Book Launch "Queer" and "Anders fühlen"

Benno Gammerl presents his books Queer and Anders fühlen, in which he explores the history of queer life in Germany and sheds light on the diverse ways of living beyond heteronormative norms over the past hundred years.

Queer: A German History from the Empire to the Present

Germany’s queer history has long been overlooked. As a result, queer life seems to have only become a topic of discussion in recent decades—yet homosexual movements were already fighting against exclusion and discrimination in the German Empire. How can the history of same-sex-loving and gender-nonconforming people be told? What does German history look like from a queer perspective? And how accurate is the notion of a linear path toward emancipation, culminating in marriage equality and the hoped-for abolition of the Transsexuals Act? Queer is the first popular non-fiction book to address these questions, providing an engaging historical overview. An essential foundation for contemporary debates.

Feeling Different: A History of Emotions in Gay and Lesbian Life in the Federal Republic

From secret encounters to Christopher Street Day, from Paragraph 175 to marriage equality—the paths of gay and lesbian life in Germany have been arduous and far less linear than the common narrative of liberalization suggests. Benno Gammerl presents the first comprehensive history of homosexuality in the Federal Republic, vividly describing the lives and emotional worlds of same-sex-loving people since the 1950s. He gives voice to men and women of different generations, offering a compelling and insightful look at a fascinating history that has received little attention from historians so far.