Were All Compulsorily Committed Women Prostitutes? Closed Venereology Wards in East Germany

Were the women that were compulsorily committed to closed venereology wards in the Soviet Occupation Zone (SOZ) and German Democratic Republic (GDR) prostitutes and sexually promiscuous individuals? 1,241 patient records of the closed venereology ward in Leipzig-Thonberg were researched in the Leipzig Municipal Archive and evaluated using the historical-critical method. Two periods were investigated: June 1946 to February 1961 (the period of validity of the Orders of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany - SMAG) and March 1961 to August 1990 (period of validity of the GDR regulation).During the two periods of investigation, 3% of the women compulsorily committed to the closed venereology ward Leipzig-Thonberg were prostitutes. 9% of women were compulsorily committed as sexually promiscuous individuals during the first period of investigation, and 13% during the second period. During the first period, mainly adult women with a venereal disease were compulsorily committed. These women were treated for gonorrhea or syphilis. In contrast, the majority of compulsorily committed individuals during the second period were underage girls without a venereal disease. In conclusions: 1) Whereas mostly prostitutes and sexually promiscuous individuals were compulsorily committed to venereology wards in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), the proportion of prostitutes and sexually promiscuous individuals in Leipzig-Thonberg was very small. 2) In the 1950s, mostly adult women with venereal diseases were compulsorily committed in the FRG and GDR. 3) A comparison with the closed venereology facility in Berlin-Buch (GDR) shows a similar age distribution among compulsorily committed women in the 1970s and a general decline of venereal diseases.