| Years. | Venereal cases in Breslau Hospital. | Illegitimate births in Breslau. | ||
| 1805 | 155 | .... | ||
| 1806 | 202 | .... | ||
| 1807 | 323 | .... | ||
| 1808 | 233 | .... | ||
| 1809 | 150 | .... | ||
| 1810 | 118 | 382 | ||
| 1811 | 98 | 316 | ||
| 1812 | 139 | 282 | ||
| 1813 | 159 | 222 |
The years 1800 and 1807 were those of the French invasion. In 1812 the brothels in Breslau were closed.
The general peace of 1814 diverted the energies of crowned heads and leading statesmen from matters of internal policy, and the police of Berlin were left at liberty to pursue their old plans. Then the inhabitants began to object to brothels, and to petition against those in their immediate neighborhood. This drew from the police an argumentative document, in which they fully reviewed the question, but refused the prayer of the petition.
The change of localities, alterations in the law, and other circumstances, made a re-enactment of the code of 1792 desirable, and this took place in 1829. The alterations are chiefly in minor details of no general interest, but the law against frequenting places of public amusement was made part of this police order, which declared that the presence of prostitutes at houses of public entertainment was strictly forbidden. The most material change consisted in some very minute directions for guarding against venereal disease. To this end, every brothel-keeper was required to furnish each woman in his house with a proper syringe, which she was directed to use frequently, under the orders of the medical visitors. The private prostitutes were directed to observe similar precautions, and in place of a fixed weekly inspection by a medical officer, he was ordered to make his visits at uncertain intervals.
At this time there were thirty-three brothels in Berlin. Some of the citizens renewed their petitions for a removal of a portion of them, but with no better success than before.
In 1839, the morality of the system of toleration was again questioned by those in authority, and the Minister of the Interior, in a rescript to the authorities of the Rhine provinces, alluded to the matter of prostitution, and expressed himself as strongly opposed to any system of toleration. We quote a portion of his remarks:
“As for the granting of licenses to brothels, I can not accede to it, inasmuch as the advantages to be gained are, in my opinion, illusory, and in no degree countervail the inconvenience of the state sanction thus afforded to discreditable institutions. All attempts by the police to introduce decency and propriety by means of brothel regulations are idle. * * * * Brothels are not an invention of necessity, but are simply an offshoot of immoral luxury.(?) * * * * No one has a right to expect himself to be protected from injury and disease while seeking the gratification of unreasonable sexual enjoyments. * * * * The opinion that brothels are outlets for dangerous arts of seduction has never been substantiated. * * * * Had the police ever realized the suppression of illicit prostitution by means of tolerated brothels, then, indeed, a decided opinion might be formed as to the utility, in a sanitary point of view, of brothels.”
Opinions of this nature from such a quarter, notwithstanding their absurdity in many respects, could not be without their effect, and induced the citizens to renew their petitions for the suppression or removal of some of the tolerated houses of prostitution. In 1840, a ministerial order enjoined such removal. It was promptly obeyed: some brothels were at once suppressed, and others were removed and concentrated in a notorious spot called the Königsmauer. The relative number of brothels and prostitutes in the years 1836 and 1844 was as follows:
| 1836, | brothels | 33 | Prostitutes | 200 | ||
| 1844, | " | 24 | " | 240 | ||
| Decrease of brothels in 1844 | 9 | |||||
| Increase of prostitutes in 1844 | 40 | |||||