THE 10 BEST Germany Gay Clubs & Bars (Updated 2023)

Contents:

• GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME
• GAY GERMANY TRAVEL GUI
• ERNST RöHM, THE HIGHT-RANKG GAY NAZI
• QUEER KO: 1970S AND ‘80S GAY GERMAN ARTHOE CEMA
• THE 10 BEST GERMANY GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS GERMANY
• ‘GREAT FREEDOM’ AND THE LONG SHADOW OF AN ANTI-GAY LAW GERMANY
• HOW TO SAY GAY GERMAN

GAY MEN UNR THE NAZI REGIME

Sce 2016, fans and lols have anized an annual LGBTQ+ day lled GayRedDay to enjoy Europa Park as one muny. But actually, the first public LGBTQ+ rights prott took place Germany, over a century earlier, 1867—one year before the term ‘homosexualy’ was ed, German! The Nazis ma more severe and imprisoned 10, 000 gay men (and some lbians, although they were not vered by Paragraph 175) ncentratn mps, where they were marked wh the pk triangle—and a majory died.

But there is plenty to see today to remember the highs and lows of German LGBTQ+ history, om the Monument to Homosexuals Persecuted unr Natnal Socialism and the Schwul Mm (Gay Mm), both Berl, to the Dtsche Eiche bar and bathhoe Munich, where Freddie Mercury hung out the 1970s.

GAY GERMANY TRAVEL GUI

And let’s not fet Bavaria’s gay (and/or queer) kg, Mad Ludwig, and his Wagnerian fantasy stle, Nschwanste—the spiratn for Disney’s Snow Whe’s Castle. Germany ranks among the top gay-iendly vatn statns acrdg to the Spartac Gay Travel Inx 2018 due to the gay-iendly environment the major ci like Berl, Hamburg, and Cologne. Therefore, numero gay bars var areas around the cy centers offer the opportuny to meet lols and other visors om all over the world.

Distant natural wonrs, famo metropolis, theme parks, gay-sports events and far-away-iends are great reasons to travel.

It is unclear how many of the men publicly or privately intified as gay or were part of gay muni and works that had been tablished Germany before the Nazi rise to power. It is important to note that not all of the men arrted and nvicted unr Paragraph 175 intified as gay.

ERNST RöHM, THE HIGHT-RANKG GAY NAZI

However, the Nazi mpaign agast homosexualy and the regime’s zealo enforcement of Paragraph 175 ma life Nazi Germany dangero for gay men. Already the mid- to late-neteenth century, there were ditns of nascent and growg gay muni Germany. Among the terms were “gleichgchlechtlich” (“same-sex oriented”) and “homosexuell” (“homosexual”).

The latter term dated to 1869, when a pamphlet advotg for crimalizatn of sexual relatns between men ed the term “Homosexualät” (“homosexualy”). The newer slang word “schwul” (often translated to English as “gay”) was also creasgly popular among certa groups.

In ntrast, the work of gay men that veloped around thor Adolf Brand and his anizatn Gemeschaft r Eigenen (The Communy of Kdred Spirs) took a different approach. It was the relatively eeg atmosphere of the Weimar Republic that gay muni and works grew and veloped unprecented ways.

QUEER KO: 1970S AND ‘80S GAY GERMAN ARTHOE CEMA

Some joed “iendship leagu” (Frndschaftsverbän), groups that polilly and socially anized gay men, lbian women, and others. Gay newspapers and journals, such as Die Frndschaft (Friendship) and Der Eigene (translated varly, but this ntext implyg “his own man”), ntributed to the growth of gay works. They actively tried to build a sense of muny among gay men, and clud personal ads and rmatn about gay meetg plac.

Part of this nmnatn was a rejectn of the era’s open exprsns of sexualy, cludg the visibily of gay muni.

However, Röhm’s posn the Nazi learship did not temper the movement’s nmnatn of homosexualy and gay muni. Shortly thereafter, they sought to dismantle the visible gay cultur and works that had veloped durg the Weimar Republic. However, ci like Berl and Hamburg, some tablished gay bars were able to rema open until the mid-1930s.

THE 10 BEST GERMANY GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS GERMANY

Nohels, the Nazi closur and creased police surveillance ma far more difficult for gay men to nnect wh each other. Another early actn unrtaken by the Nazi regime was the elimatn of gay newspapers, journals, and publishg ho. In a further latn, the Nazis ed new laws and police practic to arrt and ta whout trial a limed number of gay men begng late 1933 and early 1934.

‘GREAT FREEDOM’ AND THE LONG SHADOW OF AN ANTI-GAY LAW GERMANY

Those arrted clud a number of gay men, some of whom were imprisoned the regime’s early ncentratn mps.

Three events the years 1934–1936 radilized the Nazi regime’s mpaign agast homosexualy and led to more systematic opprsn of gay men. Fally, 1936 SS lear and Chief of the German Police Herich Himmler tablished the Reich Central Office for the Combatg of Homosexualy and Abortn (Reichszentrale zur Bekämpfung r Homosexualät und r Abtreibung). The notorly homophobic Himmler saw both homosexualy and abortn as threats to the German birth rate and th to the fate of the German people.

By the end of 1936, ndns were place for the Nazi regime to tensify s mpaign agast homosexualy. In the Nazis’ unrstandg, the men were “homosexual” (“homosexuell”) offenrs and th crimals and enemi of the state.

HOW TO SAY GAY GERMAN

In the mid- to late 1930s, the police raid bars and other meetg plac that they believed to be popular wh gay men. The language people ed nunciatns mak clear that the Germans tend to agree wh Nazi attus towards homosexualy.

In rarer s, the Kripo or the Gtapo would send a man directly to a ncentratn mp as a “homosexual” (“homosexuell”) offenr. Between 5, 000 and 15, 000 men were imprisoned ncentratn mps as “homosexual” (“homosexuell”) offenrs.