Physician and sexologist
Born on 14 May 1868, Hirschfeld studied philosophy, philology, and medicine. He became one of the most influential sexologists of the 20th century and based his practice in Berlin-Charlottenburg during the 1920s.
Literature
Magnus Hirschfeld
A physician and sexologist who founded organizations advocating for homosexual and transgender rights.
Magnus Hirschfeld was a German physician, sexologist, and advocate for sexual minorities. He founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and the World League for Sexual Reform, and co-founded Berlin's Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in 1919. Targeted by völkisch activists and the Nazis, he was forced into exile in France after the institute was looted and its books burned in 1933.
Worth knowing
Organizing for sexual reform
Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and the World League for Sexual Reform. His committee carried out what has been described as the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights.
Targeted for his identity and advocacy
In 1920, völkisch activists beat Hirschfeld. He was targeted for being Jewish and gay and for his outspoken advocacy for sexual minorities.
The institute remembered
The Memorial Stele for the Institute for Sexual Science marks the site where Hirschfeld co-founded the institute in 1919. In 1933, Nazis looted the institute and burned its books.
Exile after 1933
The Nazi government revoked Hirschfeld's German citizenship in 1933. Forced into exile in France, he died there on 14 May 1935.
Addresses you can still visit
Every place in this city with a documented tie to this person.
Created here
Memorial Stele for the Institute for Sexual Science
The physician and campaigner for homosexual emancipation co-founded the institute here in 1919.
Follow the story on foot
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