Berlin Uncensored: A History of Sex & Freedom

Bellevue Palace

The tour begins with a warm welcome from your guide, Jeff, a sociologist and certified sex educator. After a brief introduction, you’ll explore Berlin’s long history of nudism (FKK), a movement that promoted body freedom from the 19th century to today. You’ll learn how nudism shaped Berlin’s culture and why it remains a key part of life at the city’s lakes and parks.

Berlin was home to the world’s first Institute for Sexual Science, founded by Magnus Hirschfeld, a pioneer in sexology. Here, groundbreaking research on desire, relationships, contraception, and gender identity was conducted. You’ll explore the institute’s key discoveries, including the invention of the rubber condom, early studies on Viagra precursors, and advances in sexual health. Berlin was also the site of the first gender affirmation surgeries, performed on figures like Dora Richter, Lili Elbe, and Karl M. Baer. The Nazis, viewing this research as a threat, destroyed the institute in 1933, erasing what could have been a revolutionary moment in sexual history.

Monument to Homosexuals Persecuted Under National Socialist Regime

The rise of the Nazi regime brought a brutal crackdown on sexual freedoms. You’ll learn how the Nazis censored sex, shut down erotic clubs, and outlawed sexual diversity. The Night of the Long Knives, a key moment in Nazi history, saw the execution of Ernst Röhm, a high-ranking Nazi who had been a known homosexual. The persecution extended to LGBTQIA+ individuals, sex workers, and those deemed “degenerate” by the regime. Many were arrested and sent to concentration camps, where they were marked with pink triangles, a symbol that would later be reclaimed by the LGBTQIA+ rights movement.