The "Deutsche Gesellschaft zur Bekämpfung der Geschlechtskrankheiten" (DGBG) used plays as a means of public education. The play "Damaged Goods" (Les Avariés) by the French dramatist Eugéne Brieux (1858-1932) was used extensively for this purpose in Germany between 1910 and 1920. By proliferating a specific image of both the medical profession and the syphilis, it helped established the self-confidence of the then new dermatological discipline. The teaching of Alfred Fournier (1832-1914) provided the medical background for the play. In "The Inheritance of Syphilis" (1882) Fournier had laid the dramatic framework for Brieux' play. Analyzing the Berlin premiere of "Damaged Goods" on June 25 1913 in the German Theatre/Berlin, the interplay between scientific facts and theatrical license and their diverse influences on the public becomes obvious.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.