The world’s first LGBT organization was founded in Berlin. Today, a colorful memorial near the parliament building honors its legacy
More than seventy years before the Stonewall riots, Berlin became the birthplace of the world’s first LGBT rights organization.
The Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee (Scientific-Humanitarian Committee) was established in 1897 in Berlin by physician Magnus Hirschfeld. The committee aimed to end the persecution of gay individuals and to promote social recognition and rights for gays, lesbians, and transgender people.
Magnus Hirschfeld led the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sexual Research), where he conducted pioneering studies on gender and sexuality. As a gay man, Hirschfeld’s research revealed that gender is not strictly binary and that being transgender is an innate characteristic.
The committee’s motto was Per scientiam ad justitiam, meaning “through science to justice,” and it leveraged Hirschfeld’s research to impact the German authorities.
The Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee primarily focused on the notorious Paragraph 175 of the Penal Code, which criminalized male prostitution and sexual relations between men.
The committee relied on scientific evidence to argue that the paragraph should be repealed, emphasizing that homosexuality is neither a disease nor a sign of moral decline.
The Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee also produced educational pamphlets on sex education, including a brochure titled Was soll das Volk vom dritten Geschlecht wissen?, which translates to “What Should People Know About the Third Gender?”
The term “third gender” was coined by Magnus Hirschfeld to describe individuals who expressed themselves through behavior and clothing typically associated with the opposite sex—what we now recognize as transgender people.
At its height, the committee boasted over 700 members spread across branches in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. The Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee was disbanded in June 1933, just five months after Hitler rose to power in Germany.
Hitler and the Nazis claimed that homosexuality a Jewish conspiracy. As a result, Berlin’s LGBT community was violently suppressed, with many individuals arrested and deported to concentration camps. Hirschfeld, who was Jewish, escaped to Paris and passed away from a heart attack on his birthday in 1935.
The memorial to the Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee stands along the banks of the Spree River. Opposite it, at the corner of In den Zelten and Beethovenstraße, once stood the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft. The villa was destroyed in air raids in November 1944, and the address has since disappeared.
Photo by Chrissie Sternschnuppe@Flickr. CC BY-SA
The memorial to the First Homosexual Emancipation Movement, erected in 2017, features six calla lilies, each representing a color of the Pride rainbow. The calla lily is unique because a single plant contains both male and female flowers, symbolizing the unity of gender and sexuality in nature.
Two additional boards recount the story of the Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee and highlight the individuals, alongside Magnus Hirschfeld, who established the first gay rights organization in the world.
Where:
Along Magnus-Hirschfeld-Ufer in Berlin-Mitte not far from the Reichstag.
Family friendly: Yes
Price: Free
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