Guided tour of the Humboldt Forum
From: 25,00 €
Join us on a decolonial journey of discovery through the largest cultural project in Europe. In a two-hour tour we will bring you closer to the history of the castle and the museum.
Who were the Humboldt brothers? What is the relation to colonialism? What role did missionary work play and what form might future cooperation between African institutions and German museums take?
You will find out this and much more on our tour.
Note: According to their guidelines, the Humboldt Forum does not allow us to conduct the entire tour in the museum. However, we still want to share decolonial perspectives with you, so we will discuss the first part of the tour outside the building.
We look forward to seeing you!
Attention (applies to private groups who wish to request an appointment during the week): The museum is closed on Tuesdays.
The tour at 11am is always in German and at 2pm in English .
Meeting point is the bus stop Museumsinsel.
Tekyo Pantzov –
The Fulani people of west Africa conquered and enslaved many peoples for thousands of kms to the east. In 1838 A Zulu expedition conquered what is now Matabeleland in western Zimbabwe. From 1947 until 1971 West Pakistan exercised colonial exploitation over East Pakistan and suppressed its culture. When the East Pakistani Awami League won a majority in the general elections, the militry dictator Yahya Khan, together with Zulfikar Bhutto, refused to let it form a government in Islamabad, so East Pakistan decared its independence under the name of Bangladesh. A genocide ensued. Javanese settlers now form a majority in many parts of eastern New Guinea, displacing the local population and abducting its children to be brainwashed in Javanese madrassas. These are all forms of colonialism.
Lucia –
As somebody who felt objective about the idea of the Humboldt Forum, putting an ethnological museum in the newly built Stadtschloss also a symbol of Germanys colonial past – for me, Dekoloniale Stadtführung was the ideal way to experience this site. Justice gave good insights and perspective on concept and history without condemning it completely. I recommend it to Berlin visitors and citizens alike.
Guilherme Eugênio –
I booked the guided tour with Justice because as a Brazilian PhD researcher I am interested in the debates on (de)coloniality and how museums have been addressing them. It was definetely worth it! The stories and the thoughts that Justice shared with me were very insightful and nowhere to be found on the walls and official narratives of the Humboldt Forum. Walking around the exhibitions while discussing their background, past and current controversies and discussing the structural dynamics of racism and colonialism that underpin German, and more broadly Western, society – it is a must-go experience!
Miriam Licht –
Ich habe die Führung mit einem Deutsch LK besucht und sowohl ich als Lehrkraft, als auch die Schüler*innen waren begeistert. Wir hatten bereits an der Führung im Wedding teilgenommen, die ebenfalls sehr gut ist. Justice liefert viele interessante, wichtige Informationen, ohne dabei zu überfordern. Sie geht auf Fragen ein. Die Führung ist für die Schüler*innen sehr wertvoll, da ein kritischer, aber dennoch hoch informativer Blick auf das Humboldt Forum und die Ausstellungsstücke darin geboten wird!
Brad D. –
Die Führung hatte eine angenehme und beruhigende Stimmung ich habe mich wirklich sehr wohl und aufgehoben gefühlt.