This book explores the queer history of the easternmost provinces of the German Reichregions that used to be German, but which now mostly belong to Polandin the first third of the twentieth century, a period roughly corresponding to the duration of Germany's first queer movement (1897-1933). While the amount of queer historical studies examining entire towns and cities in the German Reich has grown to an impressive size since the 1990s, most of that research concerns, firstly, the usual, large metropoles such as Berlin, Hamburg or Cologne, and, secondly, municipalities located in Germany 'proper'; that is, within its modern borders, not those of the German state in the first half of the twentieth century. Smaller cities (not to mention rural areas) in particular have received very little scholarly attention. This book is therefore one of the first to examine queer historythat of spaces, culture, sociability and political groups specificallyfrom this geographical perspective.

Deconstructs myths concerning queer urban life in the twentieth century Discusses the role of class and gender in determining a queer person's experience with, and of, urban space Explores the queer history of the easternmost provinces of the German Reich

Autorentext

Mathias Foit received his PhD from the Free University of Berlin, Germany.

Inhalt

Introduction.- 1. Queer Spatiality and the Question of Metronormativity.- 2. The National Queer Movement of Wilhelmine and Weimar Germany.- 3. Realities of Queer People in Wilhelmine and Weimar Germany.- 4. Local Queer Self-Organising in Weimar Germany.- 5. Spaces of Queer Contact and Pleasure in Weimar Germany.- 6. Queer Sociability and Events of Queer People in Weimar Germany.- 7. Spatial Contingencies of Queer Sexual Practices and Identities.- Conclusion.