A timeline of Magnus Hirschfeld’s life
(b. 1868 – d. 1935)
1896
Berlin, Germany
A city in flux, where tradition and modernity collide. Here, a young Dr. Hirschfeld argues that queerness is an inherent, infinite spectrum woven into humanity – his theory of intermediacy.
1897
Launches the world’s first LGBTQIA+ rights organization, the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, with one major goal being to repeal Paragraph 175, a legal code which criminalizes
male homosexuality.
1919
Establishes the Institute for Sexual
Science (Institut für Sexualwissenschaft) – both a sanctuary for queer people and a groundbreaking center for research on gender and sexual diversity.
1920s + 30s
Hirschfeld and collaborators advance trans healthcare, provide sexual education to the public, and fight for LGBTQIA+ rights with the stated goal of liberating people from “physical, psychological, and social deprivation.”
1930
As anti-semitism and fascism rise, Hirschfeld tours the U.S., Japan, China, and more, spreading his message globally.
May 10, 1933
Hitler brands Hirschfeld “the world’s most dangerous Jew” and the Nazis destroy the Institute, burning his library and archive in one of the largest and most propagandized events of the regime.
May 14, 1935
Exiled, Hirschfeld passes away in Nice, France. On his tomb, his motto: “Per scientiam ad
justitiam” or “Through science to justice.”
This erasure of vital queer history sets back LGBTQIA+ rights for generations…