Archive for Sexology

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The following sampler gives a first impression of the documents in our collection, which contains many more items than are shown here. The entire collection can be studied on location at our archive during regular opening hours.

Please note: All images are quick load JPEG's. To get the full size picture, just click on them for a larger image.

Steinach was the best known hormone researcher of his day and the first to feminize male rats by means of castration (he also masculinized female rats by implanting testicles). A so-called Steinach operation, i.e. vasectomy, was believed to restore sexual vigor in men and to rejuvenate them. Sigmund Freud, who, according to verbal testimony by Harry Benjamin, underwent this operation, even believed that it had a beneficial effect on his cancer. As a Jew, Steinach also had to go into exile. He spent his last years in Switzerland. For a list of Steinach's writings, click here.

1. Photo of Steinach at his desk in Vienna. [70K]	2. Stills from the "Steinach-Film" The pictures seem to illustrate the effects of an imbalance between "male and female sex hormones" on the physical appearance of men and women. [45K]	3. Steinach in exile in Switzerland. [69K]

4. and 5. First two pages of a flyer advertising the "Steinach-Film". The flyer has several pages, resembling a small brochure. [104K and 205K]		6. Newspaper advertisement for the "Steinach-Film" 1923. This was a full-length documentary explaining Steinach's hormonal research and dealing with questions like sexual prowess and rejuvenation in humans. As the advertisement shows, the premiere took place at one of the largest and most prestigious movie theaters in Berlin. [379K]

7. and 8. First and last page of a contract made on June 20, 1923 between the Ufa film company and Harry Benjamin. Benjamin was a disciple of Steinach. For many years, he spent every summer with him in his institute in Vienna. The contract allowed Benjamin to arrange preview showings for select audiences of the "Steinach-Film" in the USA. However, the film was shown only once in New York before a medical audience and then sent back to Berlin. [136K and 107K]		9. Notice in the New York Medical Week of October 13, 1923, reporting the first and only showing of the "Steinach-Film" in the U.S. by Harry Benjamin. [116K]

-- Please note: All images are quick load JPEG's. To get the full size just click on them for a larger image.

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