Who Were the Savage Family in Hamburg’s History?
The Savage family were influential brothel operators who dominated Hamburg’s regulated prostitution trade between 1848-1914. Through strategic alliances with police and politicians, they established a lucrative empire controlling over 60 brothels while enforcing brutal conditions for sex workers. Their operations exemplified how “tolerance systems” enabled exploitation under government-sanctioned regulation.Historical records show the Savages weren’t aristocrats but working-class immigrants who exploited Hamburg’s unique city-state governance. Johann Heinrich Savage founded the dynasty by securing police permits for brothels near port areas, capitalizing on sailor traffic. His descendants expanded through bribes and political favors, creating a monopoly where women faced mandatory registration, medical exams, and confinement to designated streets. The system treated sex workers as municipal property—taxed, medically cataloged, and denied basic rights while enriching the Savages and corrupt officials. Evans’ archival research reveals how their 66-year reign reflected Germany’s shifting social hierarchies, where morality laws selectively targeted the poor while protecting establishment figures.
How Did Hamburg’s Prostitution Regulation System Work?
Hamburg’s “Reglementierung” system legally permitted prostitution through strict police-controlled protocols. Sex workers were required to register with authorities, undergo biweekly medical exams, and carry health certificates while confined to specific red-light districts like Herbertstraße. This state-sanctioned framework created a surveillance network where the Savage family thrived as intermediaries.The process began with compulsory registration at police headquarters, where women received numbered identification cards. Officially licensed brothels like those operated by the Savages became detention centers—workers lived on-site, paid “debts” for room/board, and surrendered earnings to madams. Police conducted surprise inspections, checking registration status and health certificates. Those found with venereal diseases were forcibly hospitalized in locked wards at taxpayer expense. While framed as public health protection, the system enabled exploitation: brothel keepers like the Savages charged women for mandatory medical visits while bribing inspectors to overlook violations. Unregistered “clandestine” prostitutes faced arrest, fines, and blacklisting, funneling more workers into Savage-controlled establishments.
What Were Police Roles in Maintaining the System?
Hamburg’s vice police held unchecked power over sex workers’ lives through registration oversight and enforcement. Officers decided who received work permits, conducted humiliating medical checks, and determined punishment for violations—a system rife with bribery opportunities the Savages exploited.Corruption permeated all levels. Police accepted regular payments from brothel owners to ignore underage workers, exceed capacity limits, or bypass health protocols. In return, officers targeted unaffiliated streetwalkers to eliminate competition. Evans uncovered expense logs showing the Savages paid monthly “protection fees” equivalent to $15,000 today. When scandals erupted—like the 1888 Morality Committee hearings—testimony revealed commanders received luxury gifts and cash. This symbiosis allowed police to present declining VD rates as success while the Savages expanded operations. The façade collapsed only when socialist newspapers exposed children working in Savage brothels, forcing temporary crackdowns.
What Social Forces Enabled the Savage Family’s Power?
Three intersecting forces fueled the Savage empire: Hamburg’s port economy, rising bourgeois morality politics, and Prussia’s unification pressures. The city’s shipping boom created constant demand from sailors and merchants, while middle-class reformers paradoxically demanded both prostitution containment and public “decency.”As Hamburg industrialized, its population tripled between 1850-1900, overwhelming housing and social services. Civic leaders saw regulated brothels as necessary release valves for male workers. Meanwhile, Bismarck’s push for German unification pressured Hamburg to adopt Prussian-style social controls. The Savages navigated these currents expertly—donating to churches for moral legitimacy while lobbying senators against abolitionists. Their brothels became political tools: during elections, they hosted influential clients and mobilized sex workers to support pro-regulation candidates. Feminist activists like Anita Augspurg condemned this “state-sponsored slavery,” but authorities dismissed concerns, believing working-class women inherently immoral. This societal hypocrisy allowed the Savages to prosper as enforcers of Hamburg’s fragile social order.
How Did Class Divide Impact Sex Workers?
Prostitutes’ experiences starkly reflected Hamburg’s class hierarchy. Elite courtesans (“Kokotten”) served wealthy clients freely, while registered brothel workers faced police tracking, movement restrictions, and wage confiscation—conditions the Savages weaponized for control.Women from impoverished backgrounds comprised 90% of registered workers. Many were migrants fleeing rural famines or laid-off factory workers. Once registered, they entered a cycle of debt: brothel keepers charged exorbitant fees for room, medical visits, and “fines,” trapping women through compounded balances. In contrast, independent escorts catering to merchants avoided registration by bribing beat cops. The Savages exploited this divide, lobbying police to harass unaffiliated competitors while telling legislators their brothels prevented “chaos.” When socialist reformers documented Savage workers eating rotten food in windowless rooms, authorities ignored them—validating Evans’ conclusion that the system sacrificed marginalized women to maintain bourgeois illusions of order.
Why Did the Savage Empire Collapse After 1914?
World War I’s outbreak shattered Hamburg’s tolerance system through military decrees, public health panics, and the Savage family’s final corruption scandal. By 1916, brothel permits were revoked as Germany mobilized for total war, ending their 66-year reign.Three factors triggered the collapse: First, naval commanders fearing espionage banned sailors from port brothels, eliminating the Savages’ core clientele. Second, syphilis outbreaks among troops sparked moral panic, with generals blaming regulated brothels. Most devastatingly, the 1915 “Savage Affair” erupted when police discovered family members forging health certificates for infected workers. Newspapers splashed headlines about “Death Madams,” prompting protests. With Hamburg under martial law, military governors shuttered all brothels in 1916. The Savages fled bankruptcy hearings, their empire dissolving as Germany faced revolution. Ironically, the system they embodied outlived them—Weimar Republic officials reinstated regulation in 1922, still refusing abolitionist demands.
What Modern Parallels Exist in Sex Work Regulation?
Hamburg’s history mirrors contemporary debates around legalization versus decriminalization. The Savage era demonstrates how regulation often concentrates power with exploiters rather than protecting workers—a pattern seen in modern legal brothel systems from Nevada to Germany’s current “ProstSchG” law.Today’s licensed brothels still face accusations of trafficking and coercion, echoing Savage-era abuses. The mandatory registration Evans studied persists in countries like Greece and Turkey, where sex workers report police blackmail. Conversely, New Zealand’s decriminalization model (adopted 2003) removes police from oversight, letting workers negotiate directly—addressing core power imbalances the Savages exploited. Hamburg’s legacy proves that without worker autonomy and anti-corruption measures, regulation becomes another tool for control. As modern activists note, the Savage story remains relevant whenever governments prioritize surveillance over safety.
How Does Evans’ Research Reshape Our Understanding of Power?
Richard J. Evans’ archival work reveals prostitution regulation as a mechanism for social control beyond morality policing. By analyzing police-brothel collusion, he demonstrates how Hamburg’s government outsourced “vice management” to criminal enterprises like the Savages to maintain class hierarchies and political stability.The book’s groundbreaking contribution is exposing regulation’s economic function. Tax records show Savage brothels contributed 3% of Hamburg’s municipal revenue—funding projects benefiting elite neighborhoods while containing “undesirables” in slums. Police used registration lists to monitor labor activists, with Savage informants reporting dockworker meetings. This symbiosis between criminal enterprise and state power created what Evans calls “authoritarian capitalism”: using marginalized groups as profit centers while enforcing order. Modern parallels emerge in privatized prisons or immigration detention centers. The Savage story ultimately warns that when societies commodify human vulnerability, corruption follows inevitably—a lesson transcending its historical setting.
