Burning Down the Patriarchy. The Berlin Women and Lesbians’ Scene

Excerpt from Schwules Museum’s website

Walpurgisnacht Demonstration / Walpurgis Night Demonstration West-Berlin, 30.04.1989, Petra Gall, Schwules Museum Berlin.

Burning down the Patriarchy. The Berlin women and lesbians’ scene photographed by Petra Gall
at Schwules Museum, Berlin
July 4, 2025 – February 23, 2026
Curated by Collin Klugbauer & Birga Meyer

Schwules Museum: Our new exhibition “Burning down the Patriarchy. The Berlin women and lesbians’ scene photographed by Petra Gall” shows photographs by artist Petra Gall. It “celebrates the extensive cultural, intellectual and sexual productivity of the women’s & lesbian community of the 1980s and 1990s through the photos of Petra Gall. Her works show how strong, diverse and fierce the Berlin women’s and lesbian scene was.” In addition to Petra Gall’s work, the exhibition features artistic works by Lena Rosa Händle, Katharina Voß, and Janin Afken.

Petra Gall (1955-2018)

who moved to Berlin in 1981, was part of the women’s and lesbian scene and photographed it for over two decades. As part of the movement, she captured the struggles of women and lesbians at demonstrations such as Walpurgis Night or March 8. Her photos show squats occupied by women and lesbians and feminist projects such as the cultural venue Pelze.Multimedia or the Schokofabrik, which still exists today. Her photos show women’s and lesbian concerts and lively women’s and lesbian parties. Photos of sex-positive events such as a BDSM erotic weekend or the Night of the Raging Cunts party illustrate how women and lesbians counter the harsh conditions in society with queer and feminist solidarity and a little tenderness.

Petra Gall’s extensive legacy of work, comprising over 200,000 negatives, prints and contact sheets, as well as personal items, has been in the collection of the Schwules Museum since 2012. Petra Gall is an important chronicler of Berlin’s lesbian and women’s scene, but she also portrayed the punk and music scene, has made impressive travel documentaries and documented the city of Berlin in all its contradictions. The exhibition “Burning down the Patriarchy. The Berlin women and lesbians’ scene photographed by Petra Gall” pays tribute to Petra Gall’s work as well as the women’s and lesbian movement. It also shows how current the struggles of the 1980s and 1990s are today – as the fight against § 218, sexualized violence or queer phobia continues.