11. Soaring demand meant that the illegal pornography industry boomed during the Weimar years – with celebrity lookalikes especially popular
Along with drug use and prostitution, pornography also enjoyed a golden age during the years of the Weimar Republic. Making full use of the latest photographic technology, both amateur and professional porn producers struggled to keep up with the insatiable demand of the Berlin public. Much of this was produced by seemingly respectable photographers. By day, they would take family portraits, but by night they would switch their focus to making adult images. Similarly, the booming movie industry of the 1920s was also complicit. Directors and cameramen would often have a nice sideline making some of the first porn films after-hours in the big studios.
Of course, the quality of such pornography varied considerably. Some of it was obviously amateur, but some of it was slick and professionally done, with an eye on the aesthetics not just the erotic. The cheapest images could be purchased under-the-counter at most street new kiosks (strictly speaking, indecent images were still illegal) though for the more discerning viewer, more expensive images could be purchased, if you knew where to look, of course. Above all, pornography featuring models who bore a striking resemblance to the biggest movie stars of the day, such as Marlene Dietrich or Greta Garbo, were in high demand. Such models could charge a premium for their services and producers would charge a small fortune peddling the finished product out of cabaret clubs.
However, pornography wasn’t just about sex. In many cases, it was used as a satirical tool, too. There was a healthy market for nude or suggestive pictures of models who looked like Kaiser Wilhelm II or certain leading politicians. While the authorities would often turn a blind eye to most porn, even images featuring underage models, pressure from their bosses meant that the police would often come down hard on producers who dared to associate the former monarch or the country’s political elite with such adult material.
