Message from the EFS
Prof. Dr. Dr. E.J. Haeberle
Secretary General of the EFS
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Welcome to Berlin!
It is with especially great pleasure that I welcome you to Berlin, the birthplace of sexology.
In Berlin the first Journal of Sexology was founded in 1908, the first sexological society was organized in 1913, the first Institute for Sexology was opened in 1919, and the first international sexological congress was held in 1921.
The pioneers of our science, Iwan Bloch, Magnus Hirschfeld, Albert Moll, Max Marcuse and their colleagues laid the groundwork and led sexology in many different fruitful directions, from sexual biology, sexual psychology, sexual medicine and endocrinology to sexual ethnology, sexual sociology, cultural history, and sex education. All of these effort, however, stood in the service of their great common goal: Sexual Reform. This philosophy was perhaps captured best in Magnus Hirschfeld's motto:
Per scientiam ad justitiam! Through science to justice!
As we all know, the first enormous sexological contributions were suddenly and systematically destroyed by the Nazis in 1933, because most of the pioneers were German and Austrian Jews. However, in the meantime, sexology in Germany and Europe has made a respectable comeback. As we enter the new millenium, we therefore proudly remember our heritage and, paraphrasing Hirschfeld, proclaim our new, even more comprehensive motto:
Per scientiam ad sanitatem! Through science to health!
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