Part 17 (2/2)
Hamburg 108 Hanover 101 Prussia 81 Holstein 78 Other parts of Germany 129 Holland 2 Russia 2 France 1 --- Total 502
The nativity returns for 512 women, in 1846, do not vary materially from the above, the difference in the foreign-born being that there were four, instead of five, born out of Germany. These tables show that about one in five are natives of Hamburg city and territory. Dr. Lippert notices this fact as a small proportion, and accounts for it by enumerating the difficulties of local relations.h.i.+p, parentage, etc., which would be opposed to the registration of native women. These circ.u.mstances favor the presumption that many of the unregistered women are city born.
The Hamburger Berg, or St. Paul's Suburb, is on the west side of Hamburg, and has already been mentioned as the abode of seamen and their dependents. Brothels were tolerated here, in deference to the wants of the inhabitants, at a time when they were strictly excluded from the city proper. The women and the houses are of a different type from those of other parts of Hamburg. All the prost.i.tutes live in registered houses, unregistered or private traffic in this quarter being rigorously opposed by the authorities. The brothels and their inmates are in the most flouris.h.i.+ng condition at the end of autumn, when the home voyages are completed and the sailors paid off. For a time mirth and excitement bear the sway; when the wages are all spent, things relapse into their old condition, and sometimes the keepers dismiss some of their women, the supply being in excess of the demand.
During the year 1846 the number of registered women in this district was
January 186 May 189 August 181 December 169
The 169 women registered in December were distributed among nineteen tolerated houses. In seven of these music and dancing were permitted, and they contained respectively 21, 13, 11, 19, 20, 18, 29 women, leaving only 26 women to inhabit the remaining twelve houses.
The ages of these women were
Under 20 years 27 From 20 ” to 30 years 129 ” 30 ” ” 40 ” 13 --- Total 169
The places of birth do not vary materially from the proportions given already. Other matters relating to this particular cla.s.s will be found hereafter.
In their _physique_ the great majority of the registered women present no pleasing aspect. Generally taken from the rudest cla.s.ses, they are coa.r.s.e and unattractive in their appearance, and from the consequences of irregular indulgence and continual exposure, they soon lose the womanly characteristics they once possessed. But this is not a portrait of the whole. Among the unregistered private women may be found some of considerable beauty. The registered women who reside in private, or in first-cla.s.s brothels, have some prepossessing members of their ranks, while the St. Paul suburb has few but of the roughest kind. Physical strength seems more in demand among the _habitues_ of that section than a graceful form or a pretty face.
In their bodily peculiarities and diseases there is no difference between the public women of Hamburg and those of other cities. At the commencement of their career they frequently become thin and emaciated, but after a time, probably owing to their idle life and good food, regain their substance. In their phrenological development we find a marked preponderance of the animal instincts over the intellectual faculties. The effect of their mode of life will depend somewhat upon individual const.i.tution. The teeth of women of the town are generally bad, but in Hamburg they are in excellent order--much better than the majority of the general population. Their complexion is pale, and they endeavor to remedy this by the constant use of coa.r.s.e cloths, applications of eau de Cologne, and other stimulants, but very rarely by painting, except among the lowest cla.s.ses. They soon lose their hair from dissipation, the use of pomatum, curling irons, etc. It is, however, in the rough, harsh voice that the most conspicuous result of their calling is shown.
We will leave, for the present, the medical portion of this inquiry, and give a sketch of their domestic or every-day life. It must be borne in mind that the police divisions are into ”registered” or ”unregistered,”
and ”public” or ”private” women.
The public women (_offentlichen dirnen_) are under the special control and supervision of a police authority charged with this duty. Without his express cognizance and permission they can not be registered, or ”written in” (_eingeschrieben_), nor can they have liberty to change their residence, or to be ”written out” (_ausgeschrieben_). This officer is the collector of the impost upon them and upon the brothel-keeper (_bordelwirth_), which is paid over to the fund (_meretricen ka.s.se_). We can not give the detailed application of this money, but, in general terms, it does not swell the revenues of the city, and, to avoid public scandal, is applied exclusively to the police and medical services required by the cla.s.s.
The keepers and women are of three grades. It does not clearly appear whether a woman can select the cla.s.s with whom she will a.s.sociate. We are inclined to think the magistrates decide this point, and allot her to the one for which she seems best adapted.
In their apparel and food there exists the usual difference that may be found in all places and ranks of life. The police regulations, and the generally sober style of dress among the Hamburgers, restrict any immodest display of the person or extravagance of attire. The first-cla.s.s women are generally costumed with taste and elegance, while among the lower ranks plain and serviceable garments are in demand. In most cases of the registered women residing in brothels, the keeper supplies the clothes, and very often charges extravagant prices for them. Extortionate demands in this respect are a fruitful source of complaints to the police, who moderate the bills with no very tender sympathy for the creditor. The clothes and jewelry of some of the first-cla.s.s women are hired from some clothes-lender (_vermietheinnen_), but others seldom resort to this expedient, excepting for trinkets.
The food of the house-women is good and plentiful, varying according to the rate of the brothel in which they live. The old sumptuary laws are not in force, but the interest of the keeper induces him to desire a prudent popularity among his women, and to maintain the character of his house by the liberality of his entertainment both in quant.i.ty and quality. A considerable portion of their liquids is coffee, of which they are very fond. Wines and liquors are supplied by the house only on holidays, but visitors can purchase them at any time they wish. Drunkenness is comparatively rare among the better cla.s.s, partly owing to the care of the keeper, but more from dread of the police supervision and consequent punishment.
In their intellectual capacity there is nothing to distinguish the prost.i.tutes in Hamburg. Few can read, and fewer still can write. Those who can read seek their amus.e.m.e.nt in the old romances of the circulating libraries, seldom perusing that libidinous style of publications known among us as ”yellow-covered literature.” _En pa.s.sant_, this seems the universal practice of the cla.s.s, wherever any inquiries have been made.
Like other ignorant persons, they are superst.i.tious. Lippert mentions one particular omen connected with their calling: she who picks up any article which has been thrown away is sure to receive a visit from a man soon after. He does not say whether this has been verified by experience.
Their ordinary routine of life is one of useless idleness. They rise about ten and take breakfast, of which coffee is the staple. The morning is loitered away in dressing, reading novels, playing cards or dominoes, and kindred occupations. In some of the lower-cla.s.s houses they dispel their _ennui_ by a.s.sisting in domestic work, but this is a matter of favor which they are careful shall not become an obligation. By the middle of the day they are ready for dinner. In the afternoon they add the finis.h.i.+ng touches to their dress, and wait the arrival of visitors. Some resort to the public lounges or dancing saloons to form or cultivate acquaintances, but the aristocracy of the order hold it more becoming to their dignity to stay at home and wait for their ”friends.”
In that fine and peculiar quality of modesty, which adds the crowning grace to woman's charms, even the prost.i.tute is not wholly deficient. Some trace of the angel attribute is visible, but mostly in the private women, where a regard for the decent proprieties of life yet lingers amid the wreck of character, and to such it frequently forms the chief attraction.
Religion has an influence over some, strangely at variance with its dictates as are their lives, but a large majority are entirely dest.i.tute of any such sentiment. Occasionally, Biblical pictures may be seen in the rooms of brothels, but merely as ornaments, for they are neutralized by the contiguity of others more consonant with the place.
In their relations to the male s.e.x there are differences between women residing in public brothels and those living privately, whether registered or unregistered. Partly from inclination, but mainly from policy on the part of the keeper, the former seldom own allegiance to any particular lover. It is true that any one who is able and willing to pay liberally can come and go as he pleases, provided he does not interfere with the girl's ”business” in other profitable quarters. Not so with the private women, who frequently have particular ”lovers” to whom they show much kindness, although from them they often receive but little sympathy or protection, many of these men not scrupling to exist entirely upon the earnings of a woman whom they would publicly insult if they met her away from home.
In their personal conduct toward each other the women residing in one house are constrained and envious. In the first cla.s.s there is a ceremonious retention of the forms of politeness, but they are too frequently brought into personal rivalry to entertain much good feeling.
In the lower cla.s.ses jealousy often finds vent in reproaches or blows, and frequently a conflict ensues requiring the interposition of the host or of a neighboring police officer. Among those who live alone warm friends.h.i.+ps are not uncommon; much timely a.s.sistance is afforded in times of sickness or want; good offices are reciprocated; and it sometimes happens, in the delicate matter of their visitors, that a man who has been in the habit of favoring one woman will not find his attentions welcomed by others.
Their crimes and offenses include the ordinary category, but it is a.s.serted that theft is less common in Hamburg than elsewhere, and, when it does take place, it is more frequently committed by the irregular members of the body than by the duly registered women. It will be perceived that the system of registration offers too many facilities for detection, a fact to which the unusual honesty must doubtless be ascribed. Personal quarrels and a.s.saults, or drunkenness among the older members, consign them to the House of Detention or House of Correction. Those imprisoned from various causes generally amount to one hundred or one hundred and twenty.
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