The Space Between: Gender Nonconformity in Weimar Queer Cinema

Turn-of-the-century Germany was a land of contradictions. On one side, there was the rise of nationalism that led to the Third Reich and the Nazi Party, but on the other side there was a burgeoning gay rights movement which seemed to contradict not only the Nazi’s family politics but also the general trend toward authoritarianism. During the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), several queer films were produced, either before censor restrictions were put in place or slipping past the censors after such restrictions. In these films, clothing and make-up were often used to demonstrate gender and gender nonconformity. I chose three different films as case studies—Anders als die Andern (1919), Mädchen in Uniform (1931), and Viktor und Viktoria (1933)—because of the variety of relationships and portrayals they contain, while all films portray some form of a “space between” genders; Anders focuses on a male homosexual relationship, Mädchen focuses on a female homosexual relationship, and Viktoria focuses on a heterosexual relationship. Within the three films, the presentation of protagonists explores a space between genders that demonstrates Magnus Hirschfeld’s theory of sexual in-between-ism. Through their makeup and the clothes they wear, these characters are neither entirely masculine nor feminine, but take up a space between those extremes, demonstrating the gender exploration and nonconformity that was practiced in 1920s Germany