Gay Magazine Publishing in Germany: A Hidden History
Germany didn't just contribute to gay publishing — it invented it. From the world's first gay journal in 1896 to the thriving magazine scene that survived two world wars, censorship, and the rise and fall of empires, German queer publishing has a story most people have never heard. Here's why it matters — and why these magazines are some of the most collectible items in the vintage gay market today.
It started in Berlin
The history of gay magazines doesn't begin in New York or San Francisco. It begins in Berlin, in 1896, with a man named Adolf Brand.
Brand was a writer, editor, and photographer who founded Der Eigene — widely recognised as the world's first gay journal. The title translates roughly as "The Self-Owned" or "The Self-Possessed," taken from the anarchist philosopher Max Stirner's argument that individuals should have complete autonomy over their own lives. It's a fitting name for what was, at the time, an extraordinary act of defiance.
Der Eigene published poetry, essays, political writing, and — crucially — photographs of the male form. It ran for over three decades, from 1896 to 1932, with around 1,500 subscribers at its peak. Brand was raided by police repeatedly and arrested in 1903 for the magazine's content. He kept publishing anyway.
Brand wasn't alone in Berlin. By the 1920s, the city had become the centre of a remarkable queer publishing scene. Somewhere between twenty-five and thirty gay and lesbian journals were published in Berlin between 1919 and 1933. They could be found at ordinary newsstands alongside mainstream papers — something that wouldn't happen again in most countries for decades.
Die Freundschaft ("Friendship"), founded in 1919, became the first gay publication sold openly at newsstands. Die Freundin ("The Girlfriend"), launched in 1924, was the world's first lesbian magazine. These weren't underground pamphlets — they had dedicated readerships, personal ads, event listings, and covered everything from politics to nightlife to medical research.
The destruction
Then the Nazis came to power.
In 1933, every gay and lesbian publication in Germany was banned. Printing presses were destroyed. Archives were burned — most infamously the library of Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute of Sexual Science, whose research had been decades ahead of its time. Publishers were persecuted. Readers hid or destroyed their copies.
The Weimar era's extraordinary openness was erased almost overnight. Under Paragraph 175 of the German penal code — which criminalised homosexual acts between men — tens of thousands were prosecuted. Many were sent to concentration camps.
The only German-language gay publication to survive the Nazi period was Der Kreis ("The Circle"), published from the relative safety of Zurich, Switzerland. Originally a lesbian journal, it was transformed in 1932 into one of the most influential gay magazines in publishing history. It ran until 1967 and organised social gatherings across Europe throughout some of the darkest years imaginable.
The post-war rebirth
After the war, it took time for gay publishing to re-emerge in Germany. Paragraph 175 remained in force in West Germany (it wasn't fully repealed until 1994), and the social climate was deeply conservative.
But in 1969 — the same year as the Stonewall riots in New York — West Germany partially decriminalised homosexuality. The effect on publishing was immediate.
Du & Ich ("You and I") launched on 1 October 1969 and would become the longest-running German gay magazine, publishing for forty-five years until 2014. It was followed almost immediately by him in April 1970 and DON in May 1970. A new generation of magazines had arrived.
These post-1969 magazines were different from their Weimar predecessors. They were commercially driven, visually oriented, and increasingly bold. Du & Ich in particular developed a distinctive identity — its models and aesthetic were rooted in a kind of recognisably German masculinity, in contrast to the more internationalised style that would come later. The magazine even ran its own travel services, organising trips for readers at a time when gay tourism barely existed as a concept.
Bruno Gmünder and the publishing boom
No account of German gay publishing is complete without Bruno Gmünder.
In 1978, Gmünder helped open the Eisenherz Buchhandlung (Prinz Eisenherz bookshop) in Berlin — one of the world's first gay bookshops, and still operating today. In 1981, he co-founded Bruno Gmünder Verlag, a publishing house that would grow to become a global leader in gay media.
Bruno Gmünder Verlag published everything: fiction, non-fiction, photography, and art books. They produced Männer (later Männer aktuell), an LGBT lifestyle magazine that ran from 1987 to 2017. And they published the Spartacus International Gay Guide — the best-selling gay travel guide in the world, a pocket bible for gay travellers for decades.
The company also became the world's foremost publisher of gay photography books, working with photographers whose work defined the visual culture of the gay male world. Names like Tom of Finland, Bob Mizer, and later photographers found a home with Gmünder.
The story has a bittersweet ending. Bruno Gmünder Verlag filed for bankruptcy in 2014 as print sales declined and digital adaptation proved costly. A buyer revived it briefly, but when he died unexpectedly in 2017, the company folded again. The publishing catalogue was eventually acquired by Salzgeber, and the retail arm became Bruno's — but the original publishing house was gone.
The magazine landscape
Beyond the big names, Germany produced an extraordinary range of gay magazines through the 1970s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Many of these are the titles you'll find in specialist vintage shops today.
Du & Ich — The granddaddy. Published 1969–2014, over 465 issues. Early editions from the 1970s are increasingly scarce and collectible.
Männer — Bruno Gmünder's lifestyle magazine. Smart, glossy, and internationally minded. Published 1987–2017.
Siegessäule — Berlin's free queer city magazine, published since 1984. Born out of a meeting at the Prinz Eisenherz bookshop, it became what Berlin's mayor once called the "journalistic flagship" of the city's gay community. It was among the first German publications to report regularly on AIDS and HIV, including a landmark 1985 special edition.
Kerle — A popular men's magazine with a devoted readership. Copies in good condition are sought after by collectors.
Dreamboys, DON & ADONIS, BEAR, Sprizz, Macho, Magnus, Q International — Each served a different segment of the market, from bear culture to high-end photography to mainstream gay lifestyle. Together, they paint a picture of just how diverse and vibrant the German gay publishing scene was.
Why German magazines are collectible
Several factors make German gay magazines particularly interesting to collectors.
Historical significance. Germany literally invented gay publishing. Owning a German gay magazine connects you to a tradition that stretches back over a century.
Scarcity outside Germany. Most of these magazines were distributed domestically. Very few made it to the UK, US, or other markets. That gives them a scarcity premium — especially in good condition.
Quality. German printing and production standards were generally high. Many of these magazines featured excellent photography, quality paper stock, and thoughtful design.
An underappreciated market. While everyone chases Drummer and early Gay Times, German titles are often underpriced relative to their rarity and quality. Collectors who discover them tend to come back for more.
A complete story. From the bold experiments of the Weimar era to the post-war rebirth to the commercial boom and eventual digital decline — German gay publishing tells the full arc of what queer print culture looked like over more than a century.
Where to find German gay magazines
Finding German titles in the UK isn't always straightforward, but there are good options.
Gay Vintage UK (gayvintageuk.com) carries a growing range of German titles including Du & Ich, Kerle, Dreamboys, BEAR, DON & ADONIS, and more. We source directly from Germany and grade everything before listing.
For those willing to dig, eBay.de is a rich hunting ground. Search in German — terms like schwul Magazin, Kerle Magazin, gay Zeitschrift, or Konvolut (meaning a bulk lot) will turn up results that most English-speaking buyers never see. German secondhand media platforms like Momox.de, Rebuy.de, and Booklooker.de are also worth exploring.
A history worth preserving
The story of gay publishing in Germany is one of extraordinary courage, devastating loss, and remarkable resilience. From Adolf Brand risking arrest to publish Der Eigene in 1896, to the Weimar-era explosion of queer media, to the Nazi destruction that wiped almost all of it out, to the slow rebuilding after 1969 — it's a story that deserves to be better known.
Every German gay magazine that survives today is a piece of that story. Whether it's a 1970s Du & Ich or a 2010s Männer, it represents a tradition of queer visibility and defiance that started in Berlin over a century ago.
These magazines weren't just entertainment. They were acts of existence.
We stock vintage German gay magazines alongside UK and American titles at gayvintageuk.com. New stock added regularly, shipped discreetly worldwide. Got a collection to sell? Visit our Sell page.