Next to Christopher Isherwood, Berlin’s most famed gay icon is Marlene Dietrich. Although Marlene was bisexual, she was very much a part of cinematic gay history since she was the first woman to kiss another woman on the lips (while wearing drag) in

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Next to Christopher Isherwood, Berlin’s most famed gay icon is Marlene Dietrich. Although Marlene was bisexual, she was very much a part of cinematic gay history since she was the first woman to kiss another woman on the lips (while wearing drag) in the history of film. This landmark and many of her others are celebrated at the Berlin Film Museum where the bulk of the exhibit space is given over to Marlene and her (probably) gay famed director Josef von Sternberg. Clothes, clips, press cuttings, and personal objects of Marlene herself fill the exhibition rooms. F.W. Murnau, another gay director (who, incidentally, died in flagrante delicto with a young male starlet while driving through an L.A. canyon), is also celebrated here. This is a not-to-be-missed part of gay Berlin history. Don’t forget to see the David Bowie film, Just a Gigalo, Marlene’s last movie set in Berlin, before you go!

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