The Schwules Museum commemorates Rita Süssmuth. In the face of the AIDS epidemic, the then Federal Minister, later long-time President of the Bundestag and Honorary Chairwoman of the German AIDS Foundation, did not shy away from conflict with her own party. She also campaigned against great resistance within her party for a pandemic policy that focused on humanity and prevention rather than repression and stigmatization. She once succinctly summed up her guiding principle: “We fight the disease, not the sick.” Thanks to the support and cooperation of her ministry, the slowly spreading self-help and education organizations, most notably AIDS charities, were able to professionalize their work and tailor it more effectively to those affected.

At her farewell press conference as federal minister in the late 1980s, Süssmuth herself emphasized that, in her view, there could be no health protection without working primarily with those affected themselves—a position that was still very rare at the time, given the authority-centered health care system.

For many queer people, especially gay men, she became an important symbolic figure in times of crisis and uncertainty, representing feminist and humanistic support even from the heteronormative majority society. By rejecting policies of isolation and exclusion, she saved human lives.

Süssmuth’s appointment as federal minister took place just a few weeks before our museum was founded. AIDS has always been an important part of queer history and the exhibition and archival work of the museum, where traces of her work have been and continue to be visible to this day. We thank her for her commitment.

Photo: Deutscher Bundestag Pressezentrum, 1980s (Siegessäule Archive @ Schwules Museum)