Overview
The Einstein of Sex (also known as: The Einstein of Sex - Life and Work of Dr. M. Hirschfeld, German title: Der Einstein des Sex) is a 1999 German film by Rosa von Praunheim. The plot follows the life of the Jewish doctor, sexologist, and gay socialist Magnus Hirschfeld.
The film was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival and at the São Paulo International Film Festival in 2000, among others.
Plot
Magnus Hirschfeld made a name for himself as a co-founder of sexology and a founder of the first gay rights organization in 1897. In the film, three of Hirschfeld's closest friends are portrayed: Baron Hermann von Teschenberg (with whom Hirschfeld shares a complicated romance), aide Karl Giese, and Dora "Dörchen" Richter. They establish the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin in 1919 and try to keep the institute open during the rise of the Third Reich in the early 1930s. Hirschfeld even gave lectures in the USA while the Nazis condemned his educational work. The Nazis destroyed the Institut in 1933, sending Hirschfeld into permanent exile in France.
Cast
Friedel von Wangenheim as Dr. M. Hirschfeld
Ben Becker as Adolf Brand
Wolfgang Völz as Polizeipräsident
Otto Sander as Professor Steinach
Meret Becker as Arbeiterin
Monika Hansen as Gräfin
Gerd Lukas Storzer as Baron von Teschenberg
Olaf Drauschke as Karl Giese
Tima die Göttliche as Dorchen
Harald Glitz as Hochzeitsgast
Ulrich Jackwit as Geheimrat
Kai Schuhmann as Magnus Hirschfeld (young)
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).