the circumstance to her landlord, and abstain from practising her
avocation, under pain of severe punishment.
6. The employer who makes the lodger infringe this regulation subjects
himself to imprisonment and the pillory.
11. The landlord must look carefully after the health of his lodgers,
who must submit to a surgical examination by the municipal physician
every fifteen days, and follow his advice punctiliously.
17. Landlords are forbidden to attract foreign women by false promises
who have not yet been debauched.
18. The same penalties are inflicted by the law upon a brothel-keeper
who prevents a repentant woman from leaving her course of living.
19. Intoxicated men are not to be robbed, but to pay simply the charge
put down in the general tariff.
A short time afterwards the French occupied the city, when this edict
was repealed and another substituted in its place in the year 1811.
In 1834 the position of women and brothels was regulated, an account of
which may be seen in the blue book.
It will be nothing new if we remark that marriage seems to be on the
decrease in every populous city, and especially in Hamburg, as we had
occasion to notice before.
In 1825 and 1826, among 208 marriages one can count no less than 108
women accouched three or four months after marriage.
We subjoin a table of illegitimate births in proportion to legitimate
marriages:--
Years. Legitimate Natural
Children. Children.
1701--1715 16 81
1780--1790 11 1
1790--1800 9 1
1800--1811 7 1
and from 1836--1846 one in five.
There are many foreign women in Hamburg, for among 512 women inscribed
at the prefecture in 1846, 101 only were born in the city. Many girls
are, in point of fact, known prostitutes, though not positively known
as such to the authorities, for they must have the consent of their
parents before they can be inscribed, which gives a larger number of
strangers, who are fettered by no such restrictions.
Holstein, Prussia, and above all Brunswick and Hanover, contribute more
than any other countries. Austria and France are unrepresented.
At Hamburg a woman who is in want of money may make more by a single
act of indiscretion than by an entire week of labour.
It may be interesting to state the ages of the women inscribed in 1844
at the office of police:--
16 women were less than 20
401 „ „ from 20 to 30
74 „ „ 30 to 40
11 „ „ 40 to 50
---
Total 502
The police regulations to prevent young girls not yet twenty from
abandoning themselves are, as these statistics prove, totally
insufficient.
The Hamburg women are generally, thanks to their strong constitutions,
healthy and robust. It is remarkable that the public women possess
better teeth than the rest of the feminine population.
Syphilis is not so virulent as in former times or in some other cities,
and is, as the annexed hospital returns evidence, upon the decline
amongst men.
In 1843 there were 355 men infected.
1844 „ 335 „
1845 „ 316 „
The way in which women of ill-fame at Hamburg end their career offers
nothing remarkable: some marry, some adopt different professions,
sufficiently lowly; they sell flowers, for instance, they keep
cabarets, and not often houses of evil repute, a very small number
become domestic servants, and some die in prison, where they have been
sent to expiate an offence against the laws.
Registered women may accost persons of the male sex neither by day nor
night, may show no light in their rooms unless behind drawn curtains,
nor receive men under twenty years of age, nor be in the streets
unaccompanied after 11 P.M., under penalties, both to herself and
the landlord of the house she lives in, of from two to eight days’
imprisonment on bread and water diet. She is also strictly forbidden,
when out of doors, by any speech or gesture to indicate her object.
The examination with the speculum, which takes place at home twice
a week, is conducted by a staff of three medical officers and an
inspector of police, who sign the bill of health or remit the
individual to the hospital forthwith, as the case may be.
Marriage seems to be on the decline in Hamburg, for in 1840 there
was only one marriage among every one hundred of the population.
PRUSSIA--GERMANY.
Although education is almost compulsory in Prussia, it fails most
egregiously to produce that which it ought to be the object of
education and knowledge to obtain. Female chastity marks more closely
than any other thing the moral condition of society. They may go
through an entire course of scholastic discipline, but the regulation
of the passions is more the result of home influence than of reading
and writing, or Latin and Greek, inculcated and taught by educational
sergeants or clergymen in primary schools and gymnasia. It is no
uncommon event in the family of a respectable tradesman in Berlin to
find upon his breakfast-table a young child, of which, whoever may be
the father, he has no doubt at all about the maternal grandfather.
Such accidents are so common that they are regarded, if not with
indifference, as mere youthful indiscretions. In 1837 the number of
females in the Prussian population between the beginning of their 16th
year, and the end of their 45th year--that is within child-breeding
age--was 2,983,146. The number of illegitimates born in the same year
was 39,501, so that 1 in every 75 of the whole of the females of an
age to bear children had been the mother of an illegitimate child. The
unsettled military life of every Prussian on his entrance into the
world as a man, inculcates habits of frivolity and thoughtlessness, and
is peculiarly calculated to form the character of the young man for
evil rather than for good.
BERLIN.
Berlin, the richest and most important city in Germany, possesses a
population of 300,000 inhabitants.
In a city like this, containing a far-famed and numerously attended
university, a very large manufacturing business, and a numerous
garrison, we may very justly expect to find prostitution in a
flourishing condition; for money engenders habits of luxury, and luxury
is the forerunner and the parent of vice.
At Berlin, during the middle ages, prostitution laboured under
many restrictions. Documents bearing upon this epoch show us that
prostitutes were confined to certain houses, in specified streets, and
compelled, by command of the authorities, to wear a particular costume.
The first “_maison de joie_” was erected about the end of the 15th
century, privileged by the corporation, and taxed to some extent.
Those prostitutes who infringed the rules imposed upon them were
flogged and expelled from the city. But they were nevertheless under
the protection of the authorities, who, in point of fact, looked
upon them as belonging to the city, and forming a species of public
property. Whosoever assaulted a courtezan was punished as a disturber
of the public peace.
There were certain bath-houses at this time, which were much frequented
by the richer part of the people and women of station, who gave
themselves up to clandestine debauchery, which, if it was discovered
by the police, subjected the participators in it to the severest
punishment, of which banishment from the city formed the chief part. It
is recounted in an old chronicle that, in 1322, an ambassador of the
Archbishop of Mayence was killed by the common people for proposing to
a bourgeoise to accompany him to one of these bathing establishments.
Concubinage was regarded as common prostitution, and absolutely
forbidden. A law was passed, that people living together without having
been united by the laws of the church, should be banished from Berlin.
Besides those prostitutes put under the protection of the authorities,
and called “demoiselles de la ville,” there were others called nomad
or wandering women. They were equally notorious, and were also under
control. They went from market to market, and from fair to fair, to
give themselves up to fornication.
The Reformation changed all this. Severe moral principles made way
among the people. A religious fervour commenced a war against that
which had always been regarded with toleration, or at least a certain
degree of forbearance, up to this time. They went so far as to look
upon celibacy as a vice, and did all they could to compel bachelors
to marry, by banishing all accessories of, and temptations to,
debauchery. A sort of proscription was organized against loose women,
and, in a short time, the city was nearly cleared of them. This was
very laudable, no doubt, and highly praiseworthy from a strictly
puritanical point of view, but its professors soon discovered that such
an artificial state of things could not long hold together. Adultery
increased enormously, clandestine prostitution was the order of the
day, and infants were exposed continually in the public streets. This
caused the most austere to come round to more moderate views: not only
was the ancient state of things re-established, but, as the number of
prostitutes did not suffice to satisfy the wants of the population, it
was considered necessary to augment it, and this was accordingly done.
Calvinistic ideas, that is, rigid Protestantism, and common sense, have
always struggled together in Germany, and the authorities have had the
greatest trouble to regulate a necessary evil--the one of which we are
treating. The practical views of the administration were fought against
up to 1855, when a fixed system was established.
During the whole of this time the public health was entirely neglected,
which one can partially understand, for syphilis did not make many
ravages during the 16th century. It was not until the 17th that the
necessity for checking its progress made itself felt. The first
regulation bearing upon this scourge appeared in 1700. A medical visit
was ordered every fifteen days; women found to be tainted were at once
sent to the hospital, and, when cured, sent to a prison or workhouse,
where they laboured until they had paid off the cost of curing their
illness.
The moral condition of Berlin in 1717 was sad in the extreme. The
houses of correction were not sufficient to hold the prisoners
committed to them, clandestine debauchery had reached its height, and,
to remedy this deplorable state of things, it was found necessary to
increase the number of tolerated houses, the number of which, in a
very little time, increased to an alarming extent. At the end of the
seven years’ war, more than a thousand houses of this nature might have
been counted in the city, each containing on an average nine women.
These houses were divided into three distinct classes, the lowest of
which accommodated ruffians and blackguards of every description. The
prostitutes were there dressed commonly, and like working people. The
houses of the second category were devoted to the artizans and the
middle classes. Those of the third class, were, of course, devoted to
the rich, and contained women well dressed, and in every way qualified
to seduce from the paths of virtue.
In 1796 another attempt was made to reduce the number of prostitutes,
but like all former attempts of the same nature, it proved ineffectual
on account of the augmentation of secret vice. This was at the end of
the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century; and caused syphilis to
increase very much, and the old regulations were put in force from 1815
to 1829.
In 1844 the respectable inhabitants of Berlin clamoured loudly for
the suppression of houses of ill fame; and the government, in spite
of the remonstrances of the police, listened to the petitioners, and,
in 1845, all houses of this nature were closed, and the girls sent
back to their homes, or some other place that they indicated outside
the Prussian territory. This accomplished, the consequences very soon
made themselves felt, and the Puritans, who were at the bottom of
the measure, were compelled to confess that their precipitancy and
ill-advised legislation were productive only of the worst effects.
Clandestine prostitution developed enormously, syphilis extended
its ramifications, and, after ten years, it was found necessary to
re-establish tolerated houses.
The garrison suffered dreadfully from disease; so much so, indeed, that
General Wrangel solicited the Minister of the Interior to put things on
their old footing.
Illegitimate births terrified statisticians by their frequency.
Let us consider the number of natural births during three different
periods. The first period shall indicate the births during the time
that prostitution was tolerated and spread equally over the city. The
second when it was confined to certain streets, and the third during
the suppression.
Years. Illegitimate Legitimate
Births. Births.
1st period, 1838-9, 1840-1 5,652 34,450
2nd „ 1842-3, 4, 5 10,175 54,696
3rd „ 1847-8, 9 5,053 26,782
The proportion of illegitimate births to legitimate, in the first
period, is one to seven; in the second, one to five; in the third, one
to six.
When prostitution was tolerated, the number of prostitutes did not vary
very much; for instance:
In 1792 there were in Berlin 269;
„ 1796 „ „ 257;
of which 190 lived in 54 tolerated houses, and 67 in lodgings.
In 1808 there were 433 in lodgings; of which 230 were spread over 50
houses, and 203 lived in lodgings. Besides this there were about 467,
who gave themselves up to clandestine prostitution. The population was
at this time 150,000: it was during the occupation of the French.
In 1810 there were 165 prostitutes spread over 44 houses.
In 1819 there were 311 prostitutes, 198 in houses, and 113 in lodgings.
In 1837 there were 258 prostitutes spread over 34 houses.
In 1844 there were 287 prostitutes spread over 26 houses, and 18 in
lodgings.
In 1849 the number of prostitutes of all classes in Berlin was
estimated at 10,000.
There is a provision common to Berlin and some other towns, that the
keeper of a licensed house must defray the cost of curing any person
whose contraction of venereal disease in his house can be established.
Dr. Behrend is of opinion that besides the 10,000 prostitutes known
to the authorities that we have before alluded to, there are 8000
clandestine ones.
It may be interesting to English readers to know that the price of
admission to a certain class of tolerated houses in Berlin is 6_d._ for
which a cup of coffee is given, the use of a private room for fifteen
minutes 3_s._, for thirty minutes 5_s._, and those prices include the
company of one of the women, who receives one-third for herself.
AUSTRIA.
In Austria public brothels are not tolerated by the police, and public
women are sent into the houses of correction; but this legislative
enactment will not convey a true idea to a foreigner of the actual
state of morality throughout the country. Strangers, and those whom for
want of a better designation we will term closet moralists, who draw
their conclusions from _primâ facie_ evidence, would be inclined to
consider the territory governed by the house of Hapsburg almost, if not
entirely, free from vice, because the streets of the capital and other
towns are almost free from the spectacles that disfigure the _pavé_
in other well-known places of cosmopolitan pilgrimage and resort. But
we shall prove the reverse to be the case not only in Vienna, but
throughout the kingdom.
Austria is an amalgamation of conquered countries which require an
enormous standing army to keep in subjection, hence it very naturally
follows that the moral sense is deadened in many districts to an
alarming extent; and this is the invariable result of military
despotism, for the sense of morality which is essentially the result of
education, is never so acute as in free and well-governed countries.
The extent and population of the different states that comprise the
Austrian empire is thus estimated in the official reports of 1851.
--------------------------------------+---------------------
| Area |
Provinces. | in Sq. | Population,
| Miles. | 1851.
--------------------------------------+--------+------------
German--Austria, Archduchy | 15,052 | 2,390,376
---- Tyrol, Principality | 10,981 | 859,700
---- Styria, Duchy | 8,670 | 1,006,971
Sclavonian--Illyria, Kingdom | 10,960 | 1,291,196
---- Bohemia, Kingdom | 20,203 | 4,409,900
---- Moravia and Silesia, Margravate | 10,239 | 2,238,424
---- Dalmatia, Kingdom | 5,067 | 393,715
Magyar--Hungary, with Sclavonia, &c., | |
and Croatia, Kingdom | 89,040 | 10,158,939
---- Transylvania, Grand Principality | 21,390 | 2,073,737
---- Military frontier | 15,179 | 1,009,109
Polish--Galicia and Bukovina, Kingdom | 33,538 | 4,936,303
Italian--Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom | 17,511 | 5,007,472
+--------+------------
Total |257,830 | 35,776,842
--------------------------------------+--------+------------
In the capital itself, the lowest and most moderate computation
allows the number of prostitutes to be 15,000. These are under police
supervision, although they are not licensed. The officers of justice
have the power of making domiciliary visits, and enter their dwellings
at any hour of the day or night. If they are discovered in the
streets after a certain hour they may be apprehended, and this to a
great extent prevents that parade and ostentation that is observable
in most European cities of any size and note. We are informed on
reliable authority (Wilde) that almost one in every two children born
in Vienna is “illegitimate,” which evidences very clearly that the
more restrictions you place upon public immorality, so much the more
do you increase private vice; from 1830 to 1837, the proportion of
illegitimate to legitimate births was as ten to twelve in Vienna. In
Austria registers of births, deaths, and marriages, are kept by each
minister of the church for his parish, and also by the Jewish Rabbi
for those of their own persuasion. The register of births records
the year, month, and day of birth, the number of the house in which
the birth occurred, the name of the child and its sex, and whether
it be born in wedlock or illegitimate, the names and surnames of the
parents, their religion and the names and surnames and condition of the
sponsors. In the case of illegitimate children the name of the father
cannot be entered unless he acknowledges the paternity. The register
of marriages records the year, month, and day of the marriage, the
place of solemnization, the names and surnames of the parties, their
religion, age, and whether single or widowed, and the names, surnames,
and condition of the witnesses.
If a woman makes an application to the lying-in hospital and states her
poverty, she is simply asked are you legitimately or illegitimately
with child. The success of her suit depends in a great measure upon
her reply, for if she says I am pregnant illegitimately she is admitted
on the spot, sometimes in the fifth or sixth month of her pregnancy,
generally in the seventh. They present her with an imperial livery to
wear, carefully preserving her old clothes until she departs. After
delivery she has to nurse her own child, sometimes another’s, and
when she goes away she gets a bonus of five shillings, thus actually
receiving a premium for losing her virtue. For the two first months
of its existence the child is nurtured by its mother, it is then sent
into the country at the public expense; and if a male it is always
welcome in an Austrian peasant’s family, for if they can rear it to
eighteen years of age, it is rendered up to the conscription instead
of the eldest son of its adopted father. Education is very general in
Austria. The law of 1821 enacts that no male shall enter the marriage
state who is not able to read, write, and understand casting up
accounts. This is a serious restriction to connubial bliss amongst
the industrial classes; but the law is still more arbitrary, it makes
these qualifications as it were indispensable to a man’s existence.
It further says, no master of any trade shall without paying a heavy
penalty employ workmen who are not able to read and write, and that
small books of moral tendency shall be published and distributed at the
lowest possible price to all the Emperor’s subjects.
Mr. McGregor says, “The provisions of this law appear to me to be
pretty generally put in force, for I have nowhere in Austria met with
any one under thirty years of age who was not able to read and write,
and I have found cheap publications, chiefly religious and moral
tracts, almanacks, very much like ‘Poor Richard’s,’ containing, with
tables of the month, moon’s age, sun’s rising and setting, the fasts,
feasts, holidays, markets, and fairs in the Empire, and opposite to
the page of each month appropriate advice relative to husbandry and
rural economy, with moral sayings and suitable maxims. The spirit of
elementary instruction, if not the most enlightened, inculcates at
every step, morality, the advantage of a virtuous life, the evil of
vice, and the misery consequent on crime.” Works of art are subjected
like books to the censors, who are unremitting in the enforcement of
their political, moral, and religious restrictions.
MODERN ROME.
Mortification of the flesh is one of the first principles of the Romish
faith, and a stranger would expect to find any laxity of morals
amongst the inhabitants of the eternal city severely punished; but in
point of fact prostitution is tolerated and regulated in Rome, although
there does not exist any special act relating to it.
In the Middle Ages many vices stained the fame of Rome; but it is of
the present day that we are about to write. The Romish system has
produced the following results, according to M. Felix Jacquot, who
lived at Rome for four years on purpose to study the morality and the
health of Italy.
1st. Not being able to confine prostitution to certain houses, it has
spread itself among families.
2nd. Clandestine prostitution, which is most prevalent at Rome,
has there produced the evils that it always engenders, houses of
accommodation, seduction at home, and the extension of syphilis.
It is extremely probable that, as there are no standing regulations
relative to prostitution, perhaps a sort of arbitrary power is vested
in the police which opens the door to innumerable evils.
There exist at Rome five forms of clandestine prostitution: let us
begin with the street walkers.
Street walker is the only name that can be given to those ignoble
creatures that prostitute themselves in the evening and during the
night, at the corners of the streets and in the dark angles of
the public squares near the cathedral of St. Peter, and under the
colonnades of Bernin, where the French soldiery are so often infected.
The street walker was not much known at Rome before the revolution of
1849. She is the result of disorder, and the occupation of Rome by the
French gives vitality to her existence. Some of these wretches will
infect ten or even twenty men in one night, who have recourse to them
to satisfy their brutal cravings and bestial desires.
We have to treat, secondly, of houses of ill-fame; but there is little
to be said about them; they do not differ in any respect from those to
be found in other cities. The dangers of frequenting them are precisely
the same. Syphilis acquires new virulence by being fostered by the
inmates, who are recruited from amongst innocent and inexperienced
girls belonging to families in the city.