Archive for Sexology

Societies

The Ärztliche Gesellschaft für Sexualwissenschaft und Eugenik (Medical Society for Sexology and Eugenics) was founded in Berlin on February 21, 1913 by Iwan Bloch, Magnus Hirschfeld and several other interested physicians. It was the first sexological society and, through its above-mentioned journal, it soon exercised a considerable national and international influence. Beginning with 15 founding members, the membership increased to over 100 within the first year. Also open to non-medical members with academic credentials, the society held monthly meetings, usually of more than 2 hours, in which papers were presented and discussed. Sigmund Freud, in Vienna, dismissed the society as a forum created especially for the mistaken ideas of Wilhelm Fliess, but this was a hasty and erroneous judgment. Although it is true that Fliess was an active participant, the personalities of the other members were much too strong to be dominated by a single view.

It is also remarkable that, only a few months after the first, a second sexological society was founded in Berlin, the Internationale Gesellschaft für Sexualforschung (International Society for Sex Research). This rival organization, under the leadership of Albert Moll, eventually developed into an influential force of its own. It held international congresses and, ironically, also took over the Zeitschrift für Sexualwissenschaft under the editorship of Max Marcuse.

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