Queer Berlin Private Tour: Birthplace of LGBTQ Movements
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Berlin may rightly be called the birthplace of today’s LGBTQ+ movements. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, pioneer of the modern Gay Rights Movement, 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.
Free cancellation
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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Duration 3 hours
Check availability to see start times.
Live tour guide
English
Key facts
What's included
Included
- Experienced Licensed Guide
Not included
- Metro tickets - 24 hour ticket - 10 EUR
Itinerary
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Stop 1
Explore the world's first gay ghetto, Schoneberg, a neighborhood that featured legendary lesbian bars, you'll see Christopher Isherwood's former flat and learn how his Weimar-era adventures inspired the musical Cabaret. Passing by nightclubs he frequented, we'll see a rent-boy dive that remains gay-run to this day. Outside the infamous El Dorado Cabaret, we'll learn of notable regulars like Ernst Rohm, the openly gay head of the Sturmabteilung (aka, the Nazi Brown Shirts). While discovering sites connected to the post-WWII rebirth of Schoenberg as the gay heart of the city, we pay particular homage to the city's most iconic nightclub of the 70s, Chez Romy Haag.
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Stop 2
On the historic boulevard Unter den Linden, you will meet early gay Berliners such as the Prussian King Frederick the Great and explorer Alexander von Humboldt and find out how they disguised their sexuality.
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Stop 3
Travel to Alexanderplatz, the heart of Cold War East Berlin, and hear about the suffering endured by gays and lesbians behind the Iron Curtain
Meeting point & pickup
Pickup available, or meet at the start point
Your guide will meet you at Impala Coffeeshop. If you would like a personal pickup, please let us know your hotel address.
Open in Google MapsCancellation & confirmation
Free cancellation
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
- 100% refund if cancelled at least 1 day(s) before
- 0% refund if cancelled 0–1 day(s) before
Instant confirmation
Your booking is confirmed immediately after checkout.
From $501.02 per person
- Free cancellation
- Secure checkout with our booking partner
