Heinrich Schurtz (born 11 December 1863 in Zwickau; died 2 May 1903 in Bremen) was a German ethnologist and historian. His most significant work is said to be Altersklassen und Männerbünde (Age-classes and Male Bands^[1]) which emphasized the role gender and generational issues have in social institutions and argued that basing the society on the family was a step backwards.^[2] His notion of Männerbünde placed male associations, where he deemed masculinity more "unfettered", in opposition to the family which he saw as dominated by women.^[3] Notions of Männerbünde, though not just Schurtz's, would have an influence on Nazi Germany's SS^[4] while in a very different way his ideas on same-sex bonding has become of historical interest to Queer studies.