It is also the perfect place to explore Germany’s troubled history, and to visit the landmarks of the conflict that split the country in two after the second world war.Ĭombine all this with fascinating architecture, great food, and a young population with a constant focus on innovation and progress, and you get an unforgettable destination for just about anyone.īerlin’s reputation for gay nightlife is not surprising when you consider its position as the clubbing capital of Europe. The city packs in an incredible amount of culture, from endless modern art galleries to some of Europe’s best museum collections. Gay Berlin offers more opportunities to party than perhaps anywhere else in Europe, but it’s not just about the clubs. To experience gay Berlin at its best, visit during the weeks surrounding their Pride (Christopher Street Day), when the city is overtaken by a range of gay events. As well as a thriving gay nightlife with every type of bar and club you can imagine, the city is home to gay cafes, cinemas, saunas, sex shops, and the even the world’s first gay museum.
And in that, was a sort of comfort.Consistently topping lists of Europe’s most gay-friendly cities, Berlin is an unmissable LGBT destination. Concrete and techno seem inhuman, but they do not discriminate.
#Berlin gay sex clubs free
That’s the sort of paradox at the heart of it: everyone is free and equal because nobody is favored. I did not know what to expect to find in Berlin, from its harsh urban exterior the place appears unwelcoming. My apprehensions gone, I’m thrilled to have explored this other world with my partner.
It’s eleven-pm and we take a cab home for an early night. To get out, you settle the bar-tab against the number on your arm. We explore some more, then eventually decide to leave. It is like the end scene in the film Perfume, I wonder if we will be devoured by the masses. A crowd forms around us, I swot their hands off my body like flies. We find a corner with a sling and he reclines Sex, techno and red lighting blurs into one. Outdoors there is a shipping-container box park. Lubricant is dispensed from wall mounts like burger-bar ketchup. Squeezing through holes in brick walls, the complex has creative architecture catering to many kinks, from sex-slings to multi-level wet-rooms. Vodka sodas in hand, my now almost naked friends take in the view and grin “Oh it’s good to be back”. If Berghain is the cathedral above, this is the demonic paradise below. My bigger worry was emotional: what if I’m left, alone, with my boyfriend engaged with someone else? Whilst I’m an enthusiastic skinny-dipper, getting down to my underwear in a hyper-sexual environment felt exposing. In the cab ride over to Lab.oratory, our venue for the night, I was filled with anxiety. Diverse, debauched, as-you-are, anything-goes, a kaleidoscope of venues and events against a backdrop of concrete and electronic music. That background can be felt in Berlin’s modern day clubbing culture. The scars of the second world war, maintained in plain sight by the city, permeate Berlin’s psyche: authoritarianism and persecution must be avoided at all costs. Since its heyday in the twenties, Berlin has been a haven for the fringes of sexuality and society. Much has been achieved, but we still live in a world where queerness is constrained. LBGTQ individuals have had to fight prejudice to make space for themselves. Like many others, my boyfriend grew up in a world that did not make it easy to be himself. I discovered new ways of being with the world. We spent the summer learning to party together. Spurred by our love, I resolved to cross into his world. At my cousins wedding I read a research paper whilst he danced. I found our differences exciting though challenging.
I grew up bookish and solitary, he affable and athletic. As he and I re-wove our lives around each-other, we embarked on a program of cultural integration - each of us would take the other to key places in our lives.