Germany’s Long History of Homophobia: Section 175

6 Jan 2026 | Section 175 was a German criminal statute introduced in 1871 that prohibited sexual relations between men. It remained in force for more than a century, surviving monarchy, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi regime, the post-war division of Germany and even reunification before its final abolition in 1994. The law was radically expanded by the Nazis in 1935, leading to tens of thousands of investigations and the deportation of many men to concentration camps under the pink triangle. After 1945, prosecutions continued in both East and West Germany, and men were still being convicted under Section 175 into the early 1990s. Because the law persisted across these political systems, institutionalised homophobia became a structural feature of modern German history.

Following its repeal, the federal government issued a formal apology for the decades of persecution, and in 2008 a national memorial designed by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset was inaugurated at the eastern edge of the Tiergarten to commemorate homosexual victims of National Socialism. Its meaning has since broadened to include lesbian and trans victims, acknowledging the wider spectrum of people targeted and marginalised under the Nazi regime and in the decades that followed.

This video outlines key moments in the long history of institutionalised homophobia in Germany.


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