This chapter examines the similarities and differences between the bohemian playwright, the urban sociologist, and the socialist politician in their assessments of prostitution, gender relations, sexuality, and respectability. Challenging bourgeois norms both from the outside and from within, these men helped shape the discourse on prostitution in Berlin: August Bebel, one of the early figureheads of the socialist movement; Georg Simmel, one of the founders of modern sociology; and the bohemian playwright and satirist Otto Erich Hartleben.
While Bebel was certain that a socialist revolution would bring an end to prostitution and give new life to marriage, Hartleben and Simmel were wary of such radical change. All three men expressed sympathy for the prostitute, but it is in this sympathy that the ambivalence of their writings resides. Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases.
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