Lili Elbe (1882-1931)
73 - Urban Hospital, site of the 1st gender reassignment operation
On the banks of the Landwehrkanal, Berlin-Kreuzberg
unfortunately the audio contribution is not ready yet đ but will be soon đ
Lili Elbe was a Danish painter who grew up as Einar Wegener* and became artistically successful. She began to discover her female side in Copenhagen and later lived in Paris as Lili. She came to Berlin and Dresden for gender reassignment surgery and became probably the 4th person to undergo gender reassignment surgery to create a vagina. Unfortunately, she died of complications from the 4th operation in Dresden. Her story has been popularized by the movie âThe Danish Girlâ.
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(this text can also be heard in the audio clip)
Lili Elbe was born Einar Wegener in Denmark on December 28, 1882. She studied art in Copenhagen, where she met her future wife Gerda Gottlieb. As Einar Wegener, Lili Elbe was a successful painter who created landscapes, still lifes and portraits.
Elbe’s journey to discovering her gender identity began during her time in Copenhagen, where she took the opportunity to wear women’s clothing among friends. During this time Elbe realized that she identified as a woman. In 1912, the couple moved to Paris and Lili lived there openly as a woman at times under the name Lili.
Desperate about her situation, she decided in May 1929 that she would take her own life if she could not find help within twelve months. But then she was able to start her transition in Berlin and wrote her obituary on the way: âThe painter Einar Wegener is dead. He died on the train between Paris and Berlin.â
On March 1, 1930, Lili arrived in Berlin and met Felix Abraham at the Institute for Sexual Science for initial examinations. The subsequent psychological assessment by Magnus Hirschfeld lasted several hours, and, in Elbeâs words, was like ârunning the gauntlet of the soulâ.
On a walk that evening her friend Poul said to her: âBasically, you’re a strange fellow. Tonight you’re behaving like a real guy, and tomorrow you might have it certified that I’ll have to treat you as a lady in future. When I look at you like that, it’s hard to believe that all this could have been right … But perhaps there really have been two souls in your breast from the beginning, not just in the Goethean sense, but two beings, two whole beings … â Einar looked at Poul calmly, âI understand your train of thought. It is difficult to make sense of this transformation, difficult for me, how much more difficult for others. And the strangest thing of all is that every being in me is, believe me, healthy in his emotional life and, believe me, completely normal.â
On March 4, 1930 Erwin Gorhbandt removed Elbeâs testicles at Urban Hospital. This was followed by two operations at the Dresden Women’s Clinic under the direction of Kurt Warnekros.
After her transition, Elbe changed her name and her marriage to Gerda was annulled, but the two remained close friends.
Tragically, Lili Elbe died on September 13, 1931 in Dresden from complications following her fourth operation.
Lili Elbe wrote a diary and wanted it to be published. âI wanted that, when I was no longer here myself, my dreary love book would be my legacy … that this book would be read … oh, you have no idea what a final satisfaction this would be for me.â
Lili Elbe’s story was published posthumously in 1932 on the basis of her diaries. However, the book’s veracity must be questioned due to its complex genesis. Differences are clearly recognizable in various editions in different languages and show the influence of different authors. This work as well as the later book and film âThe Danish Girlâ gave rise to narratives that are probably not entirely accurate.
From today’s perspective, Lili’s formulations from the diary seem almost homophobic. It is assumed that the authors posthumously adapted the work to the readership of the 1930s and a cis-heteronormative environment. Breaking down binary gender concepts or even thematizing same-sex love was probably considered too daring for the social or religious views of the audience at the time, or perhaps they feared it would be harmful to book sales.
The memoirs also contain the narrative that Lili died during a womb transplant. This is probably not true, for which there are several indications. Lili was 48 years old at the time of the operation and the more obvious operation was the creation of an artificial vagina. This had already been successfully carried out on Dora Richter. Perhaps the narrative has the background that it was more appropriate to perform an operation for reproductive purposes than for sexual sensation or identity.
The frequently quoted anecdote from the book and film that Lili posed as a female model for her wife Gerda and thus realized that she identified as a woman is not verifiable and rather implausible.
Furthermore, the narrative that Lili could have been intersex persists. Today it is assumed that this was probably due to a strategy to achieve legal recognition as a woman, which was more likely for intersex people.
Lili is also often mentioned as the first woman to have gender reassignment surgery. This is also stated in her diary, although Dora Richter was operated on as early as 1923 and received a complete reassignment with an artificial vagina in March 1930, one year before Lili Elbe.
Despite the suspected rewriting of her notes, Lili was granted the satisfaction of having her story made public.
Lili Elbe is considered a pioneer of the trans* movement and her story has helped to raise awareness of the challenges faced by trans* people. âI fight against the bias of the philistine who looks for a phenomenon, an abnormality in me. As I am now, I am a completely ordinary woman.â
Lili Elbe was buried in the Trinitatisfriedhof cemetery in Dresden. The grave was leveled in the 1960s and re-erected in 2016. The House of World Cultures, the former location of the Institute for Sexual Science, renamed its outdoor area the âLili Elbe Gardenâ in honor of Lili Elbe in 2023.
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* In her memoirs and letters, Lili Elbe writes about the two personalities Lili and Einar that she carries within her. This is why this text clearly uses Einar Wegener’s real name and thus respects both personalities, just as Lili herself did.
Other places with Lili Elbe:
Image gallery Lili Elbe









Further audio contributions at this monument:
Further places & audio contributions
Further audio contributions nearby:
Related links & sources:
- [in German] Online article âDie »erste Intersexuelle, die sich geschlechtsangleichenden Operationen unterzog«?!?â, by Clara Hartmann, Lili-Elbe-Bibliothek
- [in German] Book âMan into Woman: The First Sex Changeâ by Lili Elbe, from papers left behind, published in 1932 by Niels Hoyer (pseudonym of Ernst Harthern (1884 – 1969)
- [in German] online article âMagnus Hirschfeld and Lili Elbe: When people change their genderâ by Tobias Sauer on Spiegel Geschichte
- [in German] – online article âLili Elbeâ by Niki Trauthwein for the Magnus Hirschfeld Federal Foundation
Note on terminology:
* In her memoirs and letters, Lili Elbe writes about the two personalities Lili and Einar that she carries within her. This is why this text clearly uses Einar Wegener’s real name and thus respects both personalities, just as Lili herself did.
Some of the terms used in the texts are used as they were common at the time of the queer heroes, such as the word âtransvestiteâ, which was chosen as a self-designation by some people. Today, we would express this in a much more differentiated way, including as trans*, crossdresser, draq king, draq queen, gender-nonconforming or non-binary. Where possible, the terms that the person (presumably) chose for themselves are used, but in some cases we do not know how the people described themselves or how they would describe themselves using today’s vocabulary.
In addition, the word âqueerâ is also used, which did not even exist at the time of most of the queer heroes described. Nevertheless, today it is the most appropriate word to describe inclusively all those who do not correspond to the heterosexual cis majority.
A project by Rafael Nasemann affiliated to the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft e.V., Berlin.
Funded by the Hannchen-Mehrzweck-Stiftung â Stiftung fĂŒr queere Bewegungen
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