In the archive of the Schwules Museum we have already discovered a number of fascinating treasures in the form of private photographs belonging to homosexual and trans individuals. A wealth of materials of all different kinds provides revealing insight into homosexual cultures, above all during the 20th century. In addition to the personal papers that have been viewed to date, virtually every kind of material imaginable in an archive that is primarily devoted to homosexual men can be found here – from letters and manuscripts to grey literature, scrapbooks, costumes, drag outfits, artwork and posters. The archive of the Schwules Museum therefore provides a crucial supplement to a historiography and memory culture that is heteronormatively conceived, and as such it provides a sanctuary for critical enquiry – also into the differentiation of a gay culture that can never be regarded as completely coherent.
