Erotic Art Museum, Hamburg Germany

Located near the famous Reeperbahn, the Erotic Art Museum is the creation of a real estate millionaire, Claus Becker, who spent over $2million of his own money to set it up. Becker purchased a large private collection in 1990 with the intention of putting it on public display. He said he wanted to combat the "puritanism" of the city.

"Sex in St. Pauli means commerce," Becker told the International Herald Tribune. "I wanted to put sex and eroticism in an artistic light." He proclaimed his museum to be a place of "free spirits."

First opened in 1992, the museum's collection expanded rapidly and soon grew to big for its original location. He moved the majority to the Reeperbahn site and left the original site as the Privart Museum, a gallery space for modern erotic art.

The Erotic Art museum contains over 1800 original works dating from 1520 to the present. It reportedly receives over 80,000 visitors per year. The museum offers a permanent collection as well as temporary exhibitions.

Collection Highlights

Artworks by Barent von Orley, Otto Dix, Jean Cocteau, George Grosz, Keith Haring, David Hockney, Man Ray, Pablo Picasso, Tomi Ungerer,Henry Miller and John Lennon, 18th century erotic prints, various erotic photography

Facts for the Visitor

Articles

A temple of sex (art) in Hamburg - International Herald Tribune