Harry Benjamin (January 12, 1885 – August 24, 1986) was a German-American endocrinologist and sexologist , widely known for his clinical work with transgender people.
101-569: Benjamin was born in Berlin , and raised in a German Lutheran home. His mother was German and his father at least part-Jewish in ancestry. He joined a regiment of the Prussian Guard . He received his doctorate in medicine in 1912 in Tübingen for a dissertation on tuberculosis . Sexual medicine interested him, but was not part of his medical studies. In a 1985 interview he recalled: I do remember going, as
202-735: A 2016 terrorist attack linked to ISIL , a truck was deliberately driven into a Christmas market next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church , leaving 13 people dead and 55 others injured. In 2018, more than 200,000 protestors took to the streets in Berlin with demonstrations of solidarity against racism, in response to the emergence of far-right politics in Germany . Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in 2020, nine years later than planned, with Terminal 1 coming into service at
303-546: A gerontologist . Benjamin lived to be 101. Benjamin dedicated his 1966 major work to Gretchen. They were married for 60 years. They were married December 23, 1925. Gretchen revealed to Charles L. Ihlenfeld that "about six months after they were married Harry brought his mother from Germany to live with them" and that "from then on their bedroom door remained open". In 1979, the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association
404-417: A "charismatic man" as well as "gifted with extraordinary intelligence and dexterity." He had grey-blue eyes, bronzed skin, rather intense features, and was always casually but impeccably dressed. He was known to have a great love of the sea and had a great proclivity for water recreation throughout his life. A devoted sportsman, Burou loved all nautical sports, as well as golf, was a "fierce" windsurfer, and
505-501: A Slavic-derived name: Pankow , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Marzahn-Hellersdorf , Treptow-Köpenick , and Spandau . Of Berlin's ninety-six neighborhoods, twenty-two bear a Slavic-derived name: Altglienicke , Alt-Treptow , Britz , Buch , Buckow , Gatow , Karow , Kladow , Köpenick , Lankwitz , Lübars , Malchow , Marzahn , Pankow , Prenzlauer Berg , Rudow , Schmöckwitz , Spandau , Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow , Steglitz , Tegel and Zehlendorf . The earliest human settlements in
606-475: A camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust ), and the Stalag III-D prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed during 1943–45 Allied air raids and the 1945 Battle of Berlin . The Allies dropped 67,607 tons of bombs on the city, destroying 6,427 acres of the built-up area. Around 125,000 civilians were killed. After
707-662: A center of the Enlightenment , but also, was briefly occupied during the Seven Years' War by the Russian army. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition , Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806 , but granted self-government to the city. In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg . The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during
808-753: A city district separate from Brandenburg. In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement. In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of the First World War in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building . In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased
909-507: A combined state of Berlin and Brandenburg is different from other state fusion proposals. Normally, Article 29 of the Basic Law stipulates that a state fusion requires a federal law. However, a clause added to the Basic Law in 1994, Article 118a, allows Berlin and Brandenburg to unify without federal approval, requiring a referendum and a ratification by both state parliaments. In 1996, there
1010-406: A distinct "feminine" appearance or character. He refused his services to minors even if they had parental consent, because he felt "the operation is definitive and irreversible and one . . . could not risk making a mistake." His international patients were often admitted the afternoon they arrived at the clinic, and were prepared for surgery as soon as that evening or the next morning. Morris, who
1111-406: A level just distally to their attachment to the inferior ramus of the pubic bone . The level of transection of the spongious bulb and urethra had to correspond with the length of the future urethra. Subsequently, all erectile bodies were pushed out and dissected from the penile skin. When available, the foreskin was kept and the distal , coronal edge of the penile skin was closed; this yielded
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#17329059308201212-578: A man of immense caring, respect and kindness, and many kept in touch with him until his death. He was a prolific and assiduous correspondent, in both English and German, and many letters are archived at the Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology , Humboldt University, Berlin. The legal, social and medical background to this in the United States, as in many other countries, was often a stark contrast, since wearing items of clothing associated with
1313-746: A medical career in New York , in 1915 Benjamin rented a consulting room, in which he also slept, and started his own general medical practice. In 1937 he moved his practice to a ground floor office suite at 728 Park Avenue in Manhattan, then briefly to 125 East 72nd Street in 1957, and sometime between 1959 and 1962 he moved his practice again to 44 East 67th Street before finally relocating to 1045 Park Avenue in 1963 where he continued to practice until his retirement in 1968. Sometime before 1948, he also began maintaining an office in San Francisco where he practiced during
1414-417: A microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings and pavement . Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas. Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March. The hottest month in Berlin was July 1834, with a mean temperature of 23.0 °C (73.4 °F) and
1515-680: A military surgeon of the 2nd Moroccan Mountain Division to actively join battle at the French island of Corsica and the Italian river Garigliano and mountain of Cassino. Together with New Zealand and Indian troops, his division forced through the German Gustav Line at Cassino on May 13, 1944, the turning point in the liberation of Italy, and lost 1120 men in the process. After the liberation of Rome , Venice , and Siena , Burou landed at Cassis for
1616-424: A monumental ensemble. The National Socialist regime embarked on monumental construction projects in Berlin as a way to express their power and authority through architecture . Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer developed architectural concepts for the conversion of the city into World Capital Germania ; these were never implemented. NSDAP rule diminished Berlin's Jewish community from 160,000 (one-third of all Jews in
1717-437: A notable figure in the recorded history of plastic surgery . The discretion of Burou's clinic made him relatively unknown to his medical contemporaries, despite him being well known among many trans women around the world. His level of renown was such that "going to Casablanca" became a popular colloquialism for gender confirming surgery at this time. Burou was a notable resource for a great many trans women throughout much of
1818-528: A rapid population increase in Berlin. 1920s Berlin was the third-largest city in the world by population. After World War II and following Berlin's occupation, the city was split into West Berlin and East Berlin , divided by the Berlin Wall . East Berlin was declared the capital of East Germany, while Bonn became the West German capital. Following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became
1919-577: A similar manner, often without accepting any payment. Many of his patients were referred by David Cauldwell , Robert Stoller , and doctors in Denmark. These doctors received hundreds of requests from individuals who had read about their work connected with changing sex, as it was then largely described. However, due to the personal political opinions of the American doctors and a Danish law prohibiting sex reassignment surgery on noncitizens, these doctors referred
2020-413: A small margin, largely based on support in former West Berlin , Brandenburg voters disapproved of the fusion by a large margin. It failed largely due to Brandenburg voters not wanting to take on Berlin's large and growing public debt and fearing losing identity and influence to the capital. Berlin is in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography , part of
2121-562: A successful industrialist, sought treatment from Benjamin in 1963. Erickson was the founder and funder of the Erickson Educational Foundation , which published educational booklets, funded medical conferences, counselling services, and the establishment of gender clinics. The EEF funded the Harry Benjamin Foundation. Apart from endocrinology and sexology, he worked on life extension and now would be described as
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#17329059308202222-438: A young person, to a lecture by Auguste Forel , whose book The Sexual Question was a sensation at the time and which impressed me greatly. I also met Magnus Hirschfeld very early on through a girl friend, who knew the police official Kopp, who was in charge investigating of sexual offenses. He, in turn, was a friend of Hirschfeld's, and so I met both men. That was around 1907. They repeatedly took me along on their rounds through
2323-459: Is Germany's capital and largest city by area and by population . With over 3.85 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union . The city is also one of the states of Germany , and is the third smallest state in the country in terms of area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg , and Brandenburg's capital Potsdam
2424-460: Is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany; it stands as a symbol of eventful European history and of unity and peace. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament. It was remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of
2525-461: Is nearby. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 4.5 million and is therefore the most populous urban area in Germany. The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has around 6.2 million inhabitants and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region after the Rhine-Ruhr region, and the fifth-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union . Berlin was built along the banks of
2626-643: Is the most visited zoo in Europe. Babelsberg Studio is the world's first large-scale movie studio complex and the list of films set in Berlin is long. Berlin is also home to three World Heritage Sites : Museum Island , the Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin , and the Berlin Modernism Housing Estates . Other landmarks include the Brandenburg Gate , the Reichstag building , Potsdamer Platz ,
2727-640: The Forum Fridericianum along with, the Berlin State Opera , Charlottenburg Palace , Gendarmenmarkt , Alte Kommandantur , as well as the City Palace . The tallest buildings in Berlin are spread across the urban area, with clusters at Potsdamer Platz , City West , and Alexanderplatz . Over one-third of the city's area consists of green and open-space, with the Großer Tiergarten , one of
2828-506: The Berlin Wall around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie . West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. John F. Kennedy gave his " Ich bin ein Berliner " speech on 26 June 1963, in front of the Schöneberg city hall, located in the city's western part, underlining
2929-676: The Burgundians followed. In the 7th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane , reached the region. In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg , founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. Early evidence of middle age settlements in the area of today's Berlin are remnants of a house foundation dated 1270 to 1290, found in excavations in Berlin Mitte . The first written records of towns in
3030-715: The Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism style. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is the Neptunbrunnen , a fountain featuring a mythological group of Tritons , personifications of the four main Prussian rivers, and Neptune on top of it. The Brandenburg Gate
3131-928: The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe , and the Berlin Wall Memorial . Berlin has numerous museums , galleries, and libraries. [REDACTED] Margraviate of Brandenburg 1237–1618 [REDACTED] Brandenburg-Prussia 1618–1701 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1867 [REDACTED] North German Confederation 1867–1871 [REDACTED] German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED] Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED] Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED] Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED] West Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED] East Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED] Germany 1990–present Berlin lies in northeastern Germany. Most of
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3232-503: The Spree river, which flows into the Havel in the western borough of Spandau . The city incorporates lakes in the western and southeastern boroughs, the largest of which is Müggelsee . About one-third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks and gardens , rivers, canals, and lakes. First documented in the 13th century and at the crossing of two important historic trade routes , Berlin
3333-646: The Wayback Machine and still impacts urban planning decisions. Walter Momper, the mayor of West Berlin, became the first mayor of the reunified city in the interim. City-wide elections in December 1990 resulted in the first "all Berlin" mayor being elected to take office in January 1991, with the separate offices of mayors in East and West Berlin expiring by that time, and Eberhard Diepgen (a former mayor of West Berlin) became
3434-420: The anal area through the scrotal raphe . After dissecting of the bulbus urethrae and both corpora cavernosa , the rectum and the prostate were separated by cutting all the ligaments between the bulb and the rectum. Burou made a point of barring, but not damaging, the posterior aspect of the prostate so that the penile skin flap after invagination would immediately overlie this aspect, which he felt optimized
3535-744: The end of World War II in Europe in May 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to Allied-occupied Germany the sectors of the Allies of World War II (the United States, the United Kingdom, and France) formed West Berlin , while the Soviet Union formed East Berlin . All four Allies of World War II shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when
3636-566: The "gold standard" of skin-lined vaginoplasty in trans women. Burou performed well over 800 confirmed vaginoplasties by 1974. That year, he published his technique for the first time, and presented it at the Second Interdisciplinary Symposium on Gender Dysphoria syndrome. He is said to have worked at the clinic seven days a week, and frequently up to fifteen hours each day. In addition to sex-reassignment, he also performed more common obstetrics and gynecology practices from
3737-423: The 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs including Wedding , Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire . In 1881, it became
3838-496: The 20th century. 17% of Berlin's buildings are Gründerzeit or earlier and nearly 25% are of the 1920s and 1930s, when Berlin played a part in the origin of modern architecture . Devastated by the bombing of Berlin in World War II many of the buildings that had survived in both East and West were demolished during the postwar period. After the reunification, many important heritage structures have been reconstructed , including
3939-633: The Allied campaigns in the Provence , the Alps , the Vosges , and Alsace . During the subsequent liberation of Strasburg in 1945, one of his best friends died in combat. Shortly after, when in the south of Germany , his service ended when he returned to Algiers to bury his father. Early reports of sex reassignment surgery had been published in Germany in the 1920s, but it was not until approximately three decades later that
4040-491: The Clinique du Parc on Rue Lapébie, the backstreet that ran parallel to the prestigious avenue. Burou wanted the building attached to his office and private quarters so as "not to distance himself from his patients," and so that he could be immediately available should a patient be admitted late at night. Additionally, this allowed his patients the choice of entering the clinic either from the elegant Avenue d’Amade main entrance or
4141-719: The Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist–Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany . West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin
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4242-677: The Huguenot immigration. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia , Poland , and Salzburg . Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia . In 1701, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia , as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg , crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia . Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom, replacing Königsberg . This
4343-682: The Maternity of Mustapha Hospital in Algiers and became "Chef de Clinique" at Parnet Hospital in the Algiers suburb of Hussein Dey . During his training Burou took a special interest in anatomy , and later colleagues were reportedly highly impressed by his detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the perineum and pelvis . From early 1943 onward Burou first served as a second lieutenant in the French Expeditionary Corps and eventually left North Africa as
4444-750: The Museumsinsel U-Bahn station opened in 2021, which completed all new works on the U5. A partial opening by the end of 2020 of the Humboldt Forum museum, housed in the reconstructed Berlin Palace , was postponed until March 2021. On 16 September 2022, the opening of the eastern wing, the last section of the Humboldt Forum museum, meant the Humboldt Forum museum was finally completed. It became Germany's currently most expensive cultural project. The legal basis for
4545-455: The US support for West Berlin. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited by the government of East Germany. In 1971, a Four-Power Agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany. In 1989, with
4646-604: The Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed the Berlin Blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift , conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949. In 1949,
4747-436: The area of Berlin from 66 to 883 km (25 to 341 sq mi). The population almost doubled, and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era , Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties but also became a renowned center of the Roaring Twenties . The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, arts,
4848-403: The area of modern Berlin are dated around 60,000 BC. A deer mask, dated to 9,000 BC, is attributed to the Maglemosian culture . In 2,000 BC dense human settlements along the Spree and Havel rivers gave rise to the Lusatian culture . Starting around 500 BC Germanic tribes settled in a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD,
4949-419: The area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209. 1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the staple right on the two important trade routes , one was known as Via Imperii , and the other trade route reached from Bruges to Novgorod . In 1307
5050-422: The arrival of United States Marine Corps in Casablanca, Burou was nearly killed by a 10 kg (22 lb) piece of shell. He was protected only by the branch of a tree, and thereafter kept the piece of shell in his office, reportedly as a memento mori . In 1950 Burou and his family moved to 71 Avenue d’Amade, situated across from Casablanca's main park, now called Parc de la Ligue-Arabe. Burou and his wife built
5151-408: The basis for their techniques. Burou was born on September 6, 1910, in Tarbes in the Hautes Pyrénées , France, while his parents were visiting the Burou family in the nearby village of Juillan. His parents worked as schoolteachers in Algiers , where Burou spent his youth. Burou underwent medical training at the Algiers University of Medicine. He specialized in gynecology and obstetrics at
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#17329059308205252-459: The capital of all of Germany. Due to its geographic location and history, Berlin has been called "the heart of Europe". The economy of Berlin is based on high tech and the service sector , encompassing a diverse range of creative industries , startup companies , research facilities, and media corporations. Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a complex public transportation network . Tourism in Berlin makes
5353-448: The cities and villages in northeastern Germany bear Slavic languages -derived names. Typical Germanization for place name suffixes of Slavic origin are -ow, -itz, -vitz, -witz, -itzsch and -in , prefixes are Windisch and Wendisch . The name Berlin has its roots in the language of the West Slavs , and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp"). Of Berlin's twelve boroughs , five bear
5454-432: The city a popular global destination. Significant industries include information technology, the healthcare industry , biomedical engineering , biotechnology , the automotive industry , and electronics . Berlin is home to several universities such as the Humboldt University of Berlin , Technische Universität Berlin , the Berlin University of the Arts and the Free University of Berlin . The Berlin Zoological Garden
5555-403: The city lost half of its population. Frederick William , known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots . By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of
5656-603: The city. The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. Georges Burou Georges Burou (6 September 1910 – 17 December 1987) was a French gynecologist who managed a clinic in Casablanca, Morocco , and is widely credited with innovating modern sex reassignment surgery for trans women . Notable patients include Coccinelle , April Ashley and Jan Morris . Surgeons, including Stanley Biber , have credited Burou's methods as
5757-408: The clinic, medical care and fees included, as well as the doctor’s payment." This price is considered modest for the time based upon reports that indicated the average cost of sex-reassignment surgery was on the rise. Burou is said to have been willing to make "enormous" financial concessions to his fees whenever a case "merited the operation". Burou has been described as a "courteous gentleman" and
5858-451: The clinic. Outpatient appointments were held mostly in small offices in the Avenue d’Amade portion of the clinic, and the Rue Lapébie building held the operation rooms, a surgical ward, a 15-crib nursery, and delivery and patients’ rooms. Burou's wife, Jeanne ("Nanou") Boisvert, named rooms in the clinic after different flowers, each hand-painted on small frames on the doors. In contrast to these warm touches, "an air of stern purpose informed
5959-512: The coldest was January 1709 , with a mean temperature of −13.2 °C (8.2 °F). The wettest month on record was July 1907, with 230 millimeters (9.1 in) of rainfall, whereas the driest were October 1866, November 1902, October 1908 and September 1928, all with 1 millimeter (0.039 in) of rainfall. Berlin's history has left the city with a polycentric metropolitan area and an eclectic mix of architecture. The city's appearance today has been predominantly shaped by German history during
6060-409: The country) to about 80,000 due to emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Starting in early 1943, many were deported to ghettos like Łódź , and to concentration and extermination camps such as Auschwitz . Berlin hosted the 1936 Summer Olympics for which the Olympic stadium
6161-430: The end of October, and flights to and from Tegel Airport ending in November. Due to the fall in passenger numbers resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic , plans were announced to close BER's Terminal 5, the former Schönefeld Airport , beginning in March 2021. The connecting link of U-Bahn line U5 from Alexanderplatz to Hauptbahnhof, along with the new stations Rotes Rathaus and Unter den Linden, opened on 4 December 2020,
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#17329059308206262-474: The end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became a reunified city. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the city experienced significant urban development Archived 16 December 2023 at
6363-443: The first elected mayor of a reunited Berlin. On 18 June 1994, soldiers from the United States, France and Britain marched in a parade which was part of the ceremonies to mark the withdrawal of allied occupation troops allowing a reunified Berlin (the last Russian troops departed on 31 August, while the final departure of Western Allies forces was on 8 September 1994). On 20 June 1991, the Bundestag (German Parliament) voted to move
6464-1019: The fourth floor, for these were the operating quarters." Contact with the outside world was initially discouraged for patients during the early days of their recovery from sex reassignment surgery. When patients were able to move about postoperatively, and later when going to Burou's office to have their bandages changed, the clinic became a place where patients often had the opportunity to meet other trans women from various countries. British writer Jan Morris recalls: "How many there were of us, I do not know, but we were of several varieties. We were Greek, French, American, British." Burou reported all of his vaginoplasty patients to have been prepared, to have undergone psychiatric care and hormonal therapy. However, patient Jan Morris wrote that Burou did not bother too much with diagnosis or previous treatment. Burou later confirmed that he did not ask his patients too many questions, but sought to fulfill their wishes, and that he did restrict his services to trans women with
6565-479: The grant, my publications, lectures, etc." Similar cases in other countries (such as that of Roberta Cowell , whose surgery by Harold Gillies in England was in 1951 but was not publicised until 1954; Coccinelle who received much publicity in France in 1958, and April Ashley , whose exposure in 1961 by the British tabloid press was reported worldwide) fuelled this. But most of Benjamin's patients lived (and many still live) quiet lives. Reed Erickson (1917–1992),
6666-413: The height of his sex-reassignment work by 1974, performing up to six vaginoplasties a month, he could complete the procedure in one hour. The post-op patient's arms were strapped to the bed for the first night after the procedure. The drain was removed 48 hours after surgery, the catheter four days, and the stent eight. The new vagina was managed by frequent or daily insertion of fingers or retractors, and
6767-428: The homosexual bars in Berlin. I especially remember the 'Eldorado' with its drag shows, where also many of the customers appeared in the clothing of the other sex. The word "transvestite" had not yet been invented. Hirschfeld coined it only in 1910 in his well-known study. Benjamin visited the United States in 1913, to work with a quack doctor who claimed to have found a cure for tuberculosis. The liner in which Benjamin
6868-408: The humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921. In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power . Hitler was inspired by the architecture he had experienced in Vienna , and he wished for a German Empire with a capital city that had
6969-403: The largest and most popular parks in Berlin, located in the centre of the city. The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at 368 m (1,207 ft). Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its 204-meter-high (669 ft) observation floor. Starting here,
7070-402: The letter-writers to the one doctor of the era who would aid transsexual individuals, Harry Benjamin. Benjamin conducted treatment with the assistance of carefully selected colleagues of various disciplines (such as psychiatrists C. L. Ihlenfeld and John Alden, electrologist Martha Foss, and surgeons Jose Jesus Barbosa, Roberto C. Granato, and Georges Burou ). Benjamin's patients regarded him as
7171-404: The low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf , Steglitz-Zehlendorf , Tempelhof-Schöneberg , and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau. The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to
7272-911: The lowest is the Spektesee in Spandau, at 28.1 meters (92 ft) elevation. Berlin has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) bordering on a humid continental climate ( Dfb ). This type of climate features mild to very warm summer temperatures and cold, though not very severe, winters. Annual precipitation is modest. Frosts are common in winter, and there are larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates . Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 12–14 °C (54–57 °F). Winters are cold with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of −2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates
7373-551: The more inconspicuous Rue Lapébie entrance. Burou continued to work at the Clinique du Parc until his death in 1987. On Sunday 17 December his boat ran out of fuel outside of the harbour of Mohammedia , and he subsequently drowned. His body went undiscovered for five days. Due to the controversial nature of the procedure, Burou is said to have kept a low profile in order to continue his practice. His work at Clinique du Parc, which has been described by current day plastic surgeons as "pioneering", "innovative", and "genius", made Burou
7474-432: The new urethra was kept open by the daily introduction of the catheter, ensuring against neomeatal stenosis. Most patients spent two weeks in the clinic. In 1975 one patient addressed Burou, requesting his services, and received a prompt reply that detailed the cost of sex-reassignment surgery at US$ 5,000 "payable in cash upon arrival, if possible in travellers cheques." The price included "12 - 15 days hospitalization at
7575-491: The opposite sex in public was often illegal, anything seen as homosexuality was often persecuted or illegal, and many doctors considered all such people (including children) at best denied any affirmation of their gender identity, or involuntarily subjected to treatments such as drugged detention, electroconvulsive therapy , or lobotomy .. Though he had already published papers and lectured to professional audiences extensively, Benjamin's 1966 book, The Transsexual Phenomenon ,
7676-412: The possibility of postoperative orgasm . The separation was extended digitally and was considered complete as soon as two fingers or a vaginal retractor could be admitted easily. Burou considered this first part of the operation to be the most important, but most risky, and stressed the importance of repeated intrarectal inspection to determine that there was no lesion to the rectal wall. He considered
7777-477: The practice became more generally known; early surgeries were performed mostly in Europe and Casablanca . Burou operated his sex reassignment clinic, called "Clinique du Parc", in Casablanca and in 1973 reported his experience with over 3000 individual cases. Between 1956 and 1958 Burou independently developed the anteriorly pedicled penile skin flap inversion vaginoplasty in his clinic. The technique became
7878-520: The psychiatrists Benjamin involved in the case not agreeing on a path of treatment, Benjamin eventually decided to treat the child with estrogen ( Premarin , introduced in 1941), which had a "calming effect", and helped arrange for the mother and child to go to Germany, where surgery to assist the child could be performed but, from there, they ceased to maintain contact, to Benjamin's regret. However, Benjamin continued to refine his understanding and went on to treat several hundred patients with similar needs in
7979-565: The seat of the German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999, during the chancellorship of Gerhard Schröder . Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several boroughs, reducing their number from 23 to 12. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin. Construction of the "Berlin Wall Trail" (Berliner Mauerweg) began in 2002 and was completed in 2006. In
8080-471: The second part of the operation to be relatively easy. The initial incision was extended along the raphe of the scrotum to the root of the penis. The surgical field was widened by retracting the scrotal skin on both sides and widely exposing the corpus spongiosum , both corpora cavernosa, and the two testes . Once the testes and their pedicles had been dissected, the spermatic cord was cut and ligated . Then, both corpora cavernosa were ligated and cut at
8181-428: The skin tube that was inserted as neovaginal lining. On the lower abdominal skin, a slight skin slit was made to allow the future urethra to be passed through upon inversion of the neovaginal lining. A Foley catheter was inserted and the urethra was sutured onto the catheter, about 5 cm distally from its passage through the skin. No skin suture was used in the urethral meatus , and some kind of scar contraction
8282-605: The summer of every year (at 450 Sutter Street , Suite 2232), with many of his patients coming from the nearby Tenderloin neighborhood). Prior to arriving in the United States, Benjamin studied at the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft ; from about this time onward he began to encounter and treat patients who he would later describe as transsexuals. In the 1930s he studied in Austria with Eugen Steinach . In 1948, in San Francisco, Benjamin
8383-758: The town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" ("Berliner Unwille"). Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power. Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic League city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran . The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and
8484-468: The two towns formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated. Members of the Hohenzollern family ruled in Berlin until 1918, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia , and eventually as German emperors . In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of
8585-451: The vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an ice age glacial valley ), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation . The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, a borough in
8686-664: The west of Berlin, the Spree empties into the river Havel , which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and the Großer Wannsee . A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin. Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto
8787-572: The west of Berlin. Since 2015, the Arkenberge hills in Pankow at 122 meters (400 ft) elevation, have been the highest point in Berlin. Through the disposal of construction debris they surpassed Teufelsberg (120.1 m or 394 ft), which itself was made up of rubble from the ruins of the Second World War. The Müggelberge at 114.7 meters (376 ft) elevation is the highest natural point and
8888-473: Was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very far-flung state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709, Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin". In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power. Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became
8989-479: Was always foreseen. Two sutures were bilaterally passed through the perianal skin and the levator ani muscles and served to tightly and firmly support an obstetric stent , placed in the neovagina to provide support for the inverted skin flap. A drain was left in the posterior commissure and, finally, excess scrotal skin was resected to obtain a good appearance of the major labia . Burou's first vaginoplasty, in 1956, took him three hours to complete, however at
9090-460: Was among the first to cross the Strait of Gibraltar on water skis . He wished to become a commercial marine officer before going into medicine, and thus was at first reluctant to pursue his medical training. Burou spoke little English but for certain gynecological and golf vocabulary. Burou moved to Casablanca as a result of his fiancée, Jeanne ("Nanou") Boisvert, whose parents had a farm there. It
9191-411: Was an unsuccessful attempt of unifying the states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Both share a common history, dialect and culture and in 2020, there are over 225,000 residents of Brandenburg that commute to Berlin. The fusion had the near-unanimous support by a broad coalition of both state governments, political parties, media, business associations, trade unions and churches. Though Berlin voted in favor by
9292-566: Was asked by Alfred Kinsey , a fellow sexologist, to see a young patient who was anatomically male but insisted on being female. Kinsey had encountered the child as a result of his interviews for Sexual Behavior in the Human Male , which was published that year. This case rapidly caused Benjamin's interest in what he would come to call transsexualism , realizing that there was a different condition to that of transvestism , under which adults who had such needs had been classified to that time. Despite
9393-480: Was built. During World War II , Berlin was the location of multiple Nazi prisons, forced labour camps, 17 subcamps of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp for men and women, including teenagers, of various nationalities, including Polish, Jewish, French, Belgian, Czechoslovak, Russian, Ukrainian, Romani, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Spanish, Luxembourgish, German, Austrian, Italian, Yugoslavian, Bulgarian, Hungarian,
9494-585: Was designated the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), German Empire (1871–1918), Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). Berlin served as a scientific, artistic, and philosophical hub during the Age of Enlightenment , Neoclassicism , and the German revolutions of 1848–1849 . During the Gründerzeit , an industrialization-induced economic boom triggered
9595-416: Was done in one operation consisting of two successive parts (which remains the prevailing methodology): (1) the creation of a space between the rectum and the prostate , and (2) the lining of this space with penile skin after the latter had been separated from its contents. Burou was acknowledged for "results that are cosmetically excellent." According to Burou, the operation began with an incision from
9696-513: Was especially important as the first large work describing and explaining the affirmative treatment path he pioneered. Publicity surrounding his patient Christine Jorgensen brought the issue into the mainstream in 1952 and led to a great many people presenting for assistance, internationally. In the preface of Christine Jorgensen's autobiography, Dr. Benjamin also gives Jorgensen credit for the advancement of his studies. He wrote, "Indeed Christine, without you, probably none of this would have happened;
9797-497: Was formed, using Benjamin's name by permission. The group consists of therapists and psychologists who devised a set of Standards of Care (SOC) for the treatment of gender dysphoria, largely based on Benjamin's cases, and studies. It later changed its name to The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). Berlin Berlin ( / b ɜːr ˈ l ɪ n / , bur- LIN ; German: [bɛʁˈliːn] )
9898-486: Was granted only to American, British and French airlines. The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move the western powers did not recognize. East Berlin included most of the city's historic center. The West German government established itself in Bonn . In 1961, East Germany began to build
9999-761: Was one of Burou's most prominent trans female patients, recalled in her memoir Conundrum that he would do his rounds twice daily "dressed for the corniche and looking in general pretty devastating." Morris recalled that he would sit at the end of her bed "and chat desultorily of this and that, type a few very slow words on [her] typewriter, read a headline from The Times in a delectable Maurice Chevalier accent, and eventually take an infinitely gentle look at his handiwork." Burou had little interest in finance and did not like to discuss financial matters with his patients; Morris quotes him: "You know my fee? Ah well, perhaps you will discuss it with my receptionist; bien, au revoir, until this evening!" The entire surgical procedure
10100-543: Was returning to Germany was caught mid-Atlantic both by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, and the Royal Navy . Given the choice of a British internment camp , as an " enemy alien ", or returning to New York, he used his last dollars to travel back to America, where he made his home for the rest of his life. However, he maintained and built many international professional connections and visited Europe frequently when wars allowed. After several failed attempts to start
10201-500: Was with her assistance that he began practising gynecology and obstetrics independently in Morocco , from his private quarters on the third floor of a classic colonial building at 103 Boulevard de la Gare (later called Boulevard Mohammed V after Morocco's independence ). On the morning of Sunday, 8 November 1942, while treating French sailors in the schoolyard of École de la Fonçiere at Rue de l’Horloge (later named Rue N’Chakra Rahal) after
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