Berlin's History of Sex – Augmented Reality Guided Tour

This is a one-of-a-kind guided city tour that you will not find anywhere else!

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!

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 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.

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.

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

From Europe’s biggest fetish festival to sexuality in Berlin’s clubs: Get an overview of sexual life in Berlin today.

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.

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.)

5.0 / 5 stars

5.0 / 5 stars

5.0 / 5 stars

"Really informative and special. Jeff knows a lot in this area and presents the content with passion."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

– CHESTER (TAIWAN)

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.

Berlin’s History of Sex in Augmented Reality starts in front of Bellevue Palace (Schloss Bellevue, Spreeweg 1, 10557 Berlin). We meet under the trees on the right side when facing the palace, right by the street. For times, please check the schedule calendar when booking your tickets.

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.

The guided Berlin tour is in English. However, on request, German tours can be offered as private tours for 250€-400€ (depending on the number of participants). For German tours, please send me an email to [email protected].

• 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 for a fixed price of 250€-400€ (depending on the number of participants). To request, please send an email to [email protected]!
• 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) M**der, Nazi Germany, poverty, racism, sex, sexism, sexual abuse, (sexualized) violence against and abuse of children, sex work/prostitution, transphobia, and violence (physical, psychological, sexualized).

Meeting at Palace Bellevue

1. Introduction
2. Nudism from the mid-19th century to the present day (focus on 1920s)

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: Intersexuality; Early trans identities; 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

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

Kurfürstenstraße

1. Sex work, kinks and fetishes in the Roaring Twenties

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

Nollendorfstraße

1. Christopher Isherwood in gay Berlin
2. From Isherwood's novels to the cabaret musical

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"

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

Nollendorfplatz

1. Folsom Europe
2. Sexual Clubs: Kit Kat Club, Insomnia, Berghain

"AN ABSOLUTE MUST-DO in Berlin! I am a tour guide myself and I thought the tour was absolutely excellent."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

– ELIOT (GERMANY)

"Jeff’s tour was something I could not have experienced or known on my own."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

– LAUREN (AUSTRALIA)

• Deutschlandfunk
• Berliner Zeitung
• place2be.berlin
• iheartberlin.de

• RTL

• Viva

• Yahoo! News Spain

• Woandertours Magazine

Host or Publisher Jeff Mannes | ORGYSMIC – The Sex Blog