The Intermediaries: A Weimar Story

Non-Fiction

The fascinating history of a daring team of sexologists who built the first trans clinic in the shadow of the Third Reich. Set in interwar Germany, The Intermediaries tells the forgotten story of the Institute for Sexual Science, the world’s first center for homosexual and transgender rights. Headed by a gay Jewish man, Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, the institute aided in the first gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments, acting as a rebellious base of operations in the face of rising prejudice, nationalism, and Nazi propaganda.
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About the Book

An expert in medical history, Brandy Schillace tells the story of the Institute through the eyes of Dora Richter, an Institute patient whom we follow in her quest to transition and live as a woman. While the colorful but ultimately tragic arc of Weimar Berlin is well documented, The Intermediaries is the first book to assert the inseparable, interdependent relationship of sex science to both the queer rights movement and the permissive Weimar culture, tracking how political factions perverted that same science to suit their own ends.

This riveting book brings together forgotten scientific and surgical discoveries (including previously untranslated archival material from Berlin) with the politics and social history that galvanized the first stirrings of the trans rights movement. Through its unforgettable characters and immersive, urgent storytelling, The Intermediaries charts the relationships between nascent sexual science, queer civil rights, and the fight against fascism. It tells riveting stories of LGBTQ pioneers—a surprising, long-suppressed history—and offers a cautionary tale in the face of today’s oppressive anti-trans legislation.

A Kirkus Starred Review! 
“A richly detailed, prodigiously researched history.”

Publisher’s Weekly

Boston Globe

Current Affairs Magazine

“A rare and heartbreakingly prescient work of courage at its testing point. Schillace’s The Intemediaries is a triumph of research and storytelling–a history that could not be more necessary for our present moment. Riveting, incendiary–I couldn’t pull myself away.”
— CN Lester, author of Trans Like Me
“The Intermediaries meticulously delves into a significant yet often overlooked chapter transgender history. Through rigorous research and compelling narrative, she illuminates the experiences of the pioneering transgender patients in Germany and the trailblazing institute that first provided their care. This book is an indispensable read.”
— Erin Reed, journalist and trans rights activist
“This book is a celebration of all the ways queer and trans people have survived persecution, found community, and reclaimed agency over our own lives. This is the crunchy, smart history of sexual science and liberation that we’ve all been waiting for.”
— Annalee Newitz, bestselling author of Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age
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