Facebook Twitter. Cabaret dancers in Berlin So often thought of in history textbooks as just a period to 'get through' in between the Treaty of Versailles and the rise of Nazism in , Weimar Germany had a salacious appetite they didn't teach you about at school. It was actually a rich, liberated and vibrant period in the history of Central Europe. The Weimar era began in , in the midst of several major movements in economic stability, European borders, population growth - and in the fine arts.
After Berlin increased in size fold, the city became the third largest municipality in the world and experienced its heyday as a major world metropolis. It was known for its leadership roles in science, the humanities, music, film, higher education, government, diplomacy, industries and military affairs. This emerging 'Weimar Culture' was often considered to be extremely decadent and socially disruptive by the more conservative. Publishers met this demand with inexpensive criminal novels called Krimi, which like the film noir of the era such as the classic M , explored methods of scientific detection and psycho-sexual analysis.
Apart from the new tolerance for behavior that was technically still illegal, and viewed by a large part of society as immoral, there were other sexual developments in Berlin culture that shocked many visitors to the city. Thrill-seekers flocked to the city in search of adventure, and booksellers sold many specially written guide books to Berlin's erotic night entertainment venues.
There were an estimated such establishments, which included a large number of homosexual venues for men and for lesbians; sometimes transvestites of one or both genders were admitted, otherwise there were at least 5 known establishments that were exclusively for a transvestite clientele.
There were also several well-reviewed nudist venues. Berlin also had a museum of sexuality during the Weimar period, at Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute of Sexology. These were nearly all closed when the Nazi party came to power in Anita Berber.
