Harden-Eulenburg Affair

The Harden-Eulenburg affair, often simply Eulenburg affair, was the controversy surrounding a series of courts-martial and five regular trials regarding accusations of homosexual conduct, and accompanying libel trials, among prominent members of Kaiser Wilhelm II's cabinet and entourage and the chancellor von Bismarck during 1907-1909. It is often considered the biggest domestic scandal of the German Second Reich. While the controversy centred on Philipp Prince zu Eulenburg-Hertefeld and his accuser, journalist Maximilian Harden, accusations and counter-accusations quickly multiplied with the phrase "Liebenberg Round Table" being used to describe the gay male circle around the Kaiser.

Effects

The stress of the trials caused most participants to fall ill during 1908.

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The Eulenburg affair is a perfect example of prejudice and bigotry, specifically homophobia, being used not as an end but as a means to other political goals. Eulenburg's wife commented, "They are striking at my husband, but their target is the kaiser." (Hirschfeld, 1933)

Related Topics:
Prejudice - Bigotry - Homophobia - 1933

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Harden later told Hirschfeld that the Affair was the greatest political mistake of his life, like many later observers, attributing the Affair as the root cause of World War I and the fall of the Second Reich, inevitable without Eulenburg's moderating influence.

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