The Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld recalls the life and work of its eponym in the Hirschfeld anniversary years 2018 and 2019. The gay, Jewish and Social Democratic physician Dr Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935) would have turned 150 on 14 May 2018. He was one of the main initiators of the first homosexual emancipation movement worldwide at the end of the nineteenth century. The 100th anniversary of the Institute of Sexual Science founded by Hirschfeld and destroyed by the National Socialist is in 2019.
Special issue stamp 150 years Magnus Hirschfeld
A highpoint of the Hirschfeld anniversary years 2018/2019: the Federal Ministry of Finance issued a 70 cent stamp on 12 July 2018 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Dr Magnus Hirschfeld’s birth. The Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld together with the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft presented the new special issue stamp jointly in an event at the Berlin Centrum Judaicum on 19 July 2018.
Christine Lambrecht, Parliamentary Secretary of State of the Federal Minister of Finance, presented the stamp. Dr Anja Siegemund, Director of the Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin – Centrum Judaicum, Dr Daniel Baranowski, Academic Advisor of the BMH and Ralf Dose, Managing Director of the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft e.V., welcomed the guests. Lucie Veith, Vice President of the Advisory Board of the BMH and the art theory and social science expert Dr Corinna Tomberger described Hirschfeld’s emancipatory efforts for trans- and intersexual persons and the importance of Hirschfeld’s colleagues and fellow campaigners in brief talks. Sigrid Grajek and Regina Knobel provided the musical programme while Lily Kreuzer from the Verein der Freund*innen des Elberskirchen-Hirschfeld-Hauses (E2H) – Queeres Kulturhaus in Berlin i. Gr. moderated the event.
Together with the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft e.V., the Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld had devoted itself intensively to the effort for the issue of a special stamp for Dr Magnus Hirschfeld since 2015. “The appearance of the commemorative stamp and associated appreciation of Magnus Hirschfeld is especially gratifying to us. We thank the expert committee and Federal Minister of Finance for this important decision and the accompanying signal. The commemorative stamp addresses the impact of the eponym of our Foundation on the present and future in a special manner. It arouses attention and makes a lasting impression on broad sections of the public. As a tiny cultural ambassador, it can carry the discussion of Dr Magnus Hirschfeld into society,” explained Jörg Litwinschuh.
Among other things, important events, personalities and extraordinary social commitment are honoured with special issue stamps. Regarding Magnus Hirschfeld, whose birthday had its 150th anniversary on 14 May 2018, the following was stated in information of the Federal Ministry of Finance on the commemorative stamp: “Magnus Hirschfeld was a physician, Jew, Social Democrat and gay. During his life, he fought against the legal and social discrimination towards homosexuals, engaged in research on the diversity of sexuality and gender and was one of the leading initiators of the first homosexual emancipation movements in the world. (…) Magnus Hirschfeld died in 1935 on his 67th birthday in exile in Nice. Section 175, which he combated in words and writing, was deleted from the German Criminal Code in 1994.“
The Wuppertal designer Andrea Voß-Acker devised the new stamp.
The Hirschfeld commemorative stamp can also be ordered online since 12 July 2018 at https://shop.deutschepost.de/briefversand/briefmarken/neuerscheinungen
Ceremony on 150th anniversary on 14 May 2018
The ceremony for the 150th anniversary of the birthday of Magnus Hirschfeld took place on 14 May 2018 at the former location of the Institute for Sexual Science, today’s House of the Cultures of the World. We were able to welcome almost 900 guests of the LSBTIQ* community from politics, culture, society, business, religion and sport. Special guests of honour were 14 relatives from the family of Magnus Hirschfeld, who had travelled there on the invitation of the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft from Australia, the USA and Italy. Apart from the Federal Ministers of Justice and Consumer Protection, Dr Katarina Barley, and for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Franziska Giffey, the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dr Josef Schuster and the President of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, also took part in the ceremony. The cooperation partners of the ceremony were the Support Association of the Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld, the Magnus Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft e.V., the Senate Administration for Culture and Europe, the Abraham Geiger College and the Verein der Freund*innen des Elberskirchen-Hirschfeld-Hauses (E2H) – Queeres Kulturhaus in Berlin i. Gr.
The main event of the evening was the keynote address of the historian Prof Dr Dagmar Herzog (City University of New York). She examined the continuing relevance of Hirschfeld’s work and investigated its importance in the past, present and future under the title “Love and justice”.
Emphatic welcoming addresses came from the President of our Board of Trustees, Justice Minister Barley, Klaus Lederer as Mayor of Berlin and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, President of the Support Association of the BMH, whose welcoming address was read by Bernd Schachtsiek. The event was accompanied musically by Vivian Kanner and Max and moderated by the journalist Manuela Kay.
You can view the live stream of the ceremony here: https://www.facebook.com/mhstiftung/videos/1694303237304992/
We thank the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, the Senate Administration for Culture and Europe, the VP Bank, the Support Association of the BMH, Laura Halding-Hoppenheit and the event agency f3 for financial support.
You can find more information and pictures here.
Events in the Hirschfeld anniversary years 2018/2019
You can find an overview of the events of the BMH, its cooperation partners and other institutions here:
Umbrella brand “150 years Magnus Hirschfeld”
Together with its cooperation partners and the design agency plural, the BMH designed an umbrella brand “150 Years Magnus Hirschfeld”. All active participants in the Hirschfeld anniversary years 2018/2019 can advertise nationally and internationally with the logo. If you are interested in using the brand, contact Helmut Metzner at vorstand[at]mh-stiftung.de or send us the completed licence agreement. There is no fee for non-commercial use of the brand. Only a licence agreement is concluded.
Licence agreement