The Institute soon became a sought-after address for local and foreign scientists, academics and politicians. More than 40 people worked at the Institute in many different fields: research, sexual counselling, treatment of venereal diseases and public sex education. The Institute housed the main offices of both the Scientific Humanitarian Committee — the first homosexual organisation — and the World League for Sexual Reform. It was plundered and shut down by the Nazis in Following an unsuccessful attempt to set up an institute for sexual science in Paris, Hirschfeld died in Nice, France, on May 14, , his birthday.
Since then, the site has been overgrown with gras. Particularly in the United States, his scientific methods had an enduring effect on sexual science. Hirschfeld himself had visited the States in and in and impacted on local scientists. It was not until the 60s that this topic returned to Germany. Scientists like Alfred Kinsey employed the technique of questionnaires, developed by Hirschfeld between and , during his research into the sexual behaviour of women and men in the US.
The US version of the exhibition will, however, argue that sexual biologists today refer to a Hirschfeld tradition in an uncritical manner. The exhibition, produced by the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft e. It comprises 65 panels cm by 70 cm each and is divided into five sections.
And it documents the politicization by Hirschfeld of his theory to work towards having legislation on homosexuality and abortion scrapped. The picture wall 2,1 m by 4,5 m always had a prominent place in the Institute and was used to explain sexual theories to visitors.
