On Monday a volunteer noticed several gunshot holes in the front window of our museum, right next to the entrance. We contacted the police immediately, who came a few minutes later to examine the crime scene. Because of the photos they took, the Landeskriminalamt (LKA) appeared half an hour later and shut off the street. Half a dozen officers started to secure the evidence. It turned out that there were not only four shot holes in the window, but also two in the window frame.

The investigators expressed their worry that the delinquents will be hard to find. Still, the official investigations started yesterday. Until they are concluded, there will be no further official statements.

The attack on the Schwule Museum* happened in a time where a black catholic priest resigned in Bavaria because of death threats, and the weekly newspaper “Die Zeit” runs an article on its front page entitled “Fear Reigns” (Die Angst regiert).

One year ago, the SMU* presented two objects in a show that document anti-gay hate crimes: the stones with which the windows of the Magnus Hirschfeld Zentrum in Hamburg were smashed in 2013, and a parcel used to send back “The Big Penis Book.” The man who had ordered it was shocked to find a “gay” book and wrote homophobic slurs onto the return package sent to Bruno Gmünder Publishing.

One member of the Schwule Museum* said the windows should be kept in the museum collection, once they are renewed.

Most of the people working at the museum are volunteers, who are here because they enjoy being in a safe environment where they are accepted for who and what they are. Realistically, anyone could have done it.

Update: 2 April, 2016

The French school École Voltair, in Kurfürstenstr. 53, discovered simular gun shot holes at their building. The police is investigating the attacks as well. The school has a high percentage of foreign students, many of them from African countries. The school directors are in contact with the Schwules Museum*.