From the Gay Community to Wider Society: How Social Change Can Work in the Opposite Direction Too –Taking Hamburg Leuchtfeuer as an Example

In the early years of the AIDS crisis, social attitudes around the issue were strongly influenced by stigmatisation and scaremongering – as evidenced in media coverage such as Der Spiegel’s infamous 1983 cover story or statements made by politicians such as the CSU’s Peter Gauweiler. At the same time, however, a variety of aid and solidarity measures also quickly emerged in response, both inside and outside the communities affected. One such organisation among many that were founded in Hamburg is Hamburg Leuchtfeuer, which later went on to establish the hospice in St. Pauli.

In his exhibition, shown as part of the Triennial Expanded programme, Chris Lambertsen presents (among others) a photograph from 1993 that depicts the body of his deceased best friend laid out in bed. In the days leading up to his death at home, he had been cared for and attended to by carers from Hamburg Leuchtfeuer’s predecessor organisation, HIG. The exhibition also features images from “Um die Alster gegen AIDS”, a benefit event held around the Alster in central Hamburg.

Lambertsen continues to take photographs for Hamburg Leuchtfeuer to this day, including for projects such as cookbooks and volunteer campaigns.

Chris Lambertsen was born on the island of Föhr in 1954. Between 1973 and 1976, he trained as a photographer with Jens Rheinländer in Hamburg before studying visual communication at the HfbK Hamburg from 1976 to 1982. His book Schwul-lesbische Sichtbarkeit – 30 Jahre CSD in Hamburg (Gay and Lesbian Visibility: 30 Years of Christopher Street Day in Hamburg) was published by Männerschwarm Verlag in 2011. Since 2020, he has also published four limited-edition works in small print runs ranging from 30 to 60 copies. The first volume in this series, published in 2020 under the title ADIEU, explores his first experience of gay love in the 1970s.

Josef Reppenhorst has been working for Hamburg Leuchtfeuer since 1994, where his main focus is fundraising, as the organisation largely funds itself through donations. The Hamburg Leuchtfeuer Hospice, opened in 1998, was originally planned as a hospice for people with AIDS. As a result of medical advancements in the treatment of HIV, however, it was quickly able to open its doors to all terminally ill and dying people, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with AIDS. Because of this, Hamburg Leuchtfeuer developed from an AIDS service organisation into a social initiative that serves all of society – without losing sight of its queer origins.

With Chris Lambertsen, Josef Reppenhorst
Moderator: Ulrich Rüter