Berlin’s History of Sex – in Augmented Reality!

Table of contents

1. What will I get from the tour?
2. What do other people say about the tour?
3. What do I need to bring?
4. When and where does the tour happen, and how long does it take?
5. What does it cost, and what else do I need to know?
6. What are the exact stops of this guided Berlin tour?

What will I get from the tour?

Explore Berlin’s History As You’ve Never Experienced It Before

Are you tired of always the same historical tours? Berlin’s History of Sex gives you a glimpse into the history of Berlin as you’ve never seen it before – while still being closely linked to the specific historical facts you know! Get to know the Roaring Twenties, the Nazi era, and the Berlin Wall from an entirely new perspective!

Experience Berlin’s Most Sexual and Thrilling Era: The Roaring Twenties

From nudism to kinks and fetishes, from the sex museum to shocking nightclubs: The Roaring Twenties in Berlin will make you discover forms of sexuality you never thought possible! Shock and laughter are guaranteed!

Discover the Origins of Sexual Science

Discover the location of the world’s first institute of sexual science and why it became an international hotspot for influential people from around the globe. Find out why the world would think completely differently about gender and sexuality today if the Nazis had not destroyed the institute.

Understand the Struggles of Marginalized Communities

Trace back the origins of the world’s first LGBTQIA+ emancipation movement. Explore early forms of feminism, “the world’s first gay man”, early gender theories, the first trans identities and gender affirmation surgeries, or the vibrant lesbian life and drag culture in the 1920s.

Find Out What Happened in Nazi Germany

Understand Hitler’s contradictory relationship to homosexuality, what the Nazis thought of Berlin and its sexual liberty, and what happened to LGBTQIA+ people in the Nazi concentration camps.

Learn about Sexuality in Berlin Today

Join a Certified Social Scientist and Sex Educator Tour Guide

My name is Jeff, I studied sociology and gender studies and focused a lot on sexuality. I am also a certified sex educator and freelance journalist about sexuality in Berlin. During my tour, I’ll share with you my knowledge accumulated from more than a decade’s worth of research.

Enjoy a Fun Day with Augmented Reality

This guided tour is enhanced with selected Augmented Reality elements. Over your tour guide’s iPad’s camera, you’ll see the world in front of you with Augmented Reality elements over it. For instance, you’ll walk past sex workers from the 1920s. Or you can see the building in front of you how it looked like 100 years ago. You can also take pictures of yourself with the Augmented Reality elements as a souvenir from the tour. (Powered by ZAUBAR.)

What do other people say about the tour?

What do I need to bring?

1. A valid public transport ticket as we will travel by underground or bus.
2. An umbrella or sun protector and water depending on weather conditions. (Please be aware that the tour will be cancelled in extreme weather conditions, like heavy rain or storm, and you will be fully refunded.)
3. A curious mind and no reluctance to be entertained or shocked.

When and where does the tour happen, and how long does it take?

The guided Berlin tour lasts about 3.5 hours and ends at Nollendorfplatz. From there you get excellent public transport connections to anywhere in the city.

What does it cost, and what else do I need to know?

Pricing

The guided Berlin tour costs 49.00€ per person.

There is a 50% discount for students. Please bring a valid student ID to the tour to confirm you are a student.

There is also a 50% discount for people working or volunteering in sex education, sex work, or sex/gender activism.

People eligible include:

• people working in sexual health (e.g. AIDS service organizations, STI prevention, etc.)
• people working in sexual education (e.g. sexological institutes, universities, self-employed speakers, kink educators, etc.)
• people working in human rights connected to gender/sexuality (e.g. feminism, LGBTIQ, etc.)
• sex workers

IMPORTANT: This booking only becomes valid when you email [email protected] AFTER the booking process with a link to your work that proves you’re eligible for this price.

Finally, there are discounts for group bookings:

• 3-4 people get a 20% discount.
• 5 or more people get a 30% discount.

Language

The guided Berlin tour is in English. However, German tours can be offered as private tours on request for 250€ (up to 9 participants), 300€ (10-14 participants), 350€ (15-19 participants), or 400€ (20+ participants). For German tours, please send me an email to [email protected]

Other info

• This entire guided Berlin tour is accessible by wheelchair.
• This is a unique guided tour in Berlin that also makes an excellent gift for loved ones!
• You can also book a private tour. To request, please send an email to [email protected]! Prices are:
  • up to 9 participants: 250€
  • 10-14 participants: 300€
  • 15-19 participants: 350€
  • 20+ participants: 400€
• This guided Berlin tour is only suitable for people who are at least 18 years of age.
• Please be aware of the trigger/content warnings, which include: animal cruelty, antisemitism, BDSM/kinks/fetishes, HIV/AIDS, homophobia, human trafficking, (mass) murder, Nazi Germany, poverty, racism, sex, sexism, sexual abuse, (sexualized) violence against and abuse of children, sex work/prostitution, transphobia, and violence (physical, psychological, sexualized).

What are the exact stops of this guided Berlin tour?

1. Meeting at Palace Bellevue
   1. Introduction
   2. Nudism from the mid-19th century to the present day (focus on 1920s)
2. Magnus-Hirschfeld-Ufer
   1. Brief overview of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, “the world’s first gay man”
   2. Brief overview of Magnus Hirschfeld, §175 and the world’s first organization for LGBTQIA+ rights
   3. Feminism, Johanna Elberskirchen and Helene Stöcker
   4. Hirschfeld’s theory of sexual intermediaries
      1. Intersexuality
      2. Early trans identities
      3. Dora Richter, Lili Elbe, Karl M. Baer and the world’s first gender affirmation surgeries
   5. The Institute for Sexual Science
   6. The Sex Museum
   7. Precursors to Viagra
   8. The destruction of the Institute by the Nazis
   9. Hirschfeld’s death, his legacy and post-colonial critique
3. Memorial to the Persecuted Queers under National Socialism
   1. Ernst Röhm and Hitler’s attitude to homosexuality
   2. The Night of the Long Knives
   3. LGBTQIA+ people in the concentration camps
4. Kurfürstenstraße
   1. Sex work, kinks and fetishes in the Roaring Twenties
5. Schwerinstraße
   1. Lesbian life in Berlin in the 1920s
   2. the lesbian club Toppkeller
   3. the Lavender Song
   4. Claire Waldoff
   5. Josephine Baker, bisexuality and racism
6. Nollendorfstraße
   1. Christopher Isherwood in gay Berlin
   2. From Isherwood’s novels to the cabaret musical
7. Speisekammer im Eldorado
   1. The Eldorado as the Berghain of the 1920s, Drag and the so-called “Transvestites”
   2. Ernst Röhm at the Eldorado
   3. Vogue magazine’s search for “Berlin’s most beautiful woman”
8. International Stele Always Remember
   1. LGBTQIA+ Emancipation Movements in West and East Berlin
   2. The sexual revolution and sexual satisfaction in West and East Germany
   3. Nudism in the GDR
   4. Rita Süssmuth and the AIDS crisis
9. Nollendorfplatz
   1. Folsom Europe
   2. Sexual Clubs
   3. Kit Kat Club
   4. Insomnia
   5. Berghain
      1. Bunker & Snax
      2. Ostgut
      3. Elon Musk
      4. the no-photo policy of Berlin clubs
      5. Sexuality at Berghain
      6. the Lab.Oratory, Snax parties today and Lady Gaga