'Critical sexology', according to a much-quoted sentence by the influential German sexologist Volkmar Sigusch from 1988, 'thinks from the point of view of contradiction, tries to understand the process of enlightenment dialectically, pursues both, light and shadow, also in itself'. Strongly influenced by this self-image to this day, the German Society for Sexual Research (DGfS) takes stock of its impact in the Federal Republic of Germany on the occasion of its 75th anniversary. The volume includes historiographical essays, autobiographical texts, interviews and key texts on specialist history. The authors trace the generational change within the professional society and outline the development of central research fields of the sexology institutes at the University Hospitals of Frankfurt am Main and Hamburg-Eppendorf as the two most important university anchor points of the DGfS. In addition, they remind us of controversies relevant to specialist policy and show their significance for the development of one's own profile in the public and professional public.