City Walk: Places of the Women*Lesbian Movement of the GDR and the Era of Change in Prenzlauer Berg Guided by Contemporary Witness Samirah Kenawi.

Open to: All Samirah Kenawi was born in East Berlin in 1962. She witnessed and helped shape the beginnings of the lesbian movement in the GDR and was active in several unofficial GDR groups before the fall of the Wall, including the well-known Berlin group “Lesben in der Kirche” (Lesbians in the Church), which met from the mid-80s onwards in the Gethsemane Church in Prenzlauer Berg. The group was known for its activism; it advocated for the visibility of lesbian life and also made political statements for peace, a more open society, and against the state's appropriation of history and people. Samirah initiated and founded the GrauZone Archive, which preserves documents of the GDR womenlesbian movement and makes them accessible to the public. Samirah was active in the Independent Women's Association (UFV), one of the major women's initiatives of the Wendezeit, and headed its Berlin office from 1990. She will guide us to important places of the womenlesbian movement of the 80s and the era of change in Prenzlauer Berg. A district that stands for the East Berlin queer scene and the activities of political opposition during the GDR era. Please register at: https://forms.