Willi Pape

Willi Pape (Willy Pape, Voo-Doo, Selma Bruegge; 1893 – 1967) was a celebrated German cabaret owner and performer in Weimar Berlin who was contemporarily referred to as a "transvestite."

Pape was a patient of German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, who wrote the following to accompany pictures of Pape in his 1912 book The Transvestites:

The young transvestite Willy Pape, whose propensity to dress in women's clothing became known during a suicide attempt. His parents were made aware of this peculiar condition by the author and then allowed him to go onto the Variété, where he has since then performed with great success as a snake dancer.[1]

Pape became a famous cabaret artist and variety-show dancer, usually performing under the name "Voo-Doo" or "Voo Doo" while wearing orientalized versions of female belly-dancing attire.[2] In 1927, the German lesbian magazine Die Freundin published photographs of Pape captioned: "The Transvestite Voo-Doo, One of the Most Prominent International Dance-stars."[3]

Pape eventually owned a club, also named "Voo-Doo." In the llustrated Guide to 'Depraved' Berlin (1931), Curt Moreck (a pseudonym of German author Konrad Haemmerling) described the club "Voo-Doo" as a good nightlife spot for "befriended couples" looking for an "exotic night."[4][5]

Pape might also have been an artist, as drawings by "Voo-Doo," "a Lady dancer" survive.[6]

Pape presented as female and signed into several hotels as Selma Bruegge, but after Pape's suicide attempt, this name was not used again.[7] When summoned for military service in 1914, Pape presented in female clothing.[7] According to Hirschfeld, who used he/his pronouns for Pape, Pape did not find men attractive at the time of their first encounter; Pape had been engaged to a woman and later had a male lover.[7] German scholar Jens Dobler, who has uncovered much of Pape's biography, writes of "Willi Pape, alias Voo-Doo," as a "drag artist" (in German: Travestiekünstler).[8] No known documents survive that describe Pape's gender or sexual identification in Pape's own words.

References
  1. Hirschfeld, Magnus (1912). "Die Transvestiten: Die Transvestiten, [2], Der erotische Verkleidungstrieb". Humbold-Universität zu Berlin Universitätsbibliothek (in German). p. Tafel XVI [Table XVI]. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  2. Prickett, D. J. (2006-01-01). "Locating El Dorado: Berlin's GBLT Topography, Revisited". GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 12 (1): 159. doi:10.1215/10642684-12-1-158. ISSN 1064-2684.
  3. Nero, Julie (2013). Hannah Höch, Til Brugman, Lesbianism, and Weimar Sexual Subculture [PhD Dissertation]. Case Western Reserve University. pp. 234–235, 409 (Image 5.16).
  4. Smith, C. (2013-06-01). "Challenging Baedeker Through the Art of Sexual Science: an Exploration of Gay and Lesbian Subcultures in Curt Moreck's Guide to 'Depraved' Berlin (1931)". Oxford Art Journal. 36 (2): 236. doi:10.1093/oxartj/kct018. ISSN 0142-6540.
  5. MacKay, Andy Stewart (2020-04-01). "Democratic depravity: Curt Moreck's Berlin". Peter Harrington Blog. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  6. Gordon, Mel (2008-08-01). Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin (Expanded Edition) (PDF). Feral House. p. 125. ISBN 978-1-932595-97-0.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. Zagria (2018-10-22). "Willi Pape/Voo Doo (1893 - 1967) performer". A Gender Variance Who's Who. Retrieved 2020-07-31.
  8. "Publikationen von Jens Dobler (Auswahl) [Publications by Jens Dobler (Selection)]". Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft (in German). Retrieved 2020-08-01.
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