Editing Prostitution in Germany (section)

=== {{Anchor|medieval}}Middle Ages to Confederation (1815) ===
Sex work in historically German lands has never been outlawed and has been described since the [[Middle Ages]]. Since the 13th century, several German cities operated [[brothel]]s known as ''Frauenhäuser'' ("women's houses");
<ref>P. Schuster: ''Das Frauenhaus. Städtische Bordelle in Deutschland (1350–1600)'', Paderborn 1992</ref>
the practice of sex work was considered a necessary evil, a position already held by [[Saint Augustine]] (354–430). Some municipalities actively encouraged it and far from existing on the margins, sex workers were often honoured guests, who maintained domestic order as an outlet and lesser evil to such things as [[adultery]] and [[rape in Germany|rape]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/article-1G2-3460500150/prostitution.html|title=Prostitution - Dictionary definition of Prostitution - Encyclopedia.com: FREE online dictionary|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> The city also gained tax revenues from the prostitutes.

[[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Sigismund]] (1368–1437) thanked the city of [[Konstanz]] in writing for providing some 1,500 workers for the [[Council of Constance]] which took place from 1414 to 1418.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://home.arcor.de/glanlaender/hausderfreuden/absurdum1.htm|section=Die Prostitution im Mittelalter|title=Alltag im Spätmittelalter|editor-first1=Harry|editor-last1=Kühnel|editor-first2=Helmut|editor-last2=Hundsbichler|edition=2nd|publisher=Kaleidoskop|year=1984|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903061951/http://home.arcor.de/glanlaender/hausderfreuden/absurdum1.htm|archive-date=3 September 2014|language=de|trans-title=Everyday Life in the Early Middle Ages|via=Arcor.de}}</ref>

Sex workers were more vigorously persecuted beginning in the 16th century, with the start of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] and the appearance of [[syphilis]]. In 1530, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] ordered the closure of brothels throughout the German Holy Roman Empire.<ref name="despeg">{{cite journal|date=7 April 1965|title=Hausen und Hegen|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46272150.html|journal=[[Der Spiegel]]|language=de|issue=15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421013213/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46272150.html|archive-date=21 April 2017|access-date=13 November 2017}}</ref>

Section 999 of the 1794 [[General State Laws for the Prussian States]] determined that "dissolute female persons who want to do business with their bodies ... would have to go into the whoredom houses tolerated under the supervision of the state".<ref name="despeg" />
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
1537 Braunschweiger Monogrammist Bordellszene anagoria.JPG|[[Braunschweiger Monogrammist]]: Brothel scene 1537
Carl Spitzweg - Auf der Dult.jpg|[[Carl Spitzweg]]: Auf der Dult c. 1838; sex worker in foreground receiving disapproving glances
Abb187BerlinerZuhalter erwartet seineLiebe nach derKontrolle.jpg|Pimp waiting for a prostitute after her medical check, [[Berlin]], 1890
</gallery>