  HAMBURG. Ancient Legislation.—Ulm.—Legislation from 1483 to 1764.—French Revolution, and its effects on Morals.—Abendroth’s Ordinance in 1807.—Police Ordinance in 1811.—Additional Powers in 1820.—Hudtwalcker.—Present Police Regulations.—Number of Registered Women.—Tolerated Houses.—Illegitimacy.—Age and Nativity of Prostitutes.—The Hamburger Berg and its Women.—Physique, Peculiarities, and Diseases of Prostitutes.—Dress.—Food.—Intellectual Capacity.—Religion.—Offenses.—Procuresses.—Inscription.—Locality of Brothels.—Brothel-keepers.—Dance-houses.—Sunday Evening Scene.—Private Prostitutes.—Street-walkers.—Domestic Prostitution.—Unregistered Prostitution.—Houses of Accommodation.—Common Sleeping Apartments.—Beer and Wine Houses.—Effect of Prostitution on Generative Organs.—General Maladies.—Forms of Syphilis.—Syphilis in Sea-ports.—Severity of Syphilis among unregistered Women.—The “Kurhaus” and general Infirmary.—Male Venereal Patients.—Sickness in the Garrison.—Treatment.—Mortal Diseases of Hamburg Prostitutes.—Hamburg Magdalen Hospital. The ancient legislative enactments respecting prostitution in Hamburg seem to have been of the same character, and based upon the same principles, as in other Continental cities, namely, a partial toleration of a necessary evil for the sake of preventing injurious excesses. This may be traced in the oldest extant law on the subject, dated in 1292. In the public account-books for 1350 are entries of charges which imply that public brothels were built by the corporation, though we find no satisfactory information as to whether they were managed by an appointed official as in Cologne, Strasbourg, or Avignon, or were leased by the city to an individual as in Ulm. It will be interesting to give a sketch of the regulations of prostitution in the latter city before proceeding with the investigation concerning Hamburg. The laws of the city of Ulm in 1430, or at least that portion of them called “woman house” laws, provided that the houses should be leased, and the lessee, on becoming tenant, swore to serve the city faithfully; to prevent all foul play or concealment of suspicious goods in his house; to provide clean, healthy women, and never to keep less than fourteen. He was bound to observe a fixed dietary scale; the daily meals were to be “of the value of sixpence;” on meat days every woman was to have two dishes, soup with meat and vegetables, and a roast or boiled joint, as most In Hamburg, in 1483, the calling of brothel-keeper was limited to certain streets, apart from the ordinarily frequented thoroughfares—a rule which would imply that the authorities had discontinued building public brothels, and relinquished the business to individuals. In the seventeenth century a different course of action was adopted, and, in place of toleration and limitation of brothels, strict laws were made in reference to visiting suspected places, and the custody of persons of bad character. The women-houses were pulled down and the women expelled; the criminal records contain frequent instances where the pillory or exile was inflicted for the crime of prostitution. In 1764, and again in 1767, the Hamburgers enacted very severe laws against offenders, under the title of “delicta carnis,” by which both sexes were subject to pains and penalties, but men seem to have been allowed to clear themselves on oath. The officers of justice were directed to make domiciliary visits in search of offenders, and the pillory, bread and water, the House of Correction, or banishment, are the penalties threatened on habitual evil-doers. In Germany, prostitution received a terrible impulse from the French Revolution, when the general disruption of public obligations paved the way to unbounded private license. Probably the licentiousness of Europe at the end of the last and commencement of the present century was more extravagant than at any other time. The irruption of immigrants at the fall of the French The name demoiselle was granted to many of the common women, their places of resort being called “Ma’amselle houses.” In those days the Hamburgers saw, with astonishment, houses fitted up and furnished in the style of mansions, with costly upholstery and cabinet-work.[264] Among the women were the femmes entretenness, who received their friends at certain hours, and whose favors were dispensed for a Louis d’or or a ducat. They frequented the first and second boxes of the German and French theatres, and drove through the public streets in handsome carriages. Some of the keepers of this class of houses had physicians in their pay, whose services were always available by the inmates. Petits soupers were given here, and sometimes a ball took place. These were literally the aristocracy of prostitution. The second, third, and fourth grades resided in inferior streets or in the suburbs, differing in their attractions according to the rank which they assumed, but all equally shameless and unequivocal in their conduct and appearance. Notwithstanding this rapid spread of prostitution, the police of the city can not justly be charged with neglect of duty, any public outrage being followed by condign punishment. At one time a whole ship-load of nymphs of the pavÉ was dispatched to the colonies; at another a raid was made on the most conspicuous houses, some of the inmates alarmed into decency of conduct, and the incorrigible publicly exhibited in the streets, decorated with inscriptions signifying their offenses. The voice of the few was powerless against the corruptions of the many. The pamphlets and papers of the time teem with the proffered services of go-betweens, and even the Hamburg ladies themselves were far from perfection, if we may credit the evidence of a fictitious petition, It was impossible such an extravagant state of society should long exist; a reaction was inevitable; and we find, accordingly, an ordinance enacted in 1807 by the Proctor Abendroth in reference to the matter. It recognized brothel-keeping and prostitution as a calling, and permitted it under certain restrictions. A tax on the class was imposed, and means were prescribed by which a register of all persons engaged therein was to be kept, and their health and general good conduct maintained and enforced. The official justification of the tax is found in the order itself, which declares that, “for the purposes aforesaid” (police register and supervision, medical examination, maintenance in sickness, poverty, etc.), “and in order that the public shall be at no charges, each housekeeper shall, for every woman residing with him, pay two marks to the Proctor’s treasury. The surplus of this treasury shall go to the Hospital.” During the French occupation in 1811, the police renewed and enforced the stringent regulations on the subject of common houses and women. The preamble of their “Instructions” (April, 1811) is worthy of notice: “Public and personal safety require a constant inspection, as well of the public houses dedicated to debauchery, as of the women and girls who frequent the same, live therein, or dwell there from time to time. This inspection must also be extended to those places which are not expressly appointed for dwelling-houses, but which, nevertheless, must be included among the public houses, inasmuch as they serve for refuge to the women and girls who wander about the streets.” “The grounds of this inspection are two-fold. In one respect they belong to the maintenance of public order: it is needful that no one be withdrawn from the eye of the police, nor find an asylum in such houses. It is likewise expedient that the magistracy take notice of disgraceful and disorderly proceedings, or prevent those which take place too often in the town. The other grounds respect the public health. The habits of debauchery have become so general, and inspection has, for some years, become so difficult, that the most dangerous maladies have increased to an unprecedented extent. All classes of society complain, and call loudly for regulations to restrain these evils. These considerations have moved the General Police Commissary to renew, in full force, the before-enacted laws and regulations, and to order them to be enforced with rigor in the present state of affairs.” After the withdrawal of the French, the vigilance of the police authorities seems to have relaxed, if we are to judge by complaints In 1820, “the previously existing police regulations against prostitutes being proved very ineffectual, insomuch that they infest the public streets and ways, not only to the offense of decency and propriety, but to the endangerment of public order and safety,” it was ordered that the regulations should be renewed, and additional powers were given to the police to enforce the registry of individuals coming within the scope of the law. At this time we find some information as to the number of prostitutes, who are stated to be about five hundred, chiefly foreigners, and their receipts from their patrons, but we have no guide to the number of women who pursued their calling privately, which must have been large. The civic administration of the Senator Hudtwalcker is marked by earnest endeavors to control prostitution and restrict it within known bounds. Some of his views on the subject met much opposition. He wished to close up one end of a notorious street, and to wall up the back windows, stationing a watchman constantly at the end left open. After great personal attention to the subject, he published the result of his experience.[265] His principles are those upon which the present police regulations of Hamburg are based. He says: “All brothel-keepers and girls should be distinctly made to understand that their infamous and ruinous calling is only tolerated, not permitted, or authorized, or even well wished. Still less can they feel that they have any right to compare themselves with worthy citizens as though their calling, because an impost is levied on them, can be put on a level with other permitted callings. They must remember that this impost is raised solely to defray the necessary cost of police supervision, and of the cure of maladies brought on the common women by their own profligate course of life.” “2. Public or private brothel-keeping to be notified to the police; the regulations to be read over and subscribed; offenders to be punished by bread and water, and the House of Correction. If an uninscribed woman have the venereal disease, the fact is prima facie evidence of prostitution.” “4. The concession may be withdrawn by the authorities at their pleasure.” “5. Houses of accommodation will only be tolerated, (a.) where the landlord is inscribed; (b.) where a resident girl is inscribed; (c.) where an inscribed girl is the party using it.” “6. Women from abroad, kept by single men, must obtain the police residence permission, and should pay the tax for the first class, without, however, being subject to medical visits. They have the right of the free use of the General Infirmary. Should such a girl be proved to have intercourse with several men, or, being venereal, to have infected others, she should be treated as a public woman.” 7, 8, 9. Prescribe the identification of individuals subscribing; the details of their place of birth; the consent of parents when living; also, “That any brothel-keeper detaining an innocent girl on false pretenses shall be punished with fine and imprisonment, and the concession be withdrawn.” “10. Female servants or relatives of brothel-keepers residing with them to be over twenty-five years of age.” “11. No prostitute is suffered to keep children of either sex over ten years of age; even her own must be brought up elsewhere if she continues her calling.” 12. Prohibits solicitation of passengers. “13. No common woman to be in the streets after eleven at night without a male companion.” 14. Limits the places to which prostitutes may resort. “15. Young people, under twenty years, not to enter a brothel.” “16. No music or gaming in brothels, nor liquor-selling, except by special permission.” “17. Noise and uproar in brothels punishable.” “18. No brothel-keeper or inscribed woman to permit extortion or violence to a customer, but they may detain persons who have not paid. Thefts or foul dealing prohibited; the landlord prima facie responsible.” “19. No compulsion or violence of the women by the keeper, nor by guests with his cognizance.” “20. A woman wishing to return to a virtuous life at liberty to do so, notwithstanding any keeper’s claims. If they disagree as to such claims, the police to settle them, but in no case has the keeper any lien on her. Nevertheless, this privilege not to be abused. If a woman returns to her evil courses, the keeper’s claims on her revive, and she may even be punished. Limitation, according to the class of a woman, of the right of borrowing money.” “22. A woman changing her residence, and disputing any settlement with the keeper, can have the same rectified by the police.” “23. The women to be subjected every week to medical visitation. No woman, during menstruation, or with any malady in the sexual organs, to receive visits from a man. No woman to be approached by a man diseased, or reasonably suspected of disease. To this end, a statement of the signs of venereal disease to be furnished.” “24. The orders of the public physician are imperative, and must be strictly observed. Want of personal cleanliness increasing the virulence of syphilis, the directions of the physician on this matter to be imperatively followed.” “25. The medical officer to report the result of examination to the police, and to enter the same in a book to be kept by each woman, to be produced on demand.” “26. A woman finding herself to be venereally infected to report either to the keeper or the police; in other illness to report to the medical officer, who will direct her course of treatment at home, or, in venereal and infectious cases, at the hospital. In cases of pregnancy she is to report herself to the medical officer.” “27. A keeper punishable for the disease of a man in his house, and liable for the charges of cure.” The remaining sections relate to the collection of the tax; the penalties for violation are fine and imprisonment. Having thus briefly sketched the progress of legislation on prostitution in Hamburg, based upon the principle that “prostitution is a necessary evil, and, as such, must be endured under strict supervision of the authorities,” it seems an appropriate place to copy the following remarks of an eminent local writer: “That brothels are an evil no one can deny; still, the arguments against the sufferance of brothels are, except as to that incontestable truth, no answer to the ‘necessity,’ which is the very gist of the thing, and which necessity is based on the uncontrollable nature of sexual intercourse, and on the circumstances of our social condition.” “The sufferance of brothels is necessary, “1. For the repression of profligacy, of private prostitution as well as of its kindred crimes, adultery, rape, abortion, infanticide, and all kinds of illicit gratification of sexual passion. The latter cases occur very rarely with us. Of PÆderasty or Sodomy we find but few instances; and of that unnatural intercourse of women with each other, referred to by Parent-Duchatelet as common among the Parisian girls, we find no trace.” “2. On grounds of public policy in regard to health. It is quite erroneous to suppose that these legalized brothels contribute to the spread of syphilitic maladies. This should rather be imputed to the private prostitution which would ensue on the breaking up of the brothels, and from which that medical police supervision that now limits the spread of infection would, of course, be withdrawn. The experience of all time proves that, by means of secret prostitution, the intensity and virulence of venereal disorders have been aggravated, to the multiplication of those appalling examples familiar to every medical reader, and which cause one to shudder with horror; while numerically, disease and its consequences have been carried into every class of society. It is precisely our knowledge of these very facts which has induced the sufferance, or, rather, the regulation of these brothels.” “3. Suppression is ABSOLUTELY IMPRACTICABLE, inasmuch as the evil is rooted in an unconquerable physical requirement. It would seem as if the zeal against public brothels implied that by their extinction a limitation of sexual intercourse, except in marriage, would be effected. This is erroneous, for reliable details prove that for every hundred brothel women there would be two hundred private prostitutes, and no human power could prevent this. In a great city and frequented sea-port like Hamburg, the hope of amending this would be purely chimerical.” Thus much for Hamburg legislation, and the sound arguments in its favor. We will now give some facts illustrative of the vice as it exists at the present time, using a pamphlet by Dr. Lippert, entitled “Prostitution in Hamburg. 1848.” It must be premised that, for the purpose, Hamburg is divided into two parts: the city proper, and the suburb of St. Paul. The latter is under a distinct municipal authority, and is the ordinary residence of seamen and those depending on a seafaring life. For many years the police returns of the city proper would show about five hundred of the registered “common women” (eingeschrieben Dirnen), and one hundred registered brothels. The police regulations requiring monthly payment of the personal and house tax, and also a renewal of the permission to keep brothels at the same time, is a very convenient method of obtaining a census of the class. The following is a statement of the largest and smallest monthly number of registered women for several years:
These monthly reports do not show any marked variation at any particular period, the rise and fall being arbitrary. The fluctuation is not very great in the aggregate, although from November, 1834, to January, 1835, there was a decrease of 86 (or nearly one fifth), while between November, 1835, and January, 1836, there was a corresponding increase. Since that time the numbers have remained steadily at about one point.
These figures show that the number of those living privately is gradually diminishing, more of them being concentrated in the registered houses. Dr. Lippert is of opinion that prostitution decreases in the summer and increases in the winter months. The statistics will certainly support this theory, but the difference is so small as scarcely to warrant its reception as a rule.
In reference to the classes from which the ranks of the common women in Hamburg are recruited, Dr. Lippert states that four fifths are from the agricultural districts of the vicinity; that they live as house-servants, tavern-waiters, or in other callings for a time, and then become prostitutes “as a matter of business.” Without any desire to controvert his opinion on local questions, it may be doubted whether bad example, vicious education, ignorance of moral or religious obligations, or temptation, are not sufficient to account for their fall, aside from this sweeping denunciation, this commercial view of the question, opposed as it is to all experience in every civilized country where any inquiries on the subject have been made. The private prostitutes, whether registered or unregistered, are mainly seamstresses or others dependent upon daily labor. These women seem to retain some natural sense of the disgrace attached to open and avowed courtesans, and in their secrecy and quiet retain a few feminine characteristics of which the common brothel woman is destitute. We have no reliable detail of private unregistered prostitution, or of mere houses of accommodation in Hamburg; but an important fact is to be found in the number of illegitimate children, and the decrease, in proportion to the population, of the number of marriages. The following results are taken from Neddermeyer’s “Statistics and Topography of Hamburg.”
The proportion of illegitimate to legitimate children is about 1 to 5, the actual number of illegitimate births being as follows:
We have now to examine the physiological and pathological peculiarities of the Hamburg prostitutes. The police regulations require that no registered woman shall be under twenty years of age; but in this they have a discretionary power, so as to keep under inspection and supervision some younger girls whom neither the work-house nor prison can reclaim, the experience of the Hamburg authorities having convinced them that such punitive institutions are seldom successful in the work of reformation; a truth which will, ere long, be more generally acknowledged, especially in reference to abandoned women, than it is at the present day. The official list for 1844 shows that of the registered prostitutes there were
In 1846, of women living in registered houses, there were
The birth-places of the 502 women reported in 1844 included most of the countries in Germany. There were from
The nativity returns for 512 women, in 1846, do not vary materially from the above, the difference in the foreign-born being that there were four, instead of five, born out of Germany. These tables show that about one in five are natives of Hamburg city and territory. Dr. Lippert notices this fact as a small proportion, and accounts for it by enumerating the difficulties of local relationship, parentage, etc., which would be opposed to the registration The Hamburger Berg, or St. Paul’s Suburb, is on the west side of Hamburg, and has already been mentioned as the abode of seamen and their dependents. Brothels were tolerated here, in deference to the wants of the inhabitants, at a time when they were strictly excluded from the city proper. The women and the houses are of a different type from those of other parts of Hamburg. All the prostitutes live in registered houses, unregistered or private traffic in this quarter being rigorously opposed by the authorities. The brothels and their inmates are in the most flourishing condition at the end of autumn, when the home voyages are completed and the sailors paid off. For a time mirth and excitement bear the sway; when the wages are all spent, things relapse into their old condition, and sometimes the keepers dismiss some of their women, the supply being in excess of the demand. During the year 1846 the number of registered women in this district was
The 169 women registered in December were distributed among nineteen tolerated houses. In seven of these music and dancing were permitted, and they contained respectively 21, 13, 11, 19, 20, 18, 29 women, leaving only 26 women to inhabit the remaining twelve houses. The ages of these women were
The places of birth do not vary materially from the proportions given already. Other matters relating to this particular class will be found hereafter. In their physique the great majority of the registered women present no pleasing aspect. Generally taken from the rudest classes, they are coarse and unattractive in their appearance, and from the consequences of irregular indulgence and continual exposure, they soon lose the womanly characteristics they once possessed. But this is not a portrait of the whole. Among the unregistered private women may be found some of considerable beauty. The registered women who reside in private, or in first-class In their bodily peculiarities and diseases there is no difference between the public women of Hamburg and those of other cities. At the commencement of their career they frequently become thin and emaciated, but after a time, probably owing to their idle life and good food, regain their substance. In their phrenological development we find a marked preponderance of the animal instincts over the intellectual faculties. The effect of their mode of life will depend somewhat upon individual constitution. The teeth of women of the town are generally bad, but in Hamburg they are in excellent order—much better than the majority of the general population. Their complexion is pale, and they endeavor to remedy this by the constant use of coarse cloths, applications of eau de Cologne, and other stimulants, but very rarely by painting, except among the lowest classes. They soon lose their hair from dissipation, the use of pomatum, curling irons, etc. It is, however, in the rough, harsh voice that the most conspicuous result of their calling is shown. We will leave, for the present, the medical portion of this inquiry, and give a sketch of their domestic or every-day life. It must be borne in mind that the police divisions are into “registered” or “unregistered,” and “public” or “private” women. The public women (Öffentlichen dirnen) are under the special control and supervision of a police authority charged with this duty. Without his express cognizance and permission they can not be registered, or “written in” (eingeschrieben), nor can they have liberty to change their residence, or to be “written out” (ausgeschrieben). This officer is the collector of the impost upon them and upon the brothel-keeper (bordelwirth), which is paid over to the fund (meretricen kasse). We can not give the detailed application of this money, but, in general terms, it does not swell the revenues of the city, and, to avoid public scandal, is applied exclusively to the police and medical services required by the class. The keepers and women are of three grades. It does not clearly appear whether a woman can select the class with whom she will associate. We are inclined to think the magistrates decide this point, and allot her to the one for which she seems best adapted. The food of the house-women is good and plentiful, varying according to the rate of the brothel in which they live. The old sumptuary laws are not in force, but the interest of the keeper induces him to desire a prudent popularity among his women, and to maintain the character of his house by the liberality of his entertainment both in quantity and quality. A considerable portion of their liquids is coffee, of which they are very fond. Wines and liquors are supplied by the house only on holidays, but visitors can purchase them at any time they wish. Drunkenness is comparatively rare among the better class, partly owing to the care of the keeper, but more from dread of the police supervision and consequent punishment. In their intellectual capacity there is nothing to distinguish the prostitutes in Hamburg. Few can read, and fewer still can write. Those who can read seek their amusement in the old romances of the circulating libraries, seldom perusing that libidinous style of publications known among us as “yellow-covered literature.” En passant, this seems the universal practice of the class, wherever any inquiries have been made. Like other ignorant persons, they are superstitious. Lippert mentions one particular omen connected with their calling: she who picks up any article which has been thrown away is sure to receive a visit from a man soon after. He does not say whether this has been verified by experience. Their ordinary routine of life is one of useless idleness. They rise about ten and take breakfast, of which coffee is the staple. The morning is loitered away in dressing, reading novels, playing cards or dominoes, and kindred occupations. In some of the In that fine and peculiar quality of modesty, which adds the crowning grace to woman’s charms, even the prostitute is not wholly deficient. Some trace of the angel attribute is visible, but mostly in the private women, where a regard for the decent proprieties of life yet lingers amid the wreck of character, and to such it frequently forms the chief attraction. Religion has an influence over some, strangely at variance with its dictates as are their lives, but a large majority are entirely destitute of any such sentiment. Occasionally, Biblical pictures may be seen in the rooms of brothels, but merely as ornaments, for they are neutralized by the contiguity of others more consonant with the place. In their relations to the male sex there are differences between women residing in public brothels and those living privately, whether registered or unregistered. Partly from inclination, but mainly from policy on the part of the keeper, the former seldom own allegiance to any particular lover. It is true that any one who is able and willing to pay liberally can come and go as he pleases, provided he does not interfere with the girl’s “business” in other profitable quarters. Not so with the private women, who frequently have particular “lovers” to whom they show much kindness, although from them they often receive but little sympathy or protection, many of these men not scrupling to exist entirely upon the earnings of a woman whom they would publicly insult if they met her away from home. In their personal conduct toward each other the women residing in one house are constrained and envious. In the first class there is a ceremonious retention of the forms of politeness, but they are too frequently brought into personal rivalry to entertain much good feeling. In the lower classes jealousy often finds vent in reproaches or blows, and frequently a conflict ensues requiring the interposition of the host or of a neighboring police officer. Among those who live alone warm friendships are not uncommon; Their crimes and offenses include the ordinary category, but it is asserted that theft is less common in Hamburg than elsewhere, and, when it does take place, it is more frequently committed by the irregular members of the body than by the duly registered women. It will be perceived that the system of registration offers too many facilities for detection, a fact to which the unusual honesty must doubtless be ascribed. Personal quarrels and assaults, or drunkenness among the older members, consign them to the House of Detention or House of Correction. Those imprisoned from various causes generally amount to one hundred or one hundred and twenty. The licensed brothels are supplied with inmates by females (kupplerinnen) whose services are recognized by the authorities. In case of any emergency, the keeper applies to one of the procuresses, and if the girl she offers suits him, the candidate is first subjected to a medical examination. Passed safely through this ordeal, she is taken to the police office and “written in” to her new keeper, who is bound to discharge certain of her debts, as the amount due his predecessor, for instance. If the medical officers report her sick, she is sent to the infirmary if she belong to Hamburg, but if a foreigner is dispatched out of the city forthwith. In cases where a woman thus applying to the authorities has not previously lived as a prostitute, she is usually exhorted by the magistrate to abandon her intention and return to the paths of virtue, a routine piece of benevolence which is usually fruitless. The ordinary police fee for registration is two marks, the physician’s fee is one mark, and the agent’s usual remuneration four marks. The registered women are thus kept strictly under the eye of the police, and, whenever they are disposed to quit their wretched life, have the special protection of that body. The keepers naturally throw all possible obstacles in the way of such a determination, especially if a girl is much in debt; but, by some means, whenever a woman is under any restraint, and is consequently unable to apply personally to the police, an anonymous note finds its way to the office, and speedily effects the desired object. The The registered women are designated as “Brothel women” (Bordell dirnen), who live in licensed houses; as “Private women” (fÜr sich wohnende dirnen) when they live by themselves, in which case their landlords are mostly mechanics, hucksters, or laundresses; and the common “Street-walkers” (Strassen dirnen), who ply their trade in the streets, and find shelter in the abodes of indigence and misery. These last are the lowest grade of the registered women. Most of the brothels (bordelle) are in the oldest parts of the city, to which they were originally limited, but the leading houses may be found in the Schwieger strasse, a street of moderate traffic in a good neighborhood. Here the women are seated at the windows, conspicuously dressed up and prepared for the public eye, making themselves known to passengers by their gestures and salutations. Some of these houses accommodate as many as fourteen inmates. They are well supplied with good mahogany furniture and fine draperies, and are neat and elegant throughout. The women are generally from twenty to twenty-five years old, and are attractively dressed and decorated. The venereal disease is very rare among this class, great attention being paid to personal cleanliness, and the bath very frequently used. The men who visit this neighborhood consist of merchants, the richer public and business employÉs, officers, and especially the numerous commercial men who resort to Hamburg at all seasons of the year. The denizens of the Dammthorwall, the Drehbahm, and Ulricas strasse lead but a dull life, as it is the custom in those localities for the women to sit at the windows all day. Their great diurnal event is the visit of the hair-dresser (friseurian), who, while contributing to the adornment of the person, a very serious affair, owing to the quantity of false hair required, and the necessity of making to-day’s effect vary from yesterday’s, also retails the latest items of interesting news or scandal. Whenever any of these women go out to walk, it is customary for the keeper to send together two who are at variance with each other, so as to establish a mutual check. The hair-dressing and walk over, the next important occurrence is dinner, after which they spend their time solely at the doors or windows. In first-rate houses the accounts between the keeper and the women are but little understood. As already observed, some of them hire their clothes; others purchase from the landlord on credit, and he charges accordingly; but these matters trouble the women very slightly. If they leave one house to reside in another, the new keeper pays the old one’s bill; if a woman abandons prostitution entirely, the host’s demand is totally irrecoverable. In the second and third rate houses the charges for board and lodging are better understood. It will average about twenty marks (five dollars) a week, washing, fire, and light being extra charges. The keeper will supply fortunate or attractive women with articles of dress to any reasonable amount, but his liberality is restricted toward those who have fewer visitors. His endeavor is to keep all in debt, and in this he is usually successful. Their ornaments are usually the property of the landlord, and form a common stock distributed among his boarders in the manner best calculated to increase or display their powers of fascination, and resumed by him at discretion. Passing over some intermediate classes of brothels, which present no remarkable characteristics, to those in the Gangen, we find the lowest grade of registered houses and registered women. Most of these are drinking-shops, and the police exercise the right of determining the prices to be charged for liquors. Here may frequently be seen host, guests, and girls, drinking and frolicking together in a small back room, where scenes of gross indelicacy (to use a mild term) frequently take place. The women in this district have literally to work hard, and are generally required to perform all the domestic labor of the establishment. In winter it is a common occurrence for them to take a shovel and clear the snow and ice from the pavement in front of their domicile. Like others of their calling, they are seldom out of the landlord’s debt, their board costing them from ten to fourteen marks weekly (say three to four dollars). Washing, fire, and light cost a dollar more, and the hair-dresser’s charge is about fifty cents. In addition to this, they must pay the weekly medical and monthly police tax. They spend a miserably monotonous existence, seldom leaving the house The brothel-keepers, among whom are some Jews, have no striking peculiarities as a class. It has been already shown that both sexes are engaged in the hideous trade, and, despite the police regulations and restrictions, the obligations and disabilities under which they are placed, it is undoubtedly a most lucrative occupation. The rental of a registered house is usually double the ordinary charge for similar tenements. There are some keepers who own the houses in which they live. In their liabilities must be included the regulation which makes them responsible for thefts committed in their houses, and for any violence or disorder which may take place there, the penalties for which are fine, imprisonment, and loss of license. They also sustain considerable losses from the repentance of some of their inmates; but, in spite of all untoward circumstances, they contrive to make money rapidly. The period during which they continue in business is uncertain, many of them continuing their houses from inclination long after they have accumulated sufficient property to retire. Of the female keepers some are young and handsome, but these do not find much favor with their women, who dread the effects of an opposition. They are rarely married, but cohabit with some man for the sake of his protection. Among these pro tempore husbands are some whose qualifications and previous positions render it surprising that they should consent to purchase existence from so polluted a source. The housekeepers of the Hamburger Berg are not only under a separate municipal jurisdiction, but are in themselves a different class of people. They are mostly men, their dealings being principally with sailors, and their visitors sometimes demanding more Some of these registered hosts have followed their calling for many years. One noble incident in connection with them must not be omitted. In the severe winter of 1846, the landlord of the “Four Lions,” a brothel-keeper of twenty-four years’ standing, maintained at his own cost, for some months, nearly one hundred poor families, many of them with three or four children each. In the dance-houses there is music every evening except Saturday; on week-days from six to eleven, and on Sundays from four to eleven. At eleven the music is stopped, and at twelve the house is peremptorily closed. The evenings during the week are comparatively dull affairs, and male visitors are sometimes so scarce that the women are compelled to dance with each other, or sit in inglorious idleness. A scene of the wildest uproar and most uncontrolled mirth is exhibited on Sunday evenings. Every variety of national dance may then be seen—cachucha, reel, jig, contrÉ-dance, waltz, and hornpipe have each their several admirers. Songs and shouts are heard in every conceivable dialect, and the room becomes literally “confusion worse confounded” until the hour arrives for closing. Of the registered women living by themselves there is little to note. They are more industrious than those in brothels. Many of them have a fixed occupation, but resort to prostitution to increase their income. Money earned in this way is occasionally required for the common necessaries of life, but is more frequently In the lowest ranks of prostitution, the common “street-walkers,” to be met at all times and places, under all circumstances and of all ages, we find the most prolific sources of infection. A certain, though very small remnant of decency, seconded by the invaluable watchfulness of the police, secures the visitor from disease among the inmates of registered houses, but the street-walker is under no such control. Young girls scarcely more than children, old women almost grandmothers, ply their frightful trade on the “walls” around the city, and in other obscure places, where a trifling present will purchase their caresses. Their principal customers are young boys and very old men, their practices being continued under the shades of evening until the arrival of the night-watch drives them to their wretched dens. The Hamburg police are perfectly cognizant of these proceedings, and wage perpetual war against individuals, but find it altogether impossible to suppress the class, among whom are the habitual tenants of the jail and the House of Correction. No one can differ in opinion from Dr. Lippert, who says, “In this class of women the most pernicious results of prostitution are to be found.” Private or domestic prostitution, so widely extended in every great town, exists in less proportion in Hamburg than in other capital cities of the same extent. That disgraceful union in evil occasionally met with on the Continent, in which husband and wife mutually agree to follow their inclinations or lusts untrammeled by each other, is scarcely known. The kept woman is comparatively rare. The expense attendant upon such an appendage of luxury is a serious consideration, and none but the wealthy patrician or successful business man venture on the step. It is assumed, on very good authority, that there are not fifty “mistresses” in Hamburg. Those residing there are under no police control, as in a public point of view they commit no breach of law. Under the second head of private prostitution we find those who, having legitimate employment, increase their earnings in this manner. We have alluded already to the same class of Another class of private prostitutes is known to the police by the term “Winklehuren” (hedge w——). These are of the lower class of female operatives. Servant-girls, from their proximity to the junior members of families, often spread disease in the household of their employers. Dr. Lippert records as a medical fact that examinations have frequently shown the domestics in the highest families to be literally saturated with venereal disease, and he states his opinion that six out of every ten servant-girls who are found in the streets at night are accessible to pecuniary temptation. This ratio is very large, but as it is a local matter with which he is presumed to be well acquainted, it would be out of place to attempt either to sustain or controvert it. All these private prostitutes resort to the houses of accommodation (Absteigequartiere), which exist in spite of the constant watchfulness of the police. When they are hunted up and rooted out of one place, they reappear under another guise elsewhere; a removal being facilitated by the slender nature of their equipment, which seldom consists of more than furniture for one room. To the question, “What becomes of the prostitutes?” Hamburg offers no special reply. Under favorable circumstances, they abandon their calling, and become the wives of mechanics or small tradesmen; or they carry on some business for themselves, and strive to become reputable members of society; or they become companion to some man, and follow his fortunes, usually reverting to common prostitution. When their charms are entirely lost, and no hope remains of earning a living from their sale, they sometimes, but very rarely, become brothel-keepers; sometimes procuresses; and, more frequently, servants in the registered houses. Some of the dancing saloons already mentioned have attained European celebrity. They stand in the same relation to common women as the exchange does to the mercantile community. Their female visitors are mostly prostitutes, a fact which deprives the scene of many fascinations existing in other cities. In the end of the last century there was no public place expressly designed for dancing, until, with the many equivocal blessings disseminated by the French Revolution, they also became an institution. The Hamburg saloons are conducted with order and quiet, and are generally closed about one o’clock in the morning. One of the most important, the Bacchus Hall, was burned down some few years since, and the authorities have, as yet, refused to grant a license for its re-erection. As public places which in some degree facilitate prostitution, mention must be made of the common sleeping apartments locally called “deep cellars” (tiefen kellar). These are roomy vaults, many feet under ground, in which the poor find nightly shelter at very low prices. They are provided with beds and bedding. In the depth of poverty to which some of their customers have fallen, they can not afford to pay two schellings (about four cents) for the luxury of a bed, and these repose their weary limbs on some foul straw, or on the ground, at the charge of half a schelling. Some of these cellars are fifteen or twenty feet below the surface of the street, and it will not require a very vivid imagination to portray their horrors. The beer and wine houses of Hamburg are tolerably free from prostitution; but a new class has lately sprung up, called “cellar-keeping” From this general description of prostitutes, their habitations, and customs, we will proceed to a consideration of their condition as to health, and the extent and virulence of syphilis among them, still taking the pamphlet of Dr. Lippert for our guide. It is generally imagined that the excessive action of the generative organs interferes with the power of procreation in common women. Dr. Lippert undertakes to controvert this opinion, with what success medical men whose professional experience has been among this class will be able to judge. He supports his views by general assertions rather than by specific facts, but refers, in corroboration, to well-known instances in which children have been born while the mothers were living in a state of open prostitution, as also to those cases where women who have abandoned the habit of promiscuous intercourse confine themselves to one man by marriage or cohabitation, and then become mothers. He attributes their sterility during prostitution to their wild and irregular life, their constant exposure to weather, etc., and argues that the powers of conception are suspended, but not destroyed thereby. He also introduces the fact that abortions are frequently produced in Hamburg by the common women themselves, or by some old crones who preside over their orgies, and are stated to have a long list of drugs applicable to this purpose, which they use in a reckless manner. The medical police are not unaware of these proceedings, but find them difficult to detect, as a woman will endeavor to avoid the stated examination by pleading excessive menstruation, or inventing some story she thinks likely to deceive, until all traces of the abortion are removed. The remarks of Dr. Lippert would lead to the belief that the excessive use of the female organs was more favorable to health than the disuse would be, a conclusion which most physicians will not be willing to admit. He adds, “Cancer of the womb occurred but once in my experience of eleven years at the General Infirmary, and cases of prolapsus uteri are very rare.” A disease incident to common women, Colica scortorum (W——’s The enlargement of the clitoris, so much insisted on by some writers, Lippert altogether doubts, except as a very exceptional case; nor does he admit any effect of prostitution on the rectum unless induced by unnatural intercourse. As a general result of his observations, he concludes that, “apart from syphilitic affections, the generative organs of a prostitute do not usually differ from those of a virtuous woman.” We find some returns of diseases not directly connected with prostitution; thus, cases of itch, which is now becoming rare, were in
Of other general maladies, including fevers, inflammation of the lungs, liver, womb, etc., rheumatism, small-pox, piles, jaundice, gout, dropsy, and diarrhoea, the following are reported:
Convulsions are more rare than in the female sex in general; of hysteria there is scarcely a trace, and a few cases of epilepsy are ascribed to the use of ardent spirits. Delirium tremens seldom occurs. The vigilance of the police, and the prompt committal to prison of every prostitute found drunk and disorderly, may account for this. The proportion of cases of delirium tremens was only about one in one thousand. Mania sometimes shows itself. Remorse may produce this, as may a violent affection for some particular man. Of the actual extent of venereal disease in Hamburg, or any other city, it is impossible to speak with certainty, but the fact that in the general hospital there it is of a very mild type is an argument in favor of medical inspection. Dr. Lippert says: “The usual form is gonorrhoea, with its complications, bubo, inflammation of the scrotum, phymosis, paraphymosis, etc. Inflammation of the prostate “We have excoriations and irritations of the sexual organs. The simple chancre is common; the indurated chancre not unfrequent; the phagedÆnic chancre is seldom met with. In general, the sores have a mild character, and heal easily with simple treatment and regular topical applications. Herpes preputialis is extremely general. This is a group of small pustules, quickly healing up, but as quickly breaking out again, often in regular periodical recurrence. It is found especially on men who have suffered from gonorrhoea or chancre.” “Secondary syphilis, ulcers of the neck, eruptions, syphilitic inflammation of the eyes, tumors, etc. These prevail more at some times than at others; how far the genus epidemicum, the weather and season, the idiosyncrasy of the person, or the intensity of the infection operate, we have yet to learn.” “Tertiary syphilis is rare.” “In sea-ports it is often observable that the disease takes peculiar aspects, and what may be called exotic forms are occasionally encountered. With sailors, syphilis is frequently latent or only partially cured, and is intensified by their habits and diet. Sexual intercourse with them will produce it in an exaggerated character. This is not so much the case in Hamburg, owing to the constant and prompt medical attention; still, some distinction is observable between the venereal maladies of the city women and those of the St. Paul Suburb. Among the latter the cases of a malignant type generally occur.” The negro sailor is held in very bad repute by these women, and some keepers will not allow him to enter their houses, believing that infection from a colored man is of the worst kind, and almost incurable. The medical returns for the year 1846 give the following tables relating to the women in the St. Paul Suburb: “In January there were 186 women, of whom 15 were sick; the diseases were
“In May, of 189 women, 21 were sick:
“In August, of 181 women, 17 were sick:
“In December, of 161 women, 18 were sick:
This would give an average of about ten per cent. of the women of the suburb sick.” From the facts we have quoted, it is evident that the virulence of syphilitic affections among the registered women is unquestionably mitigated. “Tertiary syphilis is rare;” secondary syphilis but occasional, while primary forms have lost their malignity. “There is a marked aggravation of the disease during the summer months, when a considerable influx of strangers takes place. This was particularly observable after the great fire in 1842.” The mildness of the disease, and its easy control, can be ascribed to nothing but the weekly medical supervision. The women are visited at their own houses, and any reluctance or refusal renders them liable to punishment. Contrasted with this state of affairs, we have the severity of syphilis among unregistered women, who conceal their disease as long as they can. Of those arrested, many are found to be diseased in an aggravated form. In the year 1845, of 138 unregistered women sent to prison, 43 had syphilis, or nearly one third of the whole. Parent-Duchatelet says this proportion is exceeded by the same class in Paris, where the infected amount to one half the illicit prostitutes. The “Kurhaus” is a medical institution especially designed for bad characters who are arrested by the police, be they registered or unregistered. The General Infirmary has also a venereal ward. The police authorities contribute annually, from the amount raised by the impost on brothels and prostitutes, 5000 marks ($1500) to the funds of this infirmary. From the following facts this would seem an inadequate amount. In 1844 there were received and treated 580 females with syphilis; the total residence amounting to 30.387 days, or a pro rata average of 53½ days each, the stipend allowed for which service would be about four and a half cents per day.
and in 1845,
The state of the male venereal patients proves the same general amelioration in the character of the disease. The cases, however, are worse than among the registered women, which must be ascribed to the dislike of men to enter the hospital until such a course becomes unavoidable. The numbers received were, in
Some returns are given by Dr. Lippert of the amount of sickness in the garrison; but he has not stated the number of soldiers, so no comparison can be drawn from his information. The figures are as follows:
The treatment of syphilis adopted in the Hamburg hospital was introduced by Dr. Fricke, one of the first to apply the non-mercurial system. Ricord’s practice is also followed, and Hydropathy has been tried. It would be out of place to enter into any arguments here as to the relative merits of these systems. The mortal diseases of the Hamburg prostitutes are incidental to their course of life. Exposure to the weather, alternate extremes of want and luxury, night-watching and constant excitement, induce consumption, inflammation of the lungs, dropsy, internal and abdominal complaints; gastric, rheumatic, or nervous fevers; and these, or chronic diseases resulting from renewed venereal infection, lead to the
Before dismissing this subject, we will give a sketch of the HAMBURG MAGDALEN HOSPITAL. This institution was founded in 1821 through the exertions of the Burgomaster Abendroth and others, and was constructed on the model of a similar asylum in London. The object is to reclaim women from vice by means that can be applied only in a place expressly dedicated to the purpose. The number of inmates is small; only twelve can be received. The business of the asylum is conducted by a committee, including two ministers, a physician, three female overseers, and a matron. The overseers are respectable married women or widows, who voluntarily undertake the duties of a sub-committee. They assume the direction of the household affairs alternately for a month each. They meet frequently at the house, assist in Divine service, and take care of the girls who are discharged. These are provided with situations or placed in business, and require to be upheld and maintained in their new character. The chaplain assists the ladies’ committee in their duties, but directs his energies particularly to the religious instruction of the inmates. Frequent meetings for prayer are held, and every half year the sacrament is administered to such as he deems duly prepared to receive it, and who have a competent knowledge of its importance and efficacy. To be qualified for admission, the applicant must be young, and must have a desire to amend. The limited room will not allow the reception of old or worn-out women, who would flock there in crowds to obtain a shelter under which they could die in peace. When a woman’s application is granted, she must go through a novitiate of four or eight weeks. During this time she works and eats with the other inmates, but sleeps alone, and is closely watched by a member of the committee. When her novitiate expires and she is fully received, she is requested to give an explicit account of her life, every particular of which is recorded. Her name is not disclosed to her companions, but she, as are all the others, is known only by a Christian name. The women are employed in all kinds of housework, needlework, or, when practicable, in any manner which will accustom The time of their stay is usually about two years. When they leave they give the chaplain a written promise of good conduct, and receive from him a Bible and a Prayer-book, and the sum of money accumulated for them. The results of this benevolent attempt are sufficient to encourage the laborers in the good work, and we can not but think that their endeavors must be productive of great good, based as they are upon the sound principle of receiving but a few women, and treating them as members of one family, in opposition to the general theory of such institutions, whose managers attempt to crowd in as large a number as a large building will contain, and, in the endeavor to generalize rules for reformation, lose the valuable opportunities for noticing and acting upon individual traits of character. The particulars of the subsequent life of twenty women are given as follows:
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