Editing Prostitution in Germany (section)

==={{Anchor|Empire|Imperial}}German Empire (1871–1918)===
In [[Imperial Germany]] (1871–1918) attitudes to sex work were ambivalent. While sex work was tolerated as a necessary function to provide for male sexuality outside of marriage, it was frowned on as a threat to contemporary moral images of women's sexuality. Therefore, state policy concentrated on regulation rather than abolition. This was mainly at the municipal level. The Criminal Code of 1871 prohibited brothels and "commercial fornication". In the 1876 version, prostitution was only punishable if the woman worked outside police supervision.<ref name="despeg" /> State regulation at the time created an atmosphere which defined what was considered proper, and what was proper feminine sexuality.

Controls were particularly tight in the port city of [[Hamburg]]. The regulations included defining the dress and conduct of prostitutes both inside and outside the brothel, thus making the occupation define their lives as a separate class of women on the margins of society.

At the beginning of the 20th century, prostitution was considered "harmful to communities".<ref>{{cite book |last= Ayaß |first= Wolfgang |date= 1992 |title= Das Arbeitshaus Breitenau |publisher= [[University of Kassel]] |isbn= 978-3-88122-670-7 }}</ref>  Nevertheless, there existed or originated in the 20th century, various brothel and [[red-light districts]] such as [[Helenenstraße]] in Bremen (from 1878), [[Linienstraße (Dortmund)|Linienstraße]] in Dortmund (from 1904), [[Stahlstraße]] in Essen (from about 1900), [[Rampenloch]] in Minden (from 1908), [[Im Winkel]] in Bochum (from about 1912), and the [[Flaßhofstraße]] in Oberhausen (from 1910 and 1963). It is estimated that in 1900 there were 50,000 women working in [[Berlin]]<ref>Friedrich Lenger.  European Cities in the Modern Era, 1850-1914. BRILL, 2012. {{ISBN|9004233385}}. page 238]</ref> (population 1 December 1900: 1,888,848).