The bus stop at the House of World Cultures commemorates the Berlin sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld.
© dpa
The bus stop in front of the House of World Cultures in Berlin's Tiergarten has temporarily become a memorial to the sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935).
The occasion is the nationwide Magnus Hirschfeld Day on Wednesday, as announced by the Senate Department for Social Affairs, Equality, Integration and Diversity.
Hirschfeld is considered a pioneer of the queer emancipation movement. He founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee in Berlin in 1897, which, among other things, campaigned against the criminal prosecution of homosexuals and for the education of the general public on the subject. He later headed the Institute for Sexual Science. The "Magnus Hirschfeld Memorial Stop" will commemorate him for around six weeks at his former location. The institute was vandalized and closed by the Nazis in 1933. Hirschfeld, himself a homosexual, fled from the Nazis to France. He died in Nice on May 14, 1935.
The memorial stop is intended to honor the life and work of Hirschfeld and his companions, according to the Senate Administration. There will also be a new queer-historical city map "Magnus Hirschfeld - Stars of his queer Berlin" and an audio walk about Hirschfeld to mark the day of remembrance. A commemorative event entitled "Magnus Hirschfeld - Stars of his queer Berlin" is planned for Wednesday at the French Embassy.