Martin Dannecker (born 1942 in

Oberndorf am Neckar Oberndorf am Neckar (; Swabian: ''Oberndorf am Näggô'') is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Neckar, north of Rottweil. It historically was and currently is a major center of t ...

) is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

sexologist and author. Dannecker was born in Oberndorf am Neckar. After his schooling, he initially entered industrial retailing and later trained as an actor at a theater school in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. During this time, Dannecker

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

and started to read literature on

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

. In 1966, Dannecker moved to

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, and he enrolled at the university with a focus on philosophy, sociology, and psychology. In 1974, he and psychoanalyst Reimut Reiche published ''Der gewöhnliche Homosexuelle'', a wide-ranging empirical study of German homosexuals. Dannecker collaborated with director

Rosa von Praunheim Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, painter and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world. In ov ...

on the film '' Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt''. This film was premiered on

WDR Television WDR may refer to: * Waddell & Reed (stock ticker: WDR), an American asset management and financial planning company * Walt Disney Records, an American record label of the Disney Music Group * WDR neuron, a type of neuron involved in pain signalling ...

in 1972 and is widely credited with launching the modern German gay rights movement. From 1977 to 2005, Dannecker was employed at the

Institut für Sexualwissenschaft The was an early private sexology research institute in Germany from 1919 to 1933. The name is variously translated as ''Institute of Sex Research'', ''Institute of Sexology'', ''Institute for Sexology'' or ''Institute for the Science of Sexua ...

, located at the University of Frankfurt clinic, where he offered courses on sexual counseling as well as homosexuality and film studies. He authored numerous articles and books on homosexuality,

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

and sexual orientation. He also participated in workshops and conferences on film and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

topics. In 2005, Dannecker retired and moved from Frankfurt to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Dannecker is a member of the board of directors at the organisation ''Queer Nations e.V.''. Along with

Gunter Schmidt Gunter Schmidt (born 22 November 1938) is a German sexologist, psychotherapist and social psychologist. He was born in Berlin. Schmidt was the director of the centre for sexual research in the clinic of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppe ...

and

Volkmar Sigusch Volkmar Sigusch (born 11 June 1940) is a German sexologist, physician and sociologist. From 1973 to 2006, he was the director of the ''Institut für Sexualwissenschaft'' (Institute for Sexual Science) at the clinic of Goethe University in Frankf ...

, he is editor of ''Beiträge zur Sexualforschung'', which is published in ''Psychosozial-Verlag''. He continues to offer workshops on sexual counseling, particularly in Austria.

Works

* ''Schwule Regungen — schwule Bewegungen'', Berlin : Verlag Rosa Winkel, c 1985. * ''Der Homosexuelle und die Homosexualität'', Frankfurt am Main : Europäische Verlagsanstalt, 1986. * ''Das Drama der Sexualität'', Frankfurt am Main : Athenäum, 1987. * ''Der Körper und seine Sprachen'', Frankfurt am Main : Athenäum, 1989. * ''Homosexuelle Männer und AIDS'', - Stuttgart :

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-law ...

, 1990. * ''Der homosexuelle Mann im Zeichen von Aids'', Hamburg : Klein, 1991. * ''Das Drama der Sexualität'', Hamburg : Europ. Verl.-Anst., 1992. * ''Vorwiegend homosexuell'', Hamburg : MännerschwarmSkript-Verl., 1997. * ''Sexualität und Gesellschaft'', Frankfurt/Main : Campus-Verl., 2000. * ''100 Jahre Freuds "Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie"'', Gießen : Psychosozial-Verl., 2005. * ''Fortwährende Eingriffe. Aufsätze, Vorträge und Reden zu HIV und AIDS aus vier Jahrzehnten'', Hamburg : Männerschwarm-Verl., 2019.

References

External links

Works by Martin Dannecker
in

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

Institut für Sexualwissenschaft Frankfurt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dannecker, Martin 1942 births German sexologists German sociologists Living people People from Oberndorf am Neckar People from the Free People's State of Württemberg Psychology writers German LGBT rights activists German LGBT writers Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund members Psychology writers on LGBT topics German LGBT scientists German male writers Gay academics Gay scientists