 80 3 Nazi Bevölkerungspolitik, Health, and the Family 118 4 Venereal Disease Control in the Nazi Era 157 5 Controlling Venereal Disease in Four-Power Berlin 187 6 Counseling Couples in the Post-War Rubble 227 7 Guarding the Health of Workers and Families in the German Democratic Republic 257 8 Sexual Duties in Cold War West Germany 292 Conclusion: The End of Sexual Duty and the Future of Bevölkerungspolitik 319

Index 333

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Figures

3.1. “The Senility of Berlin.” page 121 3.2. “Fertility and Race. The Rise of the Slavs in Europe.” 130 5.1. Map of Four-Power Occupied Berlin, 1945. 188 5.2. “He’s Had it! You Too Can Miss the Boat with V.D.” 201 5.3. “Your Release Can be Delayed with V.D.” 202 5.4. “You’d be Better without VD.” 203 5.5. “Sterility Threatens.” 204 5.6. “Think it Over!” 205 5.7. “She May be a Bag of Trouble. Syphilis – Gonorrhea.” 206 5.8. “Do You Even Know Each Other? Venereal Diseases.” 207 5.9. “Venereal Diseases Threaten. Do You Even Know Each Other?” 208 5.10. “Small Acquaintances – Big Danger.” First Version. 209 5.11. “Small Acquaintances – Big Danger.” Second Version. 210 5.12. “Small Acquaintances – Big Danger.” Third Version. 211 5.13. “Venereal Disease in Three Steps.” 212

Tables

1.1. Venereal Disease Infections in the German Army During WWI page 42 1.2. Venereal Disease Cases Being Treated by Surveyed Doctors in Berlin According to a 1919 Census 44 1.3. Employment Categories of Visitors to the Berlin VD Clinics in 1917 57 2.1. Berlin’s Municipal Marriage Counseling Centers, 1926–1928 109 2.2. Statistics on Reasons for Visiting Marriage Counseling Centers, circa 1931 112 2.3. Visits to the Marriage Counseling Center in Berlin-Friedrichshain, 1926–1927 113 4.1. VD Rates in the German Reich: 1919, 1927, and 1934 168 6.1. Motivations for Visiting KVA Clinics 247

Acknowledgments

This book has been too long in the making, and it is therefore particularly gratifying to finally officially thank many people to whom I feel intellectually and personally indebted. The first word goes to my teachers. Looking back, I doubt that I would ever have presumed that a girl from an immigrant family in Surrey B.C. could become a history professor had it not been for the unfaltering encouragement of my high school history teacher and friend Peter Otten. The history honors program at the University of British Columbia was a fantastic proving ground, and from the vantage point of an era of slashed academic budgets I am all the more grateful to the professors who made it possible, particularly Jim Winter, Ed Hundert, John Conway, Christopher Friedrichs, and Ted Hill. Those intense seminars helped prepare me for even more mind-expanding course work at the University of Chicago, where my dissertation committee (Michael Geyer, John Boyer, Leora Auslander, and George Steinmetz) provided invaluable guidance and critique. As is clear from the work of his other numerous advisees, Michael Geyer encourages inde- pendent inquiry while providing forceful advice when it is needed. He has supported this project in all its twists and turns, and he has been remark- ably tolerant of my idiosyncratic career decisions. Particularly during the early stage of conceptualization and then again as the dissertation was turning into a somewhat different book, Leora Auslander provided critical assessments and personal encouragements that have helped me immeasurably. A special thanks goes to Alf Lüdtke, whose fortuitously timed visiting professorship at Chicago allowed me to benefit from his methodological insights. Beyond Chicago, I am grateful to a broad network of historians working in related areas. Patty Stokes comes first on this list for her willingness to talk shop, while still providing (along with Bernhard Debatin) collegiality, friendship, and hospitality on many a Berlin research trip. I am surely not alone in thanking Patty for organizing the fabulous Berlin Stammtisch and the Berlin Scholars list. Somewhat beer-fuelled discussions with a remark- able cohort of historians and other scholars (you know who you are) made the supposedly solitary pursuit of archival research an incredibly stimulating

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xiv Acknowledgments

experience. I would also like to thank all those associated with my two inter- disciplinary postdocs (one at the Berlin Program at the Free University of Berlin and the other with the Comparative Program on Health and Society at the University of Toronto), particularly Karen Goihl, Konrad Jarausch, Karin Hausen, Susan Gross Solomon, and Jim Retallack. I am also very grateful to various conference and panel organizers, particularly Roger Chickering, Martin Geyer, Klaus Tenfelde, Peter Hübner, Richard Wetzell, Edward Ross Dickinson, Alf Lüdtke, Kathleen Canning, Michael Geyer, Sheila Fitzpatrick, Birthe Kundrus, Regine Mühlhäuser, and Gaby Zipfel. Their efforts created the opportunity for me to engage in invaluable discussions with scholars like Claudia Koonz, Atina Grossmann, Maria Höhn, Donna Harsch, Cornelie Usborne, Michael Schwartz, Elizabeth Harvey, Helmut Smith, Greg Eghigian, and Richard Bessel. This project has involved a few light-bulb moments that arose from informal discussions with thoughtful scholars. A note of gratitude goes out to Alon Confino, Christiane Eifert, and Peter Onuf, who, probably without realizing it, provided prescient and penetrating critiques of my over- arching argument at critical points in the transformation from dissertation to book. A few individuals have given particularly generously of their time to read parts or all of this manuscript, providing feedback and other forms of schol- arly assistance. I thank Lisa Heineman and Jennifer Evans for ongoing con- versations and commiserations on the joys and pitfalls of researching in the history of sexuality. Peter Fritzsche has graciously written letters of support, and his words of encouragement were extremely helpful in moments of flag- ging self-confidence. I would also like to thank Robert Gellately, Nathan Stoltzfus, the anonymous reviewers of this book, and particularly Dagmar Herzog, whose editorial interventions prodded me to clarify my thoughts and thus helped me arrive at the final arguments (with which they might not agree). Closer to home, I have benefited enormously from exchanges with my colleagues at Calgary. Alexander Hill and Ken MacMillan commiserated on many aspects of the publishing process. Nancy Janovicek, Michael Taylor, and Jewel Spangler provided extremely helpful readings of various bits of this book along with much moral support. Thanks to Michael for his infectious energy, Jewel for her empathy, and Nancy for countless hours of conversation and a shared love of various types of distraction. Both David Marshall and Warren Elofson have been extremely encouraging chairs. Jonathan Jucker compiled a fine index. Thanks to Leanna Seamans for research assistance and to Mikkel Dack for valiantly reading the entire manuscript on very short notice. I am also grateful to Lewis Bateman, Jason Przybylski, and, espe- cially, Eric Crahan at Cambridge. Lew and Eric’s firm suggestion that the manuscript needed to be cut without changing its overall scope was painful but ultimately wise, and Eric patiently coaxed me through the rest of the process. A book that relies on research in eleven archives (give or take a few consoli- dations of holdings) in four countries would not have been possible without

Acknowledgments xv

the generous support of various funding agencies, archivists, and publishers. My sincere gratitude goes out to the University of Chicago, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the German Academic Exchange Service, the German-American Research Networking Program, the Social Science Research Council, the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies, the Killam Trusts, and the University Research Grants Committee and the Faculty of Social Sciences (now the Faculty of Arts) at the University of Calgary. I must also thank the Calgary Institute of the Humanities and its director Wayne McCready for providing teaching release that was meant for another project but inevitably benefited this one as well. The list of archivists who aided this project is long, and I hope that they will forgive me for mostly thanking them collectively. Special thanks, however, goes to Dr. Michael Häusler at the ADW, Frau Januszewski at the Freie Universität Berlin, Frau Tschuck at the Gauck Behörde, and Sylke Schäfer at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden for their extremely warm and helpful guidance. I am grateful to the DHMD (particularly Marion Schneider), the Imperial War Museum in London, and the Allied Museum in Berlin (particularly Florian Weiss) for their gracious provision of poster art. I am grateful to Princeton University Press, the Journal of the History of Sexuality, the Canadian Journal of History, and Klartext Verlagsgesellschaft for the permission to print previously published portions of this book. The accumulation of so many debts would not have been possible at all without support of a more personal nature. Thanks to Imke Keil, Anna- Sabine Ernst, and Gerwin Klinger for temporarily sharing their homes and to Rebecca Hudson for always welcoming us to Berlin and for the use of her stor- age locker. Sabine Kriebel, Sandra Moog, and David McNeill provided moral support and laughter. Both Carla MacDougall in Berlin and Dave Walker in Calgary deserve medals for listening to me kvetch on many a run. Thanks to Kathy Aldous-Schleindl and Andreas Puskeiler for artistic expertise and commiseration about the cover-art poster that got away. I am, of course, most grateful for the support of my family. The hospitality of the Varrel Timms, the Plön Schlichtings, and Ralph Timm and Sabine Ego in Munich gave me a taste of home on long research trips. Dörte Timm came to my rescue with some last-minute image scanning. Most importantly, my parents have been steadfast supporters of all of my endeavors. Their unqualified love is my strength and my foundation, and their honest stories about their own childhoods were my initial inspiration for studying German history. It was not difficult to decide to whom to dedicate this book. My siblings, their spouses, and even their chil- dren provided various kinds of support along the way, and usually refrained from asking why I still wasn’t finished with the damned thing yet. I am also grateful to my parents-in-law, Don and Edith Anderson, for their hospitality, understanding, and support. The last word must be reserved for those closest to me: Scott and Madeleine. Madeleine’s arrival taught us something about irony and that not

xvi Acknowledgments

all good things in life are planned. Her growing understanding and pride in my endeavors has made the balancing act involved a joy. Scott has been with me through this entire journey, serving as copy editor, fact checker, sounding board, chauffer, trip planner, school lunch maker, housekeeper, confidant, and even breadwinner. Combining research with family vacations has not always increased my productivity, but I thank them both for their tolerance and portability.

Abbreviations

ADW Archiv des Diakonischen Werkes der Evangelischen Kirche Deutschlands (Archive of the Diaconical Headquarters of the Evangelical Church in Germany) Arbeitsgemeinschaft Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Volksgesundung (Working or AGfV Group for Promoting the Health of the Volk) BAB Bundesarchiv Berlin (Federal Archives, Berlin) BAK Bundesarchiv Koblenz (Federal Archives, Koblenz) CA IM Central-Ausschuss für Innere Mission (Central Committee for the Inner Mission) DCAF Deutscher Caritasverband Archiv, Freiburg (Archive of the German Caritas Association, Freiburg) DGBG Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten (German Society for Combating Venereal Disease) FRG Federal Republic of Germany FUB Slg Roesle Universitätsbibliothek der Freien Universität Berlin, Sammlung Roesle (University Library of the Free University of Berlin, Roesle Collection) FUB Slg Rott Universitätsbibliothek der Freien Universität Berlin, Sammlung Rott (University Library of the Free University of Berlin, Rott Collection) GDR German Democratic Republic GStAB Geheime Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin (Classified State Archive of Prussian Cultural Heritage) HGA Hauptgesundheitsamt (Main Health Office, Berlin) hwG häufig wechselnder Geschlechtsverkehr (frequent changing of sexual partners or promiscuous) Kommandatura Inter-Allied Governing Authority for Berlin

xvii

xviii Abbreviations

KVA Kassenärztliche Vereinigung Berlin (Berlin Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians) LAB Landesarchiv Berlin (State Archive, Berlin) LGA Landesgesundheitsamt (Berlin Public Health Administration) LGR Landesgesundheitsrat (Prussian Public Health Commission) MSPD Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany NARA National Archives and Records Administration NSDÄB National Socialist Doctors’ League NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutscher Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) NSV Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (National Socialist People’s Welfare) OMGBS Office of Military Government, Berlin Sector OMGUS Office of Military Government, United States PRO Public Record Office RAM Reichsarbeitsministerium (Reich Ministry of Labor) RGA Reichsgesundheitsamt (Reich Health Bureau) RM Reichsmark (Imperial German Mark) RMI Reichsministerium des Innern (Reich Ministry of the Interior) RPMI Reichs- und Preussisches Ministerium des Innern (Reich and Prussian Ministry of the Interior) SAPMO Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der DDR im Bundesarchiv SBZ Sowjetische Besatzungszone (Soviet Occupation Zone) SD Sicherheitsdienst (security service) SED Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) SMAD Soviet Military Administration in Germany SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic Party of Germany) SS Schutzstaffel (protection squadron) STD sexually transmitted disease TB tuberculosis UFA Universum Film AG VAB Versicherungsanstalt Berlin (Berlin Insurance Agency) VD venereal disease VKB Verband der Krankenkassen Berlin (Berlin’s Health Insurance League)

Abbreviations xix

wG wechselnde Geschlechtsverkehr (alternating intercourse) WWI World War I WWII World War II ZBGK Zentralstelle zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten (Central Office for Combating Venereal Diseases) ZVGes Zentralverwaltung für Gesundheitswesen in der sowjetischen Besatzungszone (Central Authority for Health Care in the Soviet Occupation Zone)

The Politics of Fertility in Twentieth-Century Berlin