Starting Friday, October 31, 2025, the Berlin Sex Museum’s exhibition “Berlin Sex Spaces” will present historical installations and artistic works that illuminate Berlin’s unique history of sex-positive spaces. The singular show at the Culterim Cultural Center in Gesundbrunnen (Brunnenstraße 105-107, inside the shopping center) will be on display there through November 29, 2025.
The project team consists of three women: American historian Elise Hanrahan studied in Santa Fe and Berlin, focusing on the history of sex work and state repression against it. She was involved, among other things, in the major exhibition on sex work at the Schwules Museum (Gay Museum). Berlin-based art historian Lais Castro Reis has worked as a curator for various museums and galleries and contributed to the exhibition “Studio Berlin” at the legendary Berghain club. Canadian Lorraine Rumson has lived in Berlin since 2018, where she has taught at Freie Universität Berlin on topics such as sex-positivity, kink ethics, and BDSM.
We spoke with them about darkrooms, Adorno, the importance of sex spaces for marginalized communities, and the current political campaign against sex work.
How did you arrive at this exciting—and probably unprecedented—arrangement to present Sex Spaces in an exhibition—with artworks, installations, and, for the first time, an interactive map? The odd and puritanical thing is that these places belong to public space, that almost everyone knows them, yet public discussion about them remains so rare…
Berlin is a very sexy city with a very sexy history, and we knew we wanted to explore that in our exhibition. But it was the idea of the physical spaces—the actual places in Berlin where people met for sex—that fascinated us most. All three of us on the Berlin Sex Museum team have connections to Berlin sex spaces and have learned firsthand how important these spaces can be, especially for marginalized communities. Unfortunately they are often portrayed as dangerous or at least mysterious, as something “other people” do. Yet Berlin has such a long history of various kinds of sex spaces that were not only essential to the lives of its residents but also pivotal to the city’s history. In this exhibit we wanted to show how these spaces persisted despite external oppression, even under dictatorship, and to encourage people to understand their importance today.
Almost worldwide known is Hamburg, especially since the 19th century, as the most liberal city for sexuality, erotica, and diversity in Germany and Europe. The famous and infamous “Herbertstrasse” was even reopened by the Hamburg mayor after the corona lockdowns… With a Hanseatic wink, you ask: Can Berlin with its often uptight, priggish attitude really keep up? You also engage historically, sociologically, and scientifically with the history of sex spaces…
It’s funny you say that, because Berlin has long been known as a sexual hotspot since the 19th century, especially as a center for gay and queer life. Christopher Isherwood described sex work in Europe with the famous line: “Paris is for girls, Berlin is for boys.” Yet perhaps precisely because Berlin’s sexuality tends to run queer and underground, it faced repeated political opposition—not only from the Nazis, but also from the East German government and today’s politicians. We certainly hope Hamburg will also have a Sex Museum soon.
In art, in classical music like opera, in fashion and literature, sex spaces and even paid sex have always been very present, even in popular language and dialects—but publicly, it seems hardly anyone wants to engage with “disreputable” places, neighborhoods, and venues. Society today appears to be educated, tolerant, and diverse—but is it really?
The reality of sex spaces in one’s own city can be uncomfortable even for those who enjoy the idea of sex spaces in art, literature, and music. Darkrooms, cruising spots, brothels—these places carry many taboos, especially when marginalized communities such as LGBTQ+ individuals are involved. It’s hard to say whether today’s era is more tolerant or enlightened than the past. Today there is a sizable far-right movement that views sex spaces as signs of moral decay, as well as neoliberal or socially conservative movements that advocate closing sex spaces. Sex work remains marginalized from various political directions even in “enlightened” Germany. Unfortunately many enlightened and tolerant people still fear their own desires. Just think of how ubiquitous porn is, yet even in enlightened circles it remains a taboo.
A major focus of your exhibition is Berlin’s queer life. Cruising areas are a unique phenomenon of the largely gay—but also trans—community, because they are classless like the Copacabana, and accessible to everyone. Adorno/Horkheimer wrote that beneath the visible history of Europe lies an not-obviously visible history: the body. Aren’t cruising areas the embodiment of this idea: invisible and visible at once in their bodilyness?
Yes! Beautifully put. Cruising exists in many communities—and cruising cultures have a distinctive language and etiquette that outsiders may find hard to grasp, partly because they lie far from hegemonic hetero- and mononormative standards of sexuality. Cruising areas also have the peculiarity of not being separated from non-cruising spaces: in concept, anyone can enter them, but not everyone does.
Exceptional, elegant photographs of the fascination of darkrooms are on view in your exhibition. You also want to make these places tangible for those who have previously remained outside them. How optimistic are you that this approach—so artistic and sensually perceptive—can reduce stereotypes and clichés?
We are indeed very optimistic. We firmly believe in the power of artistic exploration to open people to new experiences. In the exhibition we’ve tried to deploy several approaches that appeal to different audiences: immersive, multisensory, artistic, playful, and historical. At every stage of development we asked: How can we best communicate about this distinctive era of sex spaces? Some installations are artistic and transport visitors into the past. Others present additional information and the voices of contemporaries. Every visitor type will find a part of the exhibition that speaks to them.
Gays, lesbians, and trans spaces have long been the target of reactionaries. Alongside workers’ districts, the Kurfürstendamm (Ku’damm) was hated by the Nazis as a center of decadence and as a “low-life” gathering place for queer, Jewish, and cosmopolitan free spirits. How do you explain why certain places exert such attraction while also drawing such hatred? And how great is the current danger of displacement through violent attacks and corporate investors?
The simultaneous pull and repulsion toward sex, especially public displays of sexuality, is a recurring feature of Western culture. Sexuality carries a power that autocrats find discomfiting, precisely because it can challenge their own authority. Reactionary politicians therefore seek to shape sexuality to fit their goals. In the exhibition we present information about the Nazi-era system of sex work and how they tried to control it not only through extraordinary brutality but also through police oversight of brothels.
Even though today’s situation isn’t identical to the Nazi era, we’re seeing how sex spaces are being displaced and pushed out by political and economic pressure. Berlin’s oldest queer club, SchwuZ, has just announced its closure. That’s a major loss for the city and for queer culture. We hope this exhibition will encourage people to support the sex spaces that matter to them.
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There has been for months a massive campaign by parts of the CDU to crack down on sex spaces, sex workers, and certain milieus with a total ban on sex work—following the so-called “Swedish model,” which in practice hardly accomplished much beyond driving it underground. You have long studied these issues scientifically—how do you assess these political developments?
Our assessment is that it’s time to resist these political developments as boldly and loudly as possible on all fronts. Movements like the lobby for the “Swedish Model” are part of a broader trend that won’t give up easily. More extreme groups on the right will exploit the frustration of more conservative voters, and extremist and authoritarian politicians have always weaponized sexual anxieties. In a moment when the far right is gaining influence, history warns us about how right-wing forces manipulate sexual fears under the banner of morality. Politicians who invoke ethical concerns about sex work as a justification are not true moralists—they’re trying to use sexuality to control a population.
The exhibition is free to enter, and it takes place in the heart of Wedding at Gesundbrunnen—a place with a long history that has shaped Germany in lasting and positive ways. Nowhere in the country was the workers’ movement stronger, and many famous communists and social democrats, along with Schlager icon Roland Kaiser, grew up there. Shouldn’t there be many more such exhibitions in venues that are unusual for the art scene and with free admission so that a broader public, including marginalized people with limited means, can access them?
We’re very glad to be able to show our exhibition in this space! As you rightly note, it’s a profoundly important area of Berlin that is often neglected in city history. With support from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community, we can offer admission on a donation basis. Given the current economic pressures on sex spaces that also affect art and cultural venues—and the fact that artists are often underpaid—we are grateful that, thanks to our circumstances, we can give access to all interested people while still compensating everyone involved.
