What is the Queere Zentrum Mannheim?
The QZM is a place for networking, strengthening and making the community visible in the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. We use queer as a collective term for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, inter, non-binary, asexual/romantic, pan, poly and queer people. With the QZM, we want to create a low-barrier, inclusive and anti-racist space for queer people and all interested parties to meet. A place where everyone has a voice and can feel safe and welcome.
History
The queer community finally needed a permanent space for existing queer groups and associations, non-organized queers, new groups, ideas and projects. The QZM was to become a place for networking, strengthening and making the community visible in the Rhein-Neckar metropolitan region.
The opportunity for such a location arose with the City of Mannheim's call for tenders for the 2019 citizen participation budget, in which the QZM came first in the vote and subsequently received start-up funding from this budget.
Susanne Hun, Sarah Kinzebach and Matthias Kück and later Johannah Illgner - four committed queers from the region - seized the opportunity. Their superpower: seeing into the future. With their shared vision of a queer center, they not only infected the community, but the entire urban society.
The QZM is now well established in Mannheim and offers space for group meetings, a queer youth club run by PLUS Rhein-Neckar e.V. and with the open QZM Café offers an opportunity for exchange within and outside the community.
Visit the QZM
Information on accessibility: The QZM is steplessly accessible and there is an accessible toilet.
Questions about accessibility at QZM should be addressed to info@qzm-rn.de or by telephone at 0621 15677628.
Opening hours of the QZM-Café: Thursday to Saturday, from 18:00-23:00. We serve various hot and cold non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks. We do not offer food, but you are welcome to bring your own food from home or from one of the many restaurants and snack bars in the area.
You can find information on current events here.
Directions by public transportation:
Tramstation „Marktplatz“
The tramlines 1, 3, 4 and 5 run directly from Mannheim main station to the “Marktplatz” stop. Stepless boarding and alighting is possible. From here it is only 550 m to the QZM.
Tramstation „Rathaus/REM“
The tramlines 2 and 6 go to the “Rathaus/REM” stop. Stepless boarding and alighting is possible.From here it is 450 m to the QZM.
You can find current timetables here. You can find more information on accessibility here.
Tramstation „Dalbergstraße“
The tramlines 2 and 3 go to the stop “Dalbergstraße”. From here it is 350 m to the QZM.
Parking:
The nearest parking garage is the Underground parking garage in H6.
What's next?
After the start-up funding from the participation budget expired at the end of 2022, the QZM financed itself as a non-profit center - through donations, selected commercial events and, above all, sponsorship. The cooperation with the business community is also intended to strengthen the realization that queer-friendly companies benefit, for example, from being more attractive on the job market and queer employees feel more comfortable in the workplace and are therefore more productive.
In the budget negotiations in December 2023, QZM received a hard-won grant of €75,000 for 2024, which covers around 70% of the costs incurred, as well as a grant of €100,000 for 2025. This means that QZM's services can continue to be free of charge and as accessible as possible. In addition, the funding gives the association more planning security so that it can concentrate on existing services and further growth. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
We are desperately looking for a plot of land so that we can realize the Lifecycle House. The Lifecycle House is intended to reflect queer life in an even more comprehensive and integrated way and, for example, combine residential units, especially for queer living in old age, co-working and a daycare center open to all under one roof.
Participate
The QZM exists for and through the community and is supported by voluntary work.
At QZM, there are various ways in which you can get involved as a volunteer. If you are interested, please contact info@qzm-rn.de.
For those who are interested, there is also a monthly "Vorstandstheke", where the board is behind the counter for you all evening, answering questions and providing insights into the opportunities for getting involved. You can find the next date here.
The Board
Since November 2024, the QZM Executive Board has been composed as follows:
Susanne Hun (Chairperson), Ilka Kaufmann (Deputy Chairwoman), Anne Parlow (Accounting),
Hannah Hilß (Assessor) and Caro Bertram (Assessor)
Susanne Hun (no pronouns): Co-founded the QZM and holds the position of Chairperson of the Board. Susanne is particularly responsible for the Lifecycle House, strategic cooperations and all things graphic. Susanne is a founding member of FRIEDA (network for lesbian, bi, trans, inter and queer women*) and was a speaker at the Landesnetzwerks LSBTTIQ Baden-Württemberg.
Contact Susanne directly: susanne.hun@qzm-rn.de
Ilka Kaufmann (she/her): Is deputy chairwoman of QZM. With her passion for art, culture and sport, she keeps the QZM on its toes. She has been committed to acceptance and equal rights for trans* people in Mannheim and the Rhine-Neckar region since 2018. She also runs the self-help group „trans* und Ich“ at QZM and is an advisor to the dgti (German Society for Transidentity and Intersexuality).
Contact Ilka directly: ilka.kaufmann@qzm-rn.de
Anne Parlow (she/her): Keeps an overview of QZM's finances as treasurer. She also actively supports QZM in public relations and in the areas of social media and fundraising. Since the beginning of 2024, she has been speaking in her podcast with queer people on various topics of everyday life. She also regularly co-hosts online events on the topic of queerness in a professional context.
Contact Anne directly: anne.parlow@qzm-rn.de
Hannah Hilß (she/her): Is one of the two assessors of the QZM. She keeps the QZM café running, takes care of shift allocation, the introduction of new café angels and the further development of the offer. When she's not embarrassing the rest of the board by playing table football, she's also involved in animal welfare and veganism.
Contact Hannah directly: hannah.hilss@qzm-rn.de
Caro Bertram: Has been a member of the QZM Board since September 2024. Caro has been an integral part of the Queerlactica-Soli-Parties, which are organized for the benefit of QZM and, in addition to his many commitments to QZM, is also a member of the board of Monnem Pride e.V. - with Caro you will often meet Izzy: the unofficial official QZM dog.
Contact Caro directly: caro.bertram@qzm-rn.de
The Management
Katrin Hofner (all pronouns): has been part of the QZM management since 2020 and takes care of everything that cannot be done on a voluntary basis. Katrin is the contact person for volunteers, coordinates events and represents the QZM on various committees.
Contact Katrin directly: katrin.hofner@qzm-rn.de
Panda Patzelt (all pronouns): has been in the QZM FSJ position since March 2024 and ensures that you are informed about QZM offers and events in good time. Panda supports the management team with text and graphics work, supervises and designs events and trains new interns and volunteers.
Contact Panda directly: panda.patzelt@qzm-rn.de
Former board members: Sarah Kinzebach, Johannah Illgner, Kristina Scheuermann, Matthias Kück, Cilly Dickmann, Yvonne Fischer, Meike Büttner, Anna Roth, Achim Freitag, Andrea Chagas López
Internship
At QZM, it is possible to complete mandatory internships, e.g. as part of a degree course, or voluntary internships lasting three months.
Tasks include supporting the management in day-to-day business, public relations work in the context of creating social media posts and press releases, maintaining the homepage and actively participating in events.
Please send your application with a convincing letter of motivation to: info@qzm-rn.de
Board of Trustees (former Steering Committee)
The steering committee was convened in April 2020 with the aim of guaranteeing the transparent and appropriate use of budget funds.
The members are Christian Hübel (Head of the Democracy and Strategy Department) and Sören Landmann (LGBTI Officer) for the City of Mannheim, Lea Schöllkopf and Deniz Gedik for the LGBTI intergroup of the Mannheim City Council, Margret Göth (formerly Youth of PLUS e.V., now part of the LGBTI Commission) and Karin Heinelt (Stadtjugendring) for youth work.
You can find the rules of procedure here:
Following the disbursement of funds from the city's participation budget, the steering committee is no longer formally necessary. In order to maintain the exchange of the various expert opinions, the committee will continue as the QZM Board of Trustees with an advisory function. Another member of the QZM Board of Trustees, in addition to those mentioned above, is Lisa Schlode (Head of Organization at PLUS e.V.) for youth work].
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