According to the Federal Institute of Public Health (BIÖG) in Cologne, Germany, 53% of sexually active adults in Germany used condoms in 2024 compared with 38% of those who used pills.

The development of condoms spans from antiquity to modern industrial production. Materials have ranged from linen and animal membranes to vulcanized rubber and synthetic products.

Antiquity

In ancient Greece and Rome, the terms oikos and familia referred to a nuclear family, a small household unit that served as a central social structure. This household had legal, economic, and moral significance. Questions regarding inheritance, citizenship, property, and ritual obligations were also included. In practice, the kyrios or paterfamilias, the male head of the household, made these decisions.

Clans existed in antiquity but played a less prominent role in their daily lives.

Whether household heads deliberately kept families small to maintain efficiency remains a matter of debate among historians. Female contraceptive practices during this period have been documented previously. Cervical rings were considered among the most effective methods. Silphium, also known as laserwort, appeared to have been less reliable. However, the ingestion or vaginal use of pennyroyal and similar plants is known to be toxic.

However, evidence for male contraception is limited. Historians assume that withdrawal (coitus interruptus) and anal intercourse were the most common practices. In 150 BC, the mythographer Antoninus Liberalis described the legend of King Minos. According to the story, Minos’s semen contained snakes and scorpions. To protect his partners, he placed a goat’s bladder between his penis and the vagina during intercourse.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, contraception declined in the West. Clear evidence of pessary use did not appear until the 15th century.

Medieval Jewish and Muslim texts describe various contraceptive measures, including coating the penis with tar and soaking it in onion juice.

Writings from 15th century Asia describe condom-like devices. In China, oiled silk paper and lamb intestines were used to cover the glans penis during intercourse. In Japan, penis coverings made of tortoise shells or animal horns, known as kabuto-gata, were used.

From the mid-16th century, during the reign of Henry VIII, animal organs were used as condoms in England.

Syphilis Era

In the late 15th century, as syphilis spread across Europe, concerns regarding sexually transmitted infections grew. In 1564, De Morbo Gallico (The French Disease), by the Italian priest and anatomist Gabriele Falloppio, was published after his death. In this work, Falloppio described what he presented as an effective method of preventing syphilis. He reported that linen cloths soaked in chemical solutions and dried were placed over the glans penis of 1100 men, and none of them contracted syphilis after sexual intercourse.

After the publication of his book, condom-like devices spread throughout Europe, and male contraception became increasingly common. By 1666, the English Birth Rate Commission linked a decline in fertility to the use of “condons.”

The oldest condom ever found comes from Dudley Castle; it was made of animal membranes and dated back to 1642.

Although the use of condoms spread rapidly in the West during the 18th and 19th centuries, this method of contraception was widely criticized.

In 1717, English physician Daniel Turner argued against the use of condoms. He claimed that condoms did not reliably prevent syphilis, and their use gave men a false sense of security and led them to engage with risky partners. He suggested that many men removed condoms during intercourse because condoms reduced the intensity of sensation during sex, which he believed increased the risk for syphilis.

In 1736, French medical professor Jean Astruc published a detailed treatise opposing condoms and broadly supported Turner’s argument.

In the 18th century, condoms were made from chemically treated linen, animal bladders, and intestines. Their high cost limited their use largely to the middle and upper classes well into the 19th century. A single condom could cost a prostitute several months’ wages.

Condoms were mass-produced in the 19th century, but resistance continued. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the US, publicly criticized condom sellers as promoters of “abortion and prostitution.”

The invention of rubber vulcanization by Charles Goodyear in 1839 or by Thomas Hancock in 1843 is often cited as the foundation for the invention of the rubber condom. Rubber condoms were first produced in 1855, with large-scale manufacturing beginning in the late 1850s.

The first rubber condoms were, in many ways, less practical than the earlier skin versions. They were more expensive to produce and had reduced sensation during intercourse. Because they initially covered only the glans penis, a physician had to measure the penis to determine the correct size. Still, condoms were often lost during intercourse.

Manufacturers soon realized that producing standard sizes made manufacturing easier and increased their sales.

Until World War I, Germany was the leading manufacturer of condoms in Europe. Between 1900 and 1914, most condoms used across the continent were manufactured there, and countries such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada relied heavily on German imports. In the second half of the 19th century, the German military became the first military to supply condoms to its soldiers. The US Army did not adopt a similar policy for its soldiers. After World War I, 400,000 US soldiers were diagnosed with syphilis or gonorrhea.

A major change followed the 1918 US court ruling in the Margaret Sanger case, which allowed condoms to be advertised and sold for preventive purposes in several states. Production in the US grew rapidly, and global sales doubled during the 1920s.

Conclusion

The history of condoms reflects broader shifts in social value. The strong symbolism long attached to the male organ and sexual act is evident in stories about Napoleon Bonaparte’s masculinity and Adolf Hitler’s fear of syphilis. Therefore, covering or restricting the male organ has been interpreted as a sign of male restraint, a step toward gender equality, and a way to protect men from the consequences of their own impulses.

More broadly, the development of condoms mirrors changing social norms. Until the 19th century, patriarchal and religious structures contributed to the near absence of effective male contraception worldwide. The burden fell most heavily on the lower socioeconomic groups.

The spread of syphilis, along with advances in science and technology, evolving ideas about gender equality, and economic forces, has led to the further development and wider adoption of male contraception. Although condoms are not a perfect method and their moral value has been debated, the availability of contraceptive options has helped create space for more balanced and open societal discussions.

Read more about the history of contraception here.

This story was translated from Univadis Germany, part of the Medscape Professional Network.