On the occasion of Pride Month, in which the LGBTQ+ Community celebrates diversity and tolerance, we have compiled the most interesting special exhibitions and interventions in existing collections for you under the collective term "queer perspectives".
From current exhibitions at the Schwules Museum to fresh perspectives on long-standing collections – discover queer takes on traditional gender roles and explore exciting special exhibitions during Pride Month and beyond.
Tip 1: Discover queer perspectives at Schwules Museum
You can currently see three interesting exhibitions with queer perspectives at Schwules Musum (Gay Museum): In "Young Birds from Strange Mountains" you will encounter queer art from Southeast Asia and its diaspora. Learn more about the role of queer people as shamans and the current situation of queer life in Southeast Asia."
"A Heart That Beats" gives a deep insight into queer Ukrainian art and shows how art becomes an act of resistance in the midst of war and repression. And with "Feuer + Flamme dem Patriarchat", the museum celebrates the Berlin women's lesbian scene of the 80s and 90s - documented in impressive photos by Petra Gall. A must for anyone who wants to discover queer history in Berlin.
When:
Young Birds from Strange Mountains: until 4 August 2025
A Heart That Beats: until 26 January 2026
Feuer + Flamme dem Patriarchat: 4 July 2025 - 23 February 2026; opening: 3 July at 7 pm)
. July at 7 pm)
Where: Lützowstraße 73, Tiergarten
Schwules Museum
Tip 2: Be touched by intimacy and summer nostalgia at The Ballery
With We Met in Summer | I Might Have Burned Myself, The Ballery opens its doors for a captivating group exhibition full of photographic poetry. Curated from the collection of Swiss collector Marco Habrik, the selection combines works by internationally renowned photographic artists - from Wolfgang Tillmans to Bruce Weber and Ryan McGinley - and thus offers a fascinating journey through four decades of queer photography. The title "We Met in Summer" brings the central experience to life - a love story between two young men on the shores of Lake Zurich in the summer of 1994, which runs as a common thread through the exhibition.
The nostalgic narrative is complemented by the photo series I Might Have Burned Myself by Arthur Heck (born 2000), which captures fleeting intimacy and vulnerable relationships in an uncertain world.
When: 27 June - 16 August 2025, Monday to Saturday, 1-5 pm
Where: Nollendorfstraße 11-12, Schöneberg
Tip 3: Queer perspectives on the Hamburger Bahnhof collection
The Hamburger Bahnhof, the Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, offers a tour that highlights art from a queer feminist perspective. The conventional reading of the artworks is challenged during this one-hour tour, queer connections in the collection are explained in more detail. Take the opportunity and open up a new perspective on the extensive collection.
Tip: Every Thursday until 28 August, the Hamburger Bahnhof is hosting the open-air DJ series Berlin Beats for relaxed summer evenings with electronic music in the museum's garden.
When: 19 July to 16 August. August 2025, every Saturday 12 - 1 pm
Where: Hamburger Bahnhof, Invalidenstraße 50/51, Mitte
Queer Perspective
Tip 4: The Second Glance: All forms of Love at the Bode Museum
Queer impulses have always been a part of art. Under the title "The Second Glance: All forms of Love", the Bode Museum invites you to explore works that celebrate this enduring connection. Across five themed tours and 33 carefully selected objects—from Late Antique sculptures to Byzantine relics and Renaissance masterpieces—you’ll discover how love, desire, and gender identity have been represented throughout history in all their complexity.
Whether it’s the homoerotic bonds between ancient warriors, tender depictions of lesbian intimacy, or artistic expressions that challenge traditional gender roles, these guided tours offer a bold and thought-provoking lens on queer identities. They reveal how same-sex love and diverse expressions of self have always found a voice in art—powerfully, defiantly, and beautifully.
When: until 31 October 2025, daily 10 am - 6 pm. October 2025, daily 10 am - 6 pm
Where: Museumsinsel, Am Kupfergraben 1, Mitte
Tip 5: Jewish positions on queerness
The Jewish Museum also deals with gender and sexuality. The online feature on the topic of "Sex. Jewish Positions" shows recordings of conversations with Jewish artists who deal with this topic. You can expect interesting insights into the diverse concepts of sexuality that are lived out within Judaism. Of course, this also includes queer facets of being Jewish. A wide range of multimedia offers provide a playful introduction to the topic. You will also find interesting essays and further links and literature tips.
When: digital
Where: Jewish Museum Berlin, Lindenstraße 14, Kreuzberg
Tip 6: Visit The Charlotte von Mahlsdorf Collection at the Gründerzeit Museum
Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, a pioneer of the queer community and passionate curator: At the Mahlsdorf manor house, you can admire one of the most magnificent German-European Founder's era collections. The originally furnished rooms are full of antiques - including antique furniture, cast-iron stoves, grandfather clocks, mirrors, musical instruments, phonographs and even an original Berlin "Mulackritze" in the basement. It's best to find out for yourself exactly what that is.
Charlotte, trans woman and well-known personality of the GDR LGBTQ+ scene, opened the museum in 1960. To this day, the Gründerzeit Museum is a living place of queer-feminist heritage that also tells the life story of this special trans woman.
When: Wednesday & Sunday 10am-6pm
Where: Hultschiner Damm 333, Marzahn
Tip 7: A queer look at the ethnological collection at the Humboldt Forum
The ethnological collection at the Humboldt Forum is a grab bag of things to see in itself. But if you would like to see the objects from a new perspective, you can do so on this special guided tour entitled "Beyond the norm? A queer look at gender and sexuality in the ethnological collection".
How are couple relationships and gender roles expressed in the objects of different cultures? And how did the researchers who once brought the artefacts to Europe reinterpret them against their own cultural background?
When: 2 July to 27 August 2025, Wednesdays at 5 pm
Where: Ethnologisches Museum, Humboldt Forum, Mitte
Beyond the norm?
Tip 8: Discover art underground - queer spatial traces on the U2
Under the title flexing, shimmering, fantasising - mapping the queer city, the nGbK is presenting its long-standing project Art in the Underground this time in queer contexts in the cityscape: Between Nollendorfplatz, Bülowstraße and Schönhauser Allee, artists are making lively interventions along the U2 underground line that raise questions about freedom of movement and urban inclusion. They take a look at queer everyday spaces - and invite you to discover Berlin in a new way. Be surprised by performative actions and visual interventions that open up new perspectives on queer living environments and social change.
When: several dates until 20 September 2025
Where: several dates until 20 September 2025 September 2025
Where: Underground line U2 - stops Nollendorfplatz, Bülowstraße, Schönhauser Allee and other locations
Tip 9: Queer Visibility in the Collection of the Berlinische Galerie
This virtual project called "Out and About. Queer Visibilities in the Collection" systematically examines the collection of the Berlinische Galerie for queer legibilities. The collection of the Berlinische Galerie, which includes works of art created in Berlin from 1870 onwards, opens up numerous interesting perspectives. Not only were many artists themselves part of the queer scene in Berlin, there are also works that make times of political persecution and lack of social acceptance tangible.
The project was accompanied and supported by the "Queer Berlin Museums" network and the Gay Museum.
When: Until 30 November
Where: Virtually at berlinischegalerie.de/out-and-about
Berlinische Galerie
Tip 10: Experience art that gets under your skin at "Reclaiming Our Bodies"
"Reclaiming Our Bodies" will launch on 28 June. The new event series blurred lines - an art event that celebrates young, queer voices and invites you to experience new perspectives. The focus is on experiences of powerlessness, heteronomy and systemic oppression - but also visions of self-empowerment and physical freedom.
In a deliberately open format, dance, sound and visual art merge into an intense interaction. Artists and audience meet at eye level - approachable and honest. Let yourself be touched and inspired by this creative dialogue.
Date: 28 June 2025, 2 - 6 pm (reservation via eventbrite)
Location: Hošek Contemporary, Märkisches Ufer 1z, 10179 Berlin
Tip 11: Visit Exit Paradise at Sacrow Castle - queer body worlds in summer light
With Exit Paradise - The Miettinen Collection, Sacrow Castle will be transformed into an extraordinary summer exhibition from 11 July. From 11 July 2025, Sacrow Castle will be transformed into an extraordinary summer exhibition: at four thematic stations, you can explore different artistic perspectives on the understanding of physicality and role models. While the title refers to the expulsion from paradise, the exhibition is about the current discourse on identity in the field of tension between physicality and alienation, between a lost connection to nature and profile design on social media - with a clearly queer view of today's identities and body images
Tip: On 27 June, the exhibition will be shown at the Summer Cinema. June, the film adaptation of Virgina Woolf's Orlando will be shown as part of the summer cinema at Sacrow Castle from 9.30 pm
When: 11 July - 28. September 2025, Saturday & Sunday 11am-6pm, Guided tours Sunday at 3pm
Where: Sacrow Palace, Krampnitzer Straße 33, Potsdam (shuttle from S-Bhf. Rathaus Spandau)
