The reading will be in english as the book is in english. Discussion afterwards will be in english/german.

Die Lesung wird auf englisch sein, da das Buch auf englisch ist. Die anschließende Diskussion findet auf englisch und deutsch statt.

About the book (Engl.):

Queer Lives across the Wall (University of Toronto Press, 2023) examines the everyday lives of queer Berliners between 1945 and 1970, tracing private and public queer life from the end of the Nazi regime through the gay and lesbian liberation movements of the 1970s.

Andrea Rottmann explores how certain spaces – including homes, bars, streets, parks, and prisons – facilitated and restricted queer lives in the overwhelmingly conservative climate that characterized both German postwar states. By examining both public and private urban spaces, the book draws a complex picture of how queer lives were lived, going beyond previous histories that focus on state surveillance and the persecution of male homosexuality. With a theoretical toolkit informed by feminist, queer, and spatial theories, the book combines previously unknown sources from the archives of the feminist and LGBTIQ* movements in police, Stasi, and prisoner files. As an intersectional history of lesbian, trans, and gay male lives
in East and West Berlin, Queer Lives across the Wall illuminates the entanglements of gender, sexuality, and class.

About the Author (Engl./Dt.):

Andrea Rottmann (she/they/they) is a historian. They research queer history and connects others who do the same in the „Netzwerk Queere Zeitgeschichten im deutschsprachigen Europa“. Together, the network is writing a handbook on queer contemporary history that aims to make historical knowledge about queer life accessible to all. Andrea’s book Queer Lives Across the Wall has just been published, which is about queer lifes in Berlin between 1945 and 1970. Currently, she is investigating how same-sex love and sexuality became a – still highly controversial – human right.

Andrea Rottmann (sie/she/they) ist Historikerin. Sie forscht zur queeren Geschichte und vernetzt andere, die das auch tun, im Netzwerk Queere Zeitgeschichten im deutschsprachigen Europa. Gemeinsam schreibt das Netzwerk ein Handbuch zur queeren Zeitgeschichte, das historisches Wissen über queeres Leben für alle zugänglich machen soll. Gerade ist Andreas Buch Queer Lives Across the Wall erschienen, in dem es um queere Lebenswelten in Berlin zwischen 1945 und 1970 geht. Aktuell untersucht sie, wie gleichgeschlechtliche Liebe und Sexualität zu einem – nach wie vor hoch umstrittenen – Menschenrecht wurden.

There will sale copies of the book on the night and drinks to toast.

Es wird Verkaufsexemplare des Buchs an dem Abend geben und Getränke zum Anstoßen.

Photo: Part of the Cover of the book.