Marcus Behmer Art

Marcus Behmer is known to be, since 1903, a member in the first-ever homosexual organization in Berlin and was thus probably a part of Adolf Brand’s circle and may have contributed to Brand’s publication Der Eigene. Until now, few know that Behmer was sentenced in April 1937 by a court in Konstanz to imprisonment for two years, being arrested in Freiburg and at other locations in southern Germany for being a homosexual. At times Behmer was allowed to work as an artist in prison. The works produced in this period are mostly calligraphic designed tablets with Greek text (prayers and Bible quotes) and drawings full of bitterness and irony. After the war, Behmer spent the rest of his life in West Berlin. Renowned museums and collections such as the graphic collection of the Stadel Museum in Frankfurt, the Klingspor Museum for calligraphy and typography in Offenbach and the collection Sternweiler in Berlin, today house works by Behmer. Behmer remains an important figure in the Berlin secession but should be much better known for his work and certainly for his bravery as a leading light in the early days of the gay movement at a time when it was so dangerous to be out and proud.