The first few things that everyone think when the Weimar Republic is mentioned are piles of worthless banknotes burned for heating, sleazy cabarets and prostitution β and for good reasons.
And while the history part is enlightening, the bulk of the book β dedicated to deviance in postwar Berlin β is a simply amazing analysis of what happens when a confluence of factors leaves mankind free of the rules imposed by a normal society. Briefly put, terrifying economic conditions and a highly reduced male population forced an unprecedented number of women into prostitution of every kind.
Which attracted comparatively wealthy clients from all over the world. Which inspired more people, including underage and male persons, to whore themselves out. Which attracted more clients, for whom adult clubs were opened catering to all inclinations.
Which allowed gay people to come out in droves. Which attracted even more clients, and gave rise to lots of specialized venues up to 85 lesbian-only clubs existed at a time in town! Which begat an unique style of live entertainment , but also magazines, associations and actual research into unusual sexualities.
Which attracted more punters, sex tourists, uncommon people and artistsβ¦ in a vortex of very liberated but also rather unsavory sexual exploration and excesses. It is a fascinating read, only made somewhat tedious by the tendence to repeatedly enumerate things like the dozens of street names for very slightly different types of prostitutes, or the size of the dancing troupes of the many adult theatres in town. It will often make you question whether our civilized and relatively affluent times could learn something from that unexpected social experiment in erotic anarchy β both in terms of warning and of inspiration.
