The History of Prostitution Part 17

Thus much for Hamburg legislation, and the sound arguments in its favor.

We will now give some facts ill.u.s.trative of the vice as it exists at the present time, using a pamphlet by Dr. LIPPERT, ent.i.tled "Prost.i.tution 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 munic.i.p.al 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 cla.s.s. The following is a statement of the largest and smallest monthly number of registered women for several years:

Year 1883 Largest number, 550 Smallest number, 456 " 1834 " " 550 " " 450 " 1835 " " 481 " " 441 " 1836 " " 546 " " 473 " 1837 " " 514 " " 484 " 1844 " " 502 No reports.

" 1846 " " 512 No reports.

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.

The housekeepers' (_bordelwirth_) return does not vary to the same extent.

The average is 105 But it decreased in 1844 to 90 " " " 1845 " 93 " " " 1846 " 96 Of these housekeepers in the last-named year (1846) there were Males 60 Females 36--96 In December, 1844, there were Registered women 502 who were subdivided into those Living in registered houses 294 Living privately 208--502 In May, 1845, there were Registered women 505 who were subdivided into those Living in registered houses 326 Living privately 179--505 (At this period there were four registered houses without any women in them.) In August, 1846, there were Registered women 512 who were subdivided into those Living in registered houses 334 Living privately 178--512

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 prost.i.tution 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.

Thus the months of May and July, for five years, give a monthly average of 499-5/10 and the months of November and January for the same time give a monthly average of 501-1/10 -------- showing an average increase in the winter months of 1-6/10

or about one third of one per cent. on the average number of prost.i.tutes.

In reference to the cla.s.ses 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 prost.i.tutes "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 prost.i.tutes, 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 dest.i.tute.

We have no reliable detail of private unregistered prost.i.tution, 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."

In 1799, the marriages were about 1 in 45; From 1826 to 1835, " " " " 1 " 97; In 1840, " " " " 1 " 100.

The proportion of illegitimate to legitimate children is about 1 to 5, the actual number of illegitimate births being as follows:

Years Illegitimate Births.

1826 649 1827 606 1828 723 1829 801 1830 786 1831 805 1832 926 1833 867 1834 846 1835 730 1836 807 1837 771 1838 762 1839 765 1840 754 1841 749 1842 702 1843 655 1844 797 1845 778 1846 779

The population of Hamburg was in 1826 100,902 " " " " 1840 124,967 " " " " 1846 130,000 or upward was a.s.sumed as the number.

We have now to examine the physiological and pathological peculiarities of the Hamburg prost.i.tutes.

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 inst.i.tutions 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 prost.i.tutes there were

Under 20 years of age 16 From 20 " to 30 years 401 " 30 " " 40 " 74 " 40 " " 50 " 11 --- Total 502

In 1846, of women living in registered houses, there were

From 20 years to 30 years of age 199 " 30 " " 40 " " 50 " 40 " " 50 " " 8 --- Total 257

The birth-places of the 502 women reported in 1844 included most of the countries in Germany. There were from

Hamburg 108 Hanover 101 Prussia 81 Holstein 78 Other parts of Germany 129 Holland 2 Russia 2 France 1 --- Total 502

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 of native women. These circ.u.mstances favor the presumption that many of the unregistered women are city born.

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 prost.i.tutes 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

January 186 May 189 August 181 December 169

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

Under 20 years 27 From 20 " to 30 years 129 " 30 " " 40 " 13 --- Total 169

The places of birth do not vary materially from the proportions given already. Other matters relating to this particular cla.s.s will be found hereafter.

In their _physique_ the great majority of the registered women present no pleasing aspect. Generally taken from the rudest cla.s.ses, they are coa.r.s.e 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-cla.s.s brothels, have some prepossessing members of their ranks, while the St. Paul suburb has few but of the roughest kind. Physical strength seems more in demand among the _habitues_ of that section than a graceful form or a pretty face.

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 const.i.tution. 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 coa.r.s.e cloths, applications of eau de Cologne, and other stimulants, but very rarely by painting, except among the lowest cla.s.ses. 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 (_offentlichen 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 ka.s.se_). 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 cla.s.s.

The keepers and women are of three grades. It does not clearly appear whether a woman can select the cla.s.s with whom she will a.s.sociate. We are inclined to think the magistrates decide this point, and allot her to the one for which she seems best adapted.

In their apparel and food there exists the usual difference that may be found in all places and ranks of life. The police regulations, and the generally sober style of dress among the Hamburgers, restrict any immodest display of the person or extravagance of attire. The first-cla.s.s women are generally costumed with taste and elegance, while among the lower ranks plain and serviceable garments are in demand. In most cases of the registered women residing in brothels, the keeper supplies the clothes, and very often charges extravagant prices for them. Extortionate demands in this respect are a fruitful source of complaints to the police, who moderate the bills with no very tender sympathy for the creditor. The clothes and jewelry of some of the first-cla.s.s women are hired from some clothes-lender (_vermietheinnen_), but others seldom resort to this expedient, excepting for trinkets.

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 quant.i.ty 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 cla.s.s, 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 prost.i.tutes in Hamburg. Few can read, and fewer still can write. Those who can read seek their amus.e.m.e.nt in the old romances of the circulating libraries, seldom perusing that libidinous style of publications known among us as "yellow-covered literature." _En pa.s.sant_, this seems the universal practice of the cla.s.s, wherever any inquiries have been made.

Like other ignorant persons, they are superst.i.tious. 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 lower-cla.s.s houses they dispel their _ennui_ by a.s.sisting in domestic work, but this is a matter of favor which they are careful shall not become an obligation. By the middle of the day they are ready for dinner. In the afternoon they add the finishing touches to their dress, and wait the arrival of visitors. Some resort to the public lounges or dancing saloons to form or cultivate acquaintances, but the aristocracy of the order hold it more becoming to their dignity to stay at home and wait for their "friends."

In that fine and peculiar quality of modesty, which adds the crowning grace to woman's charms, even the prost.i.tute 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 dest.i.tute 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 s.e.x 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 cla.s.s 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 cla.s.ses 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; much timely a.s.sistance is afforded in times of sickness or want; good offices are reciprocated; and it sometimes happens, in the delicate matter of their visitors, that a man who has been in the habit of favoring one woman will not find his attentions welcomed by others.

Their crimes and offenses include the ordinary category, but it is a.s.serted 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 a.s.saults, 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.