The silver lining of a difficult time

The average European household is home to around 10,000 objects; one actually means to have a clear-out, but never gets around to doing it. This has changed “thanks to” the coronavirus. During the lockdowns, quarantine and periods of working from home, many people decluttered their homes and came across various things that were too good to throw away. Lucky for us, because our museum has gained a total of eleven new objects as a result, two of which we would like to introduce to you today.

G for Gräfenberg – A rocky road to success

Since our topic is the “most pleasurable activity in the world”, as some say, and we therefore don’t always want to be deadly serious, we will entertain you today with a special piece from our collection: the cup depicted is 7 centimetres high and has “Gräfenberg” written on it. Only obstinate realists suspect a connection to the 4000-inhabitant village of Gräfenberg in Bavaria, first mentioned in records in 1172.

Paula Rego: Pictures for a woman's right to autonomy

One of the best-known activists in the fight for the legalisation of abortion in Portugal was the Portuguese-British painter Paula Figueiroa Rego (*1935). In 1998, she created a series called Untitled, which was later given the additional title The Abortion Pastels.

Contraception 100 years ago: good start, tragic end

After Mensinga had developed and publicised the diaphragm against fierce opposition – including from his colleagues – many doctors, pharmacists and scientists from all over the world strived to make further improvements. One of these innovations was the “Secura” combined air-cushion pessary from the Wismar veterinarian Dr. Wilhelm Leonhardt…