The Urnings

Urning was a word used to describe men who were sexually attracted to their own sex. The word was first used in 1864 and became the word of choice in German to describe same sex attracted men, until it was dislodged by the word homosexual in the early 20th century.  

The urnings were men who adopted the terminology and its attributes as a personal identity with all the trappings of the modern gay/queer identities we have today. These men had a strikingly modern conception of their sexual orientation, and for the first time in history, some of them were proud enough to admit to it as a public identity.