Mel Gordon - Voluptuous Panic - The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin

The end of the Great Inflationdid not stanch the perv invasion did not stanch the perv invasion of Berlin. In fact, fascination with the amoral city intensified as soon as the Reichsmark proved a stable currency. Weimar Berlin, while shedding the scintilla of menace and social volatility, retained its transcendent reputation as Europe’s newest illicit playground. Along with cruises down the Rhine and Munich’s Oktoberfest, the Grieben guidebooks added Berlin’s Friedrichstadt at midnight as a must-see tourist adventure.

The very first thing foreigners noticed in Berlin were whores, thousands of tarted-up females on the streets, in hotel lobbies, and seated at cafés and clubs. How many Beinls made their living in Berlin during the Golden Twenties was impossible to calculate. The estimates ranged from a low of 5,000 to the oft-published figure of 120,000 (which didn’t include the 35,000 male prostitutes). It all depended on one’s definition of the term. Berlin was like no other European city when it came to the sheer magnitude of sexual possibility.

BOOT-GIRLS—Identified by their furs and calf-length, Wilhelmian-era, black-leather boots or (after 1926) in shiny, patent leather versions. Lacquered gold, cobalt blue, brick, “poisonous” green, or maroon, the iridescent footwear indicated the Girl’s specialty. Freelance Dominas , they attracted frugal provincial German Suitors , who were led to nearby pensions. Estimated numbers (in 1930): 300-350.

GRASSHOPPERS—Lowly streetwalkers without “room money,” who serviced men in the corners of the Tiergarten and around Bülowplatz. [Ironic variant name: FRESH-AIR WOMEN.] Estimated numbers: 600.

GRAVELSTONES—Unattractive sex-workers on Oranienburgstrasse. Included women with missing limbs, hunchbacks, and other deformities. [Also known as WOODCHUCKS.] Estimated numbers: 400.

HALF-SILKS—[literally “Half-Baked”] Amateur, occasional prostitutes, the vast majority of the Friday-night trade. Often secretaries, shopkeepers, and office clerks supplementing their incomes after work. [During the Inflation Era, they were called DODGERS due to their unregistered status and FIVE O’CLOCK LADIES because of their preferred time of contact.] Estimated numbers: 40,000-55,000.

KONTROLL-GIRLS—Three defined classes of legal prostitutes who reported to the Berlin vice authorities on a regular basis and were checked for venereal disease by police physicians. Before 1927, they were concentrated in the Friedrichstadt and Berlin North. Typical romantic opening: “So, sweetheart?” [Variant names: BONE-SHAKERS, LINE-GIRLS, and JOY-GIRLS.] Number of Berlin “Control Books” issued to street prostitutes and CHONTES in 1930: 8,750.

MÜNZIS—Pregnant girls and women who waited under the lampposts on Münzstrasse for “old money” clients in search of this erotic specialty. Very expensive sessions. [Also known as KABNIS (from Viennese Romany argot)]. Estimated numbers: seasonal, under two dozen.

NUTTES—Boyish, teenage girls. Coquettishly dressed and working in secret from their families, they treated prostitution as a form of dating. Often traveled in pairs. Thought of as primarily gold diggers. Standard pickup line: “Don’t you think we should have a coffee first?” Estimated numbers: 25,000-30,000.

TAUENTZIENGIRLS— Bubikopfed streetwalkers in the latest fashions (sometimes in mother-and-daughter teams), who silently solicited customers on Tauentzienstrasse, south of the Memorial Church. T-Girls were celebrated for their down-to-earth, brash attitude. Beloved species to Berlin’s press corps, even those working for Conservative and Nationalist dailies. Estimated numbers: 2,500.

CHONTES—[From Galizianer-Yiddish] Low-grade Jewish whores. Polish-born. Mostly found in the Alex near the police station or in Transient-Quarters. [Also known as LUBLINS (illegal immigrants from the Polish industrial city)].

DEMI-CASTORS—[From French underworld jargon—literally: “half-beavers,” or “amateur hookers.”] Young women from good families who supplemented their allowances by working in secretive, high-class houses in Berlin West. Normal hours of operation were late afternoon/early evening. [Variant name: MANNEQUINS.] Estimated numbers: 500.

DOMINAS—Leather-clad, mesomorphic women who specialized in whipping,

humiliation, and other forms of erotic punishment. Active in lesbian nightclubs that permitted kinky heterosexual couples and free-spending male clients. Also found in phony “Body-Culture” clinics. Estimated numbers: 1,500.

FOHSES—[Corruption of French underworld argot for “vaginas.”] Independent whores, who advertised in newspapers and magazines as manicurists and masseuses. Sometimes seen by Kudamm outdoor display cases. [Also known as QUALITY WOMEN.] Estimated numbers: 2,500.

MEDICINE—Child prostitutes, ages 12-16, who were “prescribed” by pimps, posing as physicians. The “patient” indicated the “length of his illness” (requested age of the girl) and color of pills (hair tint). Transaction took place in Berlin West “pharmacies.” Estimated numbers: less than 100.

MINETTES—[French for “female cats.” A common Parisian expression for independent, sexually active women.] Exclusive call girls who enacted S&M fantasy scenes, often involving foot worship, bondage, and forced transvestitism. Located in all the large Friedrichstadt hotels. Estimated numbers: 350.

RACE HORSES—Masochistic prostitutes who enjoyed being beaten or whipped. Worked in “Institutes for Foreign Language Instruction,” where the “schoolrooms” were equipped with instruments of torture and bondage furniture. Patrons were carefully screened before their first session. Estimated numbers: 200.

TABLE-LADIES—Berlin’s version of the Geisha. Employed in private nightclubs on the Kudamm, Table-Ladies were reputed to be ravishing and multilingual. Each conformed to a specific national type: Demonic German, Exotic Eurasian, dark-eyed Gypsy-Girl, blonde Nordic, or Spanish Aristocrat. A favorite of politicians, movie moguls, bigtime capitalists, and Scandinavian tourists. Customers paid “table-money” to the club—often in excess of 100 marks—for an evening of champagne, fancy canapés, scintillating gossip, and a private backroom encounter. Estimated numbers: 400-500 before the 1929 Crisis; half as many after.

TELEPHONE-GIRLS—Child prostitutes, ages 12-17, who are ordered by telephone and then delivered to clients in limousines or taxis. Usually given the names of stage or film stars, like Marlene Dietrich or Lilian Harvey, that described their prepubescent physical features. Often billed as “virgins.” Extremely expensive. Estimated numbers: 3,000.

During the late Renaissance, most German towns established boundaries for free-wheeling bathhouse-taverns, brothels, and street prostitution. These areas were marked by Striche , painted lines or stripes. Draconian punishments awaited sex traffickers and adulterers caught outside the Line. Wayward prostitutes were tied naked to a pillory, which usually stood in the village commons. Special constables administered public floggings. And afterward, citizens could taunt the culprits, beat them, spit on them, or even urinate on them.