Audioguide: Vaginal douching, vaginal powder blower and bidet.

Widely used but not recommendable was vaginal douching. Many women owned a „Mutterspritze,“ which they used immediately after sexual intercourse in a desperate try to wash the sperm out. Today we know how fast sperm enters the uterus, where it cannot be reached by any vaginal douching.

Even so, vaginal douching was one of the very few methods of contraception at that time. Our museum owns approximately 40 different vaginal douching devices.

Used nearly as much was the bidet. As a child, most of you will have asked your parents or grandparents what the bidet was for. Most people were told it was for rinsing one’s feet or for doing laundry. That’s not true: The bidet’s only purpose was for contraception. Until the 1960s, bidets had a kind of fountain at the front. When a woman sat down on the bidet, the water jet was aimed for her vagina so she could douche after intercourse. Since bidets need piped water, which was only available in homes of the wealthy, access to this device was limited.

After the Pill’s introduction, bidets fell out of favour. Today’s bidets lack this little fountain. Interestingly, the bidet’s original purpose is still taboo and rarely known.