Name Change

Excerpt of pre-printed form filled out by typewriter: Sheet 32, Nothing has been found in the debtor register of the local district court: The birth and baptismal certificates submitted prove that the applicant is of German blood. Remarks: The applicant's disposition is very doubtful. The female element predominates. According to the expert opinion of the Institute for Forensic and Social Medicine of the University of Berlin dated 10.8.36 (p. 17), the applicant is not to be regarded as a hermaphrodite in the anatomical sense, but is a woman (p. 27). On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out that a refusal to change her first name could exert an unfavorable and oppressive influence on the applicant, and could even become a motive for suicide under certain circumstances (p. 28). L. has so far not caused any public nuisance; (p.35) there is also no danger to the public interest. (p.36 R.) I consider the change of first name to be appropriate in this case. By proxy Signature.

Excerpt from *Gert Liehr's name change file

Both wear suits, ties and vests. They lean against a wall, _Gehse with his back and holds a cigarette in his right hand, which he rests on a wicker chair, *Gert Liehr with his right shoulder to the side, with his left hand on his hip.

Magnus Hirschfeld, Geschlechtskunde. Bildteil, p. 326. © Scan from the holdings of the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Society Berlin, © qualitatively reworked by Clara Hartmann.

*Gert Liehr (r) and his uncle _Gehse (l)

Content warning: In this text Anti-Semitism is discussed.

This is an excerpt from the application for a first name change by the transmasculine spinning mill worker *Gert Liehr, which he submitted to the Ministry of the Interior in August 1934. For such applications, the homosexual department was responsible for checking whether a first name change would endanger “public safety”. This means the police checked whether the people could move around in public in the gender they identified with without causing a stir. This control mechanism was primarily implemented to preserve gender binary social norms. Those who, for example because of their physique, did not meet such standards were generally criminalized as troublemakers. A medical report was also required for a legal name change. Only after all the necessary documents had been submitted the final decision was made at the Ministry of the Interior.

In the middle of Liehr's application process, the Berlin homosexual department was integrated into the Gestapo. Nevertheless, Liehr's suicidal thoughts had a positive influence on the authorities' decision, unlike in Charlotte Charlaque's case. This may be, among other things, due to the fact that Liehr was able to prove that he was of “German blood”. Starting at the end of June 1934 at the latest, applicants had to provide this proof.

Thanks to the lobbying work of the sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld and the lawyer of the Institute for Sexual Science Walter Niemann, some trans people were able to officially change their first names from 1920 onwards. However, a change of their gender marker was ruled out. While some trans people soon were able to change their first names, others were less lucky. If they were too poor to afford the required clothes or, in the opinion of the police, unable to appear inconspicuous in public, the issuing of a “Transevstitenschein”, which was required for a name change, could be refused.