An East German LGBT icon
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf lived from 18 March 1928 to 30 April 2002. She became an LGBT icon in Germany following Rosa von Praunheim’s 1992 biopic I Am My Own Woman.
Literature
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
Founding the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin-Mahlsdorf and rescuing and reconstructing the historic interior of the Mulackritze tavern.
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf was a well-known transgender woman in East Germany and the founder of the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. She collected everyday household items from the Gründerzeit period. The museum became a popular meeting place for East Berlin’s gay community despite the disapproval of the East German regime. She later became an LGBT icon in Germany through Rosa von Praunheim’s 1992 biopic, I Am My Own Woman.
Worth knowing
A mansion became a museum
When a local mansion faced demolition, von Mahlsdorf was allowed to live there. Its contents became the basis of her collection of everyday household items from the Gründerzeit period.
A meeting place under scrutiny
The museum became a popular meeting place for East Berlin’s gay community, to the disapproval of the East German regime and the Stasi.
Gründerzeit Museum and the Mulackritze Tavern
Von Mahlsdorf founded the Gründerzeit Museum and rescued and reconstructed the historic interior of the Mulackritze tavern.
Addresses you can still visit
Every place in this city with a documented tie to this person.
Created here
Gründerzeit Museum and the Mulackritze Tavern
She founded the museum and rescued and reconstructed the Mulackritze's historic interior.
Follow the story on foot
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