Prostitution in Germany is legal, and so are brothels. In , the government changed the law in an effort to improve the legal situation of prostitutes. However, the social stigmatization of prostitutes persists and many prostitutes continue to lead a double life.
Authorities consider the common exploitation of women from Eastern Europe to be the main problem associated with the profession. Prostitution in historically German lands has never been outlawed and been described since the middle ages. Emperor Sigismund β thanked the city of Konstanz in writing for providing some 1, prostitutes for the Council of Constance which took place from to Prostitutes were more vigorously persecuted beginning in the 16th century, with the start of the Reformation and the appearance of syphilis.
The Confederations , German Empire and Republic Beginning in the 19th century, prostitutes in many regions had to register with police or local health authorities and submit to regular health checks to curb venereal diseases.
In Imperial Germany β attitudes to prostitution were ambivalent. While prostitution was tolerated as a necessary function to provide for male sexuality outside of marriage, it was frowned on as a threat to contemporary moral images of women's sexuality. Therefore state policy concentrated on regulation rather than abolition.
This was mainly at the municipal level. The state regulation at the same time created an atmosphere which at the same time defined what was considered proper, and proper feminine sexuality. Controls were particularly tight in the port city of Hamburg.
