The world's first known gay publication was Der Eigene, a German magazine that appeared (off and on, at times) between 1896 and 1932. It was the brainchild of Adolf Brand, shown above in a 1930 portrait by Jaro von Tucholka. Despite occasional run-ins with the Kaiser and Weimar regimes' authorities, only the rise of nazism put an end to it. Herr Brand was an anarchist who published articles, poems, music, art, and photographs of a nature sympathetic to homosexuals. In some texts, he described homosexual love as a pure form of masculinity, his presentation of images of naked underage boys led to the above mentioned legal issues. Adolf Brand eventually married a woman, and ironically, his demise came from a British bomb in early 1945 and not from the nazis.
The cover or issue number three is below:
I've seen copies that were acquired by the University Of Toronto library, an absolutely fascinating period in history. Brand really knew how to push the proverbial envelope.
ReplyDeleteI went to the U of T website, and although they had some interesting notes and essays on their Der Eigene collection, they don't seem to have the images online.
DeleteThis is fascinating history. Open homosexuality that early. Wow! Great post! bns
ReplyDeleteHomosexuality was illegal at the time in Germany, but the magazine was tolerated somehow.
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