The 5 Best LGBTQ+ Tours to Take in Berlin

Formerly in the courtyard of a building in Mehringdamm, the Schwules Museum‘s presence was marked by a large white and pink banner. The recent relocation means an expansion to a space of 1600m2, allowing for larger exhibitions and a more in-depth gaze into the complexity of gender, identity, sexuality, etc. The museum has already touched upon topics such as HIV/AIDS, transexuality, pornography, art and homoeroticism, as well as exhibited the works of artists that were or are gay, exploring how their sexuality found expression (or not). Aside from the exhibitions and film showings, the archive is well worth a look into, and is accessible to the public during open hours, which vary daily.

Berlin is often referred to as the birthplace of many of today’s LGBTQ+ movements. All we need to do is shine a light on a few icons who played a hand in this to appreciate the impact they’ve had. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, pioneer of the modern Gay Rights Movement, who distributed his essays on male-male love as early as 1862. He cleared the path for the world’s first gay magazine, Der Eigene (The Self-Owning), which came out of Berlin in 1897. No wonder that, by the 1920s, a liberal attitude made interwar Weimar Berlin an international magnet for creative individuals, including W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood, who authored the novel ‘Goodbye to Berlin’ (on which the musical Cabaret is based). In such a dynamic atmosphere, the Institute for Sexual Science was founded by Magnus Hirschfeld, who initiated the first campaign to abolish the legal persecution of homosexuals. This 3-house tour takes you to sites that illuminate Berlin’s many queer trailblazers, while you stroll through Schöneberg, discovering the world’s first gay ghetto.

This Memorial is another significant stop on your LGBT tour. In Nazi Germany, homosexuality was persecuted to a degree unprecedented in history. The Nazis issued an order making male homosexuality a crime, and many people were persecuted and killed because of their sexual orientation. These victims were not officially recognised when the war ended in 1945, and the infamous ‘Paragraph 175’, which made homosexuality a crime, was still written in German Criminal law into the 1960s. In 2003, after years of gay activism, the city finally approved the erecting of a memorial to the homosexual victims of the Nazis.

If you happen to be in Berlin on July 22, you’re in for a real treat. The Berlin CSD gay pride parade, also called Christopher Street Day, starts at 12:30 p.m. All manner of rainbow-coloured, shiny, happy people walk from Kurfürstendamm via Nollendorfplatz and Siegessäule to the Brandenburger Tor, where the closing ceremony takes place from 4:30 p.m. till midnight. It’s one hell of a Berlin party.

Known for it’s vibrant, progressive and multicultural heartbeat, Berlin has been a true pioneer and iconic city in the gay rights movements since the late-19th century. On this tour you will delve into the city’s LGBT history as you walk and adventure through the historical and culturally rich neighborhoods of Schöneberg and Kreuzberg, known for their largely gay and queer community. During this tour you’ll also visit and enjoy one of the city’s oldest trans bars, stroll through Tiergarten and learn about the LGBTQ+ figures who have shaped the city’s history. Of course there is also a visit to the Gay Museum (Schwules Museum) included in the tour, which is one of the world’s first gay museum.