Lotte Hahm (1890-1967)

(this text can also be heard in the audio clip)

Charlotte Hedwig, known as “Lotte” Hahm, was born in Dresden in 1890 and moved to Berlin in the early 1920s. Her brother was possibly inter* or trans* as it is noted on his birth certificate that his name was changed from Agnes to Joachim Carl. This certainly shaped her understanding of gender identities and her self-perception early on. In all the surviving photos, her androgynous style with a man’s suit, short parted hair and smart suits is a dazzling take on the male-influenced style of dress. In interpreting her actions, it can be assumed that she saw herself as both a homosexual woman and a homosexual transvestite and that she preferred to present herself in a way that did not conform to gender norms.

In 1926, she founded the ladies’ club “Violetta” with up to 400 members, which met in the Jägerhof-Kasino in Kreuzberg at Hasenheide 52-53 until 1928. Later it also met in the Nationalhof at Bülowstr. 37, on Sundays in the intimate red club room. Lotte was inventive and creative and came up with charming and funny themes and games for her events, such as the cream puff competition, the cap polonaise, the hall post or a moonlight steamer party. On behalf of the Violetta Ladies’ Club, she organized large balls “for ladies only” at the Nationalhof and the Zauberflöte, among others. At the “inverted ball”, “every lady in pants was awarded a prize”. The balls were advertised in the magazine “Die Freundin”. The magazine was published from 1924 and is considered the world’s first magazine for lesbians. “Die Freundin” was the club organ and Lotte occasionally wrote for the magazine. Androgynous and wearing a tuxedo and bow tie, she is also pictured on the cover of the magazine in 1929 (see image gallery).

Club Violetta was associated with the German Friendship Association, one of the largest homosexual organizations of the time. Lotte also tried to establish a Germany-wide network through the “Korrespondenz-Zirkel” and supported the founding of other women’s clubs in other cities.

Her clubs and events were not only dedicated to pleasure. Political and social commitment were also essential components, as Lotte fought for equality and rights for lesbians and trans* people. She wrote: “Not only dancing and social events can bring you equality, but also fighting is necessary if you want to have respect and appreciation. The desire to fight must fill your hearts and shine from your eyes. Therefore organize yourselves in the League for Ideal Women’s Friendship.”

Ruth Margarete Roellig’s travel guide “Berlin’s Lesbian Women” writes about the women’s club: “This association […] endeavors in every way to bring a little cheerfulness into the lives of lesbian women, who in themselves are not bedded on roses […] and to fight unitedly against the still prevailing ostracism of women of a different kind.” Lotte introduced social practices to redistribute the profits from events in favor of poorer lesbians or waived the entrance fee for unemployed women.

In 1929, the two large ladies’ clubs in Berlin, “Monbijou”, run by Kati Reinhardt, and the “Violetta” club were merged. This was to be a long-lasting collaboration between the two women, which lasted until after the war.

With the help of her Jewish partner Käthe Fleischmann, she opened the “Monokel-Diele” in 1931 and the “Manuela-Bar” in Charlottenburg in 1932.

After the forced closure of the bars in March 1933, Lotte Hahm quickly renamed the “Damenklub Violetta” to “Sportklub Sonne” as a cover and continued to organize secret dance evenings for lesbians and trans* people until December 1934. In 1935, Sportclub Sonne was exposed and banned, but Lotte Hahm affiliated the club with the lesbian bowling club “Die Lustigen Neun” (The Funny Nine). From October 1935, this bowling club organized fifteen balls in ballrooms in Berlin-Kreuzberg with up to 250 participants, according to a surveillance file.

In 1935, Hahm opened a guest house on Hiddensee on the Baltic Sea, presumably for a predominantly lesbian clientele, and from 1937 worked again in Berlin as a textile merchant with limited success.

Oral accounts of her temporary arrest and imprisonment in a concentration camp have not yet been verified. During the National Socialist era, she helped her Jewish partner Käthe Fleischmann to flee to Dresden and then to the Saarland in 1941/1942. Käthe survived the Nazi regime in various hiding places, at times supported by Lotte. However, Käthe Fleischmann would say after the war that she felt “abandoned” by Lotte during this time.

After the war, Lotte returned to Berlin and opened a lesbian bar on Spittelmarkt with Kati Reinhardt in 1945. The two organized women’s balls at the Zauberflöte, the Nationalhof and the Max & Moritz. In 1958, she tried to re-found the League for Human Rights, unfortunately without success.

Lotte Hahm died at the age of 77 in Berlin-Wannsee in 1967. Since 2023, a memorial stele at Hasenheide 52-53 in Berlin Kreuzberg has commemorated Lotte Hahm at the place where the Violetta ladies’ club met. The building at Bülowstr. 37 survived the war, but the ballroom of the Nationalhof was in the backyard building, which was demolished in 1975.