Guided Tours

Public Guided Tours

Every Thursday at 6pm and Saturday at 4pm open guided tours through the exhibitions take place. Registration is not necessary. The number of participants is limited to 25 people. We also offer guided tours by curators and tours in German Sign Language. You can find all dates under events here.

Book a Private Guided Tour

You are welcome to book a private tour for your group.

Cost for a one-hour guided tour (German/English/DGS): €80 plus admission.

Guided tours of the exhibitions can be booked by e-mail to fuehrungen@schwulesmuseum.de.

Please send us:

Your preferred date and time within the opening hours, group size, exhibition, language (German/English/DGS) and a short description of your group (company outing, club, school class and year group). The number of participants is limited to 25 people. This rule also applies to school classes.

We are happy to offer you a guided tour in German Sign Language or in German spoken language with German Sign Language interpreting. The costs for the interpreters are covered by the museum, you only have to pay the tour fee and the entrance fee. Please inquire as early as possible.

Guided tours of the archive are available for groups of up to 12 people; these also cost €80 plus admission. For a more in-depth insight into the archive, however, we recommend our four-hour workshop “Introduction to Archive Work at the Schwules Museum”, all conditions further down on this page.

Workshop for Adults

Introduction to Archive Work at the Schwules Museum

This workshop provides an introduction to research and archive work with the Schwules Museum’s collection. Starting with a brief input on the functions of an archive, we will discuss what specifically characterises our archive and how it is organised. We will also give a brief outline of the history of the collection, as well as an overview of the finding aids and the thematic collection. In small groups, we will get practical, and the participants can start archiving themselves: they are given a “Mixkiste” (mix box) and can categorise articles, flyers, and other materials. After a short break, we change perspectives and present research strategies and possible finding aids. The groups can use the finding aids to research their own (minor) research question. Finally, we will go to the archive together and pick out some of the materials. Together we will discuss our experiences of archiving and researching.

The workshop is aimed at academics, university students and other interested parties who are interested in how an archive works or would like to conduct research in the archive of the Schwules Museum. In interactive, approachably designed units, participants are taught basic archival knowledge, but also have the opportunity to exchange ideas together. The workshop is suitable for groups of up to 12 people.

Speakers:
Kristine Schmidt M.A.: Research Assistant Archive
Leah Fot: Research Trainee in Education and Outreach, Archive

The workshop lasts 4 hours and takes place in the seminar room and archive of the Schwules Museum.
Costs: 600 euros for groups of up to 12 participants
Booking: please send an email to fuehrungen@schwulesmuseum.de

Please send us one or two preferred dates (Monday-Friday between 10am and 6pm), language (German/English/DGS) and a brief description of your group (students, college, advanced course, association). Please enquire as early as possible.

Workshops for school classes and young adults

Love at First Fight!

For the exhibition “Love at First Fight!“, the Schwules Museum offers a crisp 90-minute workshop for school classes from grade 10, for FSJ groups and young adults. Alternating between input and small groups, central themes of the exhibition are elaborated and discussed.

Love at First Fight looks at more than 50 years of queer life and activism in the FRG, GDR and reunified Germany. The exhibition shows photos, interviews, posters, flyers, printed protest calls, underground fanzines, pamphlets – it looks everywhere where social change was achieved by lesbians, trans, gays, inter, bi and queers.

The workshop lasts 90 minutes and can be offered during the museum’s opening hours.
This workshop is currently paused and can take place again from August 13, 2025.

Cost: 160 euros for groups of up to 25 participants.
Admission is free for pupils, students pay a reduced admission fee of 3 euros, adults 9 euros.
We recommend that you allow time for an independent visit to the exhibition afterwards.
Booking: please send an email to fuehrungen@schwulesmuseum.de

Workshops for adults

Grounded in History but Unafraid of Tomorrow
A Sensitivity Training for Engaging with Sex Workers

A central theme of the exhibition With Legs Wide Open: A Whore’s Ride Through History is the effect of institutional interactions on the bodies and minds of sex workers throughout history. Despite the lessons of our past, sex workers continue to have negative, frustrating, and even harmful experiences with virtually every institution we interact with–whether it be in the arena of health, bureaucracy, or any other setting in life that is affected by ignorance, false assumptions, and stigma. Misled by the media and popular culture, most people are never exposed to the truth and about sex work.

It doesn’t have to be this way! Just like every other marginalized group, if the people who we interact with know more about the reality of being a sex worker and our unique attributes, it can cause a sea change in how all of us experience the world. In this workshop, two sex workers from the exhibition team will give a presentation within the exhibition, diving into the history of whore health and what happens when state regulation crashes into the sex working body. They will detail our current knowledge on global sex worker health and wellbeing–including a presentation of the results of the recent study of Deutsche Aidshilfe “Participative Study on the Health Needs of Sex Workers in Germany” with a focus on Berlin and its unique institutions, migration, and personal experiences. Come join us and take part in our evidence-based vision of the future in which sex workers are not just healthy, not just equal, but also accepted and thriving.

The workshop lasts 4 hours and takes place in the seminar room and in the exhibition of Schwules Museum in English spoken language, participants can engage in English or German. For 16 participants.

The workshop can be booked for teams and seminars in healthcare professions, FSJ or universities.
Costs: 600 euros for groups of up to 16 participants
Please register by email to fuehrungen@schwulesmuseum.de
When registering, please write something about the group and why you would like to book the workshop.

Speakers:
Caspar Tate: Caspar Tate is a trans- and sex worker rights activist, who is part of the peer-project Trans*Sexworks.
Ernestine Pastorello: A sex worker and sex worker’s rights activist for a decade, Pastorello has worked to improve the conditions of sex workers both in the US and Germany. Her observations of legal systems on her personal health and those of her colleagues inform this work.

A stroll with sex workers through Schöneberg
Guided walking tour with Ernestine Pastorello in English.

“We have always been everywhere,” sex workers say, making it clear that sex work has been part of Berlin’s cultural tapestry since its foundation. This walking tour will guide you through Schöneberg’s history as a nexus of sex work from 1850 until the present, with all its colorful contributions to the history of our rich and deviant city.

This tour is a live version of the Audiotour “We Have Always Been Everywhere,” which is available in English and German on the Berlin History App. The insight presented is the product of years of historical research and contemporary interviews conducted by a group of sex workers in cooperation with the Berlin History App and the Schwules Museum, financed by the Berlin Senat.

The tour lasts two hours. It starts at Bülowbogen underground station, Potsdamer Str. 129, in front of Café Einstein and ends at the Schwules Museum.
Cost: 250 euros for groups of up to 25 participants
Booking: please state your preferred date and time, as well as the type of group (students, company outing, tour group) by e-mail to fuehrungen@schwulesmuseum.de

Self-determination now!
Trans*Inter* Workshop

The “LGB” in “LGBTI*” has arrived in the majority society due to the media presence of the gay and lesbian movements – in contrast to that, many people often only have little contact with the Trans* and Inter* issues, and lack knowledge.

This workshop aims to change that and consistently puts “TI*” at the center. Together we will not only explore what it means to be trans* or inter*, but will also look at how self-determination and the struggle against the deprivation of such fundamental rights has become a central point of far-reaching activism. We dive into the history of the struggle for self-determination and ask ourselves what we need to do in order that trans* and inter* people can live self-determined and happy lives today.

The workshop is aimed at adults and does not require knowledge of gender and sexual diversity. In interactive, vividly designed units, participants receive factual input on the one hand, while having the opportunity for exchange perspectives: which opens up the space for questions to be discussed in an appreciative atmosphere. The workshop is suitable for groups of up to 20 people who want to expand their knowledge for their work in education or culture or just in their private life.

Speakers:
Luan Pertl is an inter* activist in Austria and Germany with the focus on education and peer counselling.
Felicia Rolletschke is a workshop trainer, speaker, blogger and trans* activist from Berlin.

The workshop spans 5 hours and takes place in the seminar room and the exhibition in Schwules Museum.
Cost: 1,200 euros for groups of up to 20 participants.
Booking: please send an email to fuehrungen@schwulesmuseum.de

Booking Guided Tours

Leah Fot
Trainee/Research Assistant
Tel.: +49 (0)30 69 31 17 2
fuehrungen@schwulesmuseum.de

Team

Team

Younes Asam (he/him), B.Sc. Psychology, researches German colonialism and the depiction of violence as part of his MA Gender Studies and works in art mediation as well as queer education.

Sarah Ghani studied ethnology and sociology and is interested in feminist approaches to researching violence.

Tabesch Mehrabi (he/him) (BA German Literature / MA Cultural Studies) is interested in literary and cinematic treatments of queerness and migration. In addition to his educational work, he works as a freelance culture journalist.

Dania Najari (she/her) studied Tourism Guidance and has a deep love for storytelling and connecting with people. She is a dedicated human rights activist, advocating for social justice. Dania is also a member of an awareness team working in the fields of art, culture, and politics.

Quang Nguyễn-Xuân (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist, playwright and works in cultural education. They are interested in queer diasporic modes of agency and transnational struggles in the context of racism and global power structures. Quang’s background lies in social and cultural studies.

Henrik Rubner (he/him) studied political science with a focus on protest and movement research.