Bordélyházak és kéjnőtartók a polgárosodó Nagyváradon

Abstract

Abstract This paper aims to present Oradea brothels and their proprietors in the second half of the nineteenth century and in the early years of the twentieth century. The topic of prostitution at a time when society tolerated rather than accepted that phenomenon is approached from a social- and criminal-historical perspective. Additional material concerns people who lived in the street where the brothels were situated. We used unpublished records from the National Archives Service of Bihar County such as judicial, administrative texts, police statements and evidence given by prostitutes in our research. In addition to these documents, we used scientific literature. The methodology is one of comparison and synthesis. Additionally we make an attempt to examine the phenomenon of brothels in a spatial context. Keywords: history of prostitution, brothels, Oradea