While we at Culturitical usually invite the artists, activists, and scholars we deem interesting to come to Kiel to talk about their work with us, this time a group of Culturitical members set out to travel to Berlin to gather impressions of the cultural scene, visit museums, and eat a lot of amazing vegan food.
We started our trip earlier than some of us would have liked to catch the earliest train directly from Kiel to the capital. The first stop on our agenda was the Schwules Museum in Tiergarten, where we had an amazing guided tour of their exhibition Cruising the Countryside – Queeres Leben auf dem Land. We saw the first rainbow flag ever flown in German – in Osnabrück in 1983 – looked at the glowing reviews of the seamstress Hella Knabe, who worked with trans women in the 1930s to provide them with gender-affirming clothes, and followed the story of a lesbian couple hiding in the countryside during the last months of WWII.
Because we were staying in the heart of Kreuzberg, good food and drinks from the Späti were never far away. We ended our day with a nice dinner and later drinks in the hostel’s courtyard.
On Saturday we woke up early-ish to catch a walking tour on urban ecology and climate change from the Museum für Naturkunde. We walked through Berlin Mitte, past the remnants of the Südpanke, across the Invalidenfriedhof, and towards the Spree, while our guide taught us about the rising heat in the city, how it is connected to urban planning, and showed us some of Berlin’s quadrupedal city dwellers.
Afterwards, we roamed around the museum for a while before setting off to the queer and feminist bookstore She said. While some of us were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of interesting literature, others purchased zines, novels, and postcards, which we wrote together during a coffee break.
Afterwards, we split up; some of us wanted to visit a collaborative drawing session hosted by the Spore Initiative, while others needed more time to browse the bookstore.
We rendezvoused again at Tempelhofer Feld to enjoy some beverages in the sun before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the night out.
After a quick stop at one of the touristy food spots, we headed to a queer bar in Kreuzberg to discuss our day over drinks. We chatted away while drinking Gay Donkeys, Pink Glorias, and Lissi Spritzes.
Our last day started with a slow morning of coffee and packing before our final stop at the FHXB Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum. Here we learned about the Kiez’s history, the archival work the museum does, and the art workshops they offer.
To end our trip, we had lunch in the museum’s garden before making our way back to the train station and returning to Kiel, with many impressions and new ideas for upcoming events and workshops in our minds.