Schwules Museum
Encyclopedia
The Schwules Museum is an LGBT
museum
in Berlin
which opened in 1985.
The impetus for the founding of the Schwules Museum was a successful exhibition on gay
topics at the Berlin Museum (Märkisches Museum) in summer 1984, Eldorado. This was the first public exposition in Germany of recent research on gay life. In 1985 the organisation Verein der Freunde eines Schwulen Museums in Berlin e.V. was founded and opened its own museum dedicated exclusively to LGBT topics at Mehringdamm 61 in the Kreuzberg
district. The museum is located above a gay nightclub and is the world's first gay museum.
Since December 2004, the permanent exhibition has been Selbstbewusstsein und Beharrlichkeit. 200 Jahre schwule Geschichte ("Self-Awareness and Endurance: 200 Years of Gay History"). It depicts the strategies, options and problems of homosexuals in seeking to live a self-determined life, find others and organise networks in the period from 1790 to 1990. In association with this theme, the social and legal background is presented, such as the anti-gay Paragraph 175
of the German lawcode and the associated marginalisation, persecution and criminalisation of homosexuality as well as the successes of the gay rights movement
.
As an adjunct to this, the museum mounts several temporary exhibitions every year. These include historical exhibitions illuminating particular periods or historical developments, such as Goodbye to Berlin. 100 Jahre Schwulenbewegung ("Goodbye to Berlin: 100 Years of the Gay Rights Movement" - 1997). The exhibition Verfolgung homosexueller Männer in Berlin 1933 – 45 ("Persecution of Homosexual Men in Berlin 1933–45"), in collaboration with the Sachsenhausen Memorial, dealt with the experience of gays in the Nazi era.
The museum also holds series of exhibitions on groups and organisations, such as Der Kreis ("The Circle") and Gesellschaft für Reform des Sexualrechts ("Society for the Reform of Sexual Law") and on individuals. A continuing series of homages to gays in public life has included Oscar Wilde
, Marlene Dietrich
, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
, Michel Foucault
and Thomas Mann
.
The museum archive houses periodicals going back to 1896 and a collection of photographs, videos, films, sound recordings, autographs, art works, and ephemera. The library currently contains approximately 10,000 books on homosexuality.
In December 2009 the museum received its first allocation of public money, a two-year grant from the cultural funds of the Berlin Senate, and declared that this would make possible a planned broadening of its focus to encompass other alternative sexual identities other than male homosexuality, above all lesbian
and transgender
.
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
which opened in 1985.
The impetus for the founding of the Schwules Museum was a successful exhibition on gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
topics at the Berlin Museum (Märkisches Museum) in summer 1984, Eldorado. This was the first public exposition in Germany of recent research on gay life. In 1985 the organisation Verein der Freunde eines Schwulen Museums in Berlin e.V. was founded and opened its own museum dedicated exclusively to LGBT topics at Mehringdamm 61 in the Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
district. The museum is located above a gay nightclub and is the world's first gay museum.
Since December 2004, the permanent exhibition has been Selbstbewusstsein und Beharrlichkeit. 200 Jahre schwule Geschichte ("Self-Awareness and Endurance: 200 Years of Gay History"). It depicts the strategies, options and problems of homosexuals in seeking to live a self-determined life, find others and organise networks in the period from 1790 to 1990. In association with this theme, the social and legal background is presented, such as the anti-gay Paragraph 175
Paragraph 175
Paragraph 175 was a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made homosexual acts between males a crime, and in early revisions the provision also criminalized bestiality. All in all, around 140,000 men were convicted under the law.The statute was amended several...
of the German lawcode and the associated marginalisation, persecution and criminalisation of homosexuality as well as the successes of the gay rights movement
LGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
.
As an adjunct to this, the museum mounts several temporary exhibitions every year. These include historical exhibitions illuminating particular periods or historical developments, such as Goodbye to Berlin. 100 Jahre Schwulenbewegung ("Goodbye to Berlin: 100 Years of the Gay Rights Movement" - 1997). The exhibition Verfolgung homosexueller Männer in Berlin 1933 – 45 ("Persecution of Homosexual Men in Berlin 1933–45"), in collaboration with the Sachsenhausen Memorial, dealt with the experience of gays in the Nazi era.
The museum also holds series of exhibitions on groups and organisations, such as Der Kreis ("The Circle") and Gesellschaft für Reform des Sexualrechts ("Society for the Reform of Sexual Law") and on individuals. A continuing series of homages to gays in public life has included Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Rainer Werner Maria Fassbinder was a German movie director, screenwriter and actor. He is considered one of the most important representatives of the New German Cinema.He maintained a frenetic pace in film-making...
, Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
and Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
.
The museum archive houses periodicals going back to 1896 and a collection of photographs, videos, films, sound recordings, autographs, art works, and ephemera. The library currently contains approximately 10,000 books on homosexuality.
In December 2009 the museum received its first allocation of public money, a two-year grant from the cultural funds of the Berlin Senate, and declared that this would make possible a planned broadening of its focus to encompass other alternative sexual identities other than male homosexuality, above all lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
.
Sources
- Michael Bollé, ed. Eldorado: Homosexuelle Frauen und Männer in Berlin, 1850–1950; Geschichte, Alltag und Kultur. Berlin: Frölich und Kaufmann, 1984. ISBN 3887250680. 2nd ed. Berlin: Verein der Freunde eines Schwulen Museums in Berlin e.V., 1992. ISBN 3894680326.
- Geoffrey Upton on the Gay Museum, Berlin Stories, 14 February 2010 (audio)
See also
- Centrum Schwule GeschichteCentrum Schwule GeschichteCentrum Schwule Geschichte e. V. , abbreviated CSG, is a German LGBT organization based in Cologne ....
(Cologne) - GLBT Historical SocietyGLBT Historical SocietyThe Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society maintains an extensive archive of materials relating to the history of LGBT people in the United States, with a focus on the LGBT communities of San Francisco and Northern California...
(San Francisco)