An Intimate Revolution: Fascism, Sexuality and Kommune I in 1960s West Germany

Abstract

Subversive voices within the German New Left developed a discourse which linked the rise of fascism in Germany with repressed sexuality. In response, a group of Berlin students founded a commune in 1967, attempting to liberate sexuality and revolutionise relationships. Kommune I’s provocative antiauthoritarianism led to infamy and derision from mainstream Germany, and the commune ended in political failure. While the historiography has refused to see the commune as a serious political project, this thesis argues that Kommune I warrants a more considered examination as a moral and political response to the Nazi past. Drawing on intellectual, social, and cultural history, it explores the power and limitations of this discourse in post-war Germany society.