6 July 1919
Hirschfeld Opens the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft
Cultural Trans Health
Magnus Hirschfeld opened the Institute for Sexual Science (Institut für Sexualwissenschaft) in Berlin, the world's first centre dedicated to the study of human sexuality. The Institute provided medical consultations, performed some of the first gender-affirming surgeries, issued 'transvestite passes' allowing people to cross-dress legally, and housed an enormous library of research material. It was destroyed by the Nazis in May 1933 — its books publicly burned.
Impact & Significance
The Institute represented the most advanced understanding of sexuality and gender identity of its time. Its destruction by the Nazis set back LGBTQ+ research by decades.
Reference Record
- Date
- 6 July 1919
- Era
- 1900-1949
- Sources
- 2
Editorially reviewed — reviewed · last reviewed 2026-08-10.
Questions This Event Helps Answer
Q How did UK law criminalise homosexuality before 1967? Before 1967, English and Welsh law criminalised male same-sex intimacy through buggery and gross indecency offences, with punishments ranging from execution to imprisonment. Q What happened to LGBTQ+ people under Nazi rule? Under Nazi rule, gay men and gender-nonconforming people were surveilled, prosecuted, imprisoned and in many cases sent to concentration camps under intensified Paragraph 175 enforcement.
