Review article
Were All Compulsorily Committed Women Prostitutes? Closed Venereology Wards in East Germany (1945-1990)
Maximilian Schochow
; Institute of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm, Germany
Florian Steger
; Institute of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm, Germany
Abstract
Were the women that were compulsorily committed to
closed venereology wards in the Soviet Occupation Zone (SOZ) and
German Democratic Republic (GDR) prostitutes and sexually promiscuous
individuals? 1,241 patient records of the closed venereology ward in
Leipzig-Thonberg were researched in the Leipzig Municipal Archive and
evaluated using the historical-critical method. Two periods were investigated:
June 1946 to February 1961 (the period of validity of the Orders of
the Soviet Military Administration in Germany – SMAG) and March 1961
to August 1990 (period of validity of the GDR regulation).During the two
periods of investigation, 3% of the women compulsorily committed to
the closed venereology ward Leipzig-Thonberg were prostitutes. 9% of
women were compulsorily committed as sexually promiscuous individuals
during the first period of investigation, and 13% during the second
period. During the first period, mainly adult women with a venereal
disease were compulsorily committed. These women were treated for
gonorrhea or syphilis. In contrast, the majority of compulsorily committed
individuals during the second period were underage girls without a
venereal disease. In conclusions: 1) Whereas mostly prostitutes and sexually
promiscuous individuals were compulsorily committed to venereology
wards in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the proportion
of prostitutes and sexually promiscuous individuals in Leipzig-Thonberg
was very small. 2) In the 1950s, mostly adult women with venereal diseases
were compulsorily committed in the FRG and GDR. 3) A comparison
with the closed venereology facility in Berlin-Buch (GDR) shows a
similar age distribution among compulsorily committed women in the
1970s and a general decline of venereal diseases.
Keywords
Germany, patient records, sexually transmitted diseases
Hrčak ID:
255073
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2020.
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