A group of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s closest friends and cabinet members were brought to trial on charges of homosexuality in a series of five civil trials and court-martials lasting from 1907 to 1909. But it was the so-called Eulenburg Affair that truly shocked Germany and the world, and that had the more serious consequences. There had been some scandals involving the German Army and the apparent suicide, in 1902, of industrialist Friedrich Alfred Krupp after proof of his dalliance with boys on the Isle of Capri became public.
This expression derived from the fact that same-sex sexuality was starting to be called “the German vice” at this time, and Berlin was seen as the destination of choice for such activities.Ĭharges of homosexuality in the government and in the military were taken very seriously in Wilhelm II’s Germany (1890–1918). ARLEZ-VOUS ALLEMAND?” In the early 1900s, this question (“Do you speak German?”) could be heard in certain pissoirs and cruising spots around Paris, a coded way to ask if someone was gay.
