An underground pornography industry thrived illegally, producing photos, films, and erotic materials sold discreetly, often tied to nightlife venues like the Eldorado (later converted to a Nazi SA headquarters).

This era saw progressive sex reform, including tolerance for homosexuality, cross-dressing, and early gender surgeries.

Upon seizing power, the Nazis cracked down harshly: On May 6, 1933, they raided and looted the Institute for Sexual Science, burning its library of books, artifacts, and “pornographic” materials in public book burnings as symbols of “un-German” decadence.

Pornography was banned outright (building on pre-existing 1926 laws against “trash and dirt”),

cabarets and gay bars were shuttered, and prostitution was re-regulated under state control to eliminate “immoral” aspects, with severe persecution of homosexuals and sex reformers under Paragraph 175.

Hypocritically, some Nazi leaders like Julius Streicher amassed personal porn collections.

Key figures who built or shaped these industries included Jewish sexologists like Magnus Hirschfeld, who founded the Institute for Sexual Science in 1919 to promote research, education, and reform on sexuality (including decriminalizing homosexuality and supporting transvestites).

Others, such as Ivan Bloch (who popularized Marquis de Sade’s works and wrote on perversions) and Ludwig Levy-Lenz (author of treatises on sexual habits), advanced “sex research” often criticized as veiled erotica.

Performers like bisexual dancer Anita Berber embodied the era’s hedonism, while organized crime figures and photographers handled much of the underground porn production.

Impact on FinanceWeimar Germany’s finance sector stabilized after hyperinflation, with private banks playing key roles in industry and trade. Jews were overrepresented in banking due to historical restrictions on other professions, holding prominent positions despite comprising less than 1% of the population.

The Nazis implemented “Aryanization” policies starting in 1933 to exclude Jews from economic life: Initially “voluntary” through boycotts, intimidation, and laws barring Jews from professions, it forced sales of businesses at 20-30% of value.

By 1938, after Kristallnacht, it became forced, with trustees overseeing sales; a 1 billion Reichsmark fine was levied on Jews, and assets were seized for war funding.

Major banks like Deutsche Bank facilitated these transfers.

By 1939, virtually no Jewish-owned firms remained.Prominent figures who built German finance included Jewish banking families like the Warburgs, who founded M.M. Warburg & Co. in 1798; Max Warburg served on the Reichsbank board until 1933 and advised on post-WWI reparations.

Other key Jewish bankers: Gerson von Bleichröder (advisor to Bismarck), and families like Mendelssohn and Oppenheim, who ran major houses.

Non-Jewish industrialists like Fritz Thyssen and Alfred Krupp later supported the Nazis financially.