Man and Boy

One topic that Der Kreis-and Rolf-never fully came to terms with was man-boy love. This may be clearly seen in his speech in Germany, quoted at the end of chapter 8. There he obviously respects the ancient Greeks and their view of boy-love, especially in its educational value. The latter, called “pedagogical Eros,” was much discussed in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Rolf was familiar with this from the pages of Der Eigene, which he several times praised. Still, “we live today in another world with other forms of community life, other views, other duties.” And then he goes on to emphasize the values of equal reciprocation of body, soul, and intellect of the two love-partners. Of course Rolf was aware that equal reciprocation is an impossible ideal, though he seems not to consider this in his discussions. His statements, in fact, were greatly influenced by the age at which it was legal to have homosexual sex in Switzerland at that time. Rolf feared-probably rightly—that the authorities would close down the journal if he were perceived as approving sex with someone under the age of 20, for this act was defined by Swiss law as “seduction of a minor.” No doubt this discretion (self-censorship?) was also practiced by other authors in Der Kreis. ¹