The German underworld and the Ringvereine from the 1890s through the 1950s

Ringvereine were officially chartered associations of ex-convicts which, on paper, provided mutual aid and promoted the cultural activities of their members. In reality, they promoted their members' criminal activities in various ways and acted as professional associations of criminals, which set and enforced rules and provided members with contacts, assistance and status. At least in certain areas, namely prostitution and racketeering, the Ringvereine may also have functioned as criminal organisations with direct involvement in criminal activities. Using data obtained from a systematic analysis of various contemporary newspapers and periodicals, and from a review of secondary sources, primarily comprising journalistic and law enforcement accounts, this study examines their structure, function, geographical scope, membership characteristics and ties to legitimate institutions and highlights major phases and turning points in their history which spans an era from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. It is argued that the Ringvereine constitute a deviant case in the history of German organised crime, which otherwise has been characterised more by informal and fragmented offender structures embedded in deviant subcultures.