Abstract

Nearly 200 different establishments catered to queer residents of Berlin at various times during the Weimar Republic. This map shows just a small sample of the many queer and queer-friendly venues, organizations, and gathering spots that existed.

Queer Berlin (c. 1918-1933)

Source

1. Meyer-Stube (Xantener Strasse 3, just south of Ku’damm, near Adenauerplatz), 1927-28

2. Eldorado, a later club that coopted the name (Kantstrasse 24), 1926

3. The Prinzeß-Theater, where the pioneering gay film Anders als die Andern, likely the first feature-length film anywhere to focus on homosexuality, premiered on May 31, 1919. It thereafter screened at the theater three times daily (Kantstrasse 163, in the Charlottenburg neighborhood). With the reintroduction of film censorship in May 1920, the state banned the film.

4. Monokel-Diele, run by the legendary club organizer Lotte Hahm (Budapester Strasse 14, Schöneberg), 1932–33

5. Auluka-Lounge (Augsburger Strasse 72, near Wittenbergplatz), 1924-33

6. Silhouette, a favorite of Ernst Röhm, the Nazi SA leader (Geisbergstrasse 24 Schöneberg, just NW of Viktoria-Luise-Platz), 1926-33

7. Mali and Igel (Lutherstrasse 16, near Bavarian Quarter), 1927-33

8. Eldorado, a third club that coopted the name (Martin-Lutherstrasse 29), ca. 1927-32

9. Eldorado, the fourth and most famous club under this name (on the corner of Motzstraße and Kalckreuthstrasse), 1928-32

10. Verona-Lounge (Kleiststrasse 36, between Wittenbergplatz and Nollendorfplatz), 11.

11. Toppkeller, frequented by the cabaret singer Claire Waldoff (Schwerinstrasse 13, just SE of Nollendorfplatz), 1923-32

12. Café Olala (Zietenstrasse 11, just east of Nollendorfplatz), 1927-32

13. Hohenzoffern-Café (Bülowstrasse 101, just east of Nollendorfplatz), 1921-1933

14. Café Dorian Gray (Bülowstrasse 57), 1921-33

15. The Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, founded by the sexologist and pioneering gay-rights activist Magnus Hirschfeld, offered medical services, spaces for meetings and lectures, a permanent museum exhibition on sexual history, and a gathering place for queer emancipation (In den Zelten 10, Beethovenstrasse 3, in the Tiergarten, roughly where the Haus der Kulturen der Welt is currently located), 1919-1933.

16. Die Kaisergalerie, also known as Die Passage, was a shopping arcade and well-known cruising area for gay men (between Unter den Linden and Friedrichstrasse), since the late nineteenth century.

17. Bürger-Casino (Friedrichsgracht 1, on the Fischerinsel), 1927-32

18. Café Kobold (Holzmarktstrasse 3, Friedrichshain, just east of the Jannowitzbrücke), c. 1924-25

19. Alexander-Palast (Landsberger Strasse 39, due east of Alexanderplatz station, near Georgen-Kirche)

20. Taverne (Georgenkirchstrasse 30a, just east of Friedrichstrasse), 1925-32
1919-31

21. Mikado Bar (Puttkamerstrasse 15), 1907-1933

22. Die Spinne, also known as “Kabarett Die Spinne” and Spinndiele (Alte Jakobstrasse 174, Kreuzberg), 1920-21

23. Adonis-Diele (Alexandrinenstrasse 121, just west of Moritzplatz in Kreuzberg), 1920-1924; which then reopened across the street (Alexandrinenstrasse 1a), 1926-33

24. Zauberflöte (Kommandantenstrasse 72, just south of U Spittelmarkt), 1926-33

25. Eldorado, four different clubs adopted this name in succession, but the original was in Kreuzberg (Alte Jakobstrasse 60), 1919-21

26. A queer bookstore, as well as the administrative address of the nationwide gay-rights organization run by Friedrich Radszuweit, the Bund für Menschenrecht, operated at Neue Jakobstrasse 9 (in Mitte, near the Märkisches Museum), 1927-33

27. Cosy Corner, also known as Noster (Zossener Strasse 7, Kreuzberg to the south of the Landwehrkanal), 1909-33 (one of Christopher Isherwood’s favorite haunts)

28. Domino-Diele (Baerwaldstrasse 61, Kreuzberg), 1920-21

29. Bundesheim, previously known as Zum Patzenhofer, and then later as Heideblume and, after 1929, as Monte-Casino (Planufer 5, on the Landwehrkanal, west of Kottbusserstrasse), 1919-33

30. The “Soldatenstrich” (the cruising area for men looking to have sex with soldiers) was located near the Tempelhoferfeld, where lots of barracks were situated and had existed as a cruising area since the nineteenth century.

Source: Nathalie Boegel, “Ich bin Babel, die Sünderin" and “Berlin: Hauptstadt des Verbrechens,“ in:  Spiegel Geschichte, September 17, 2018; Jens Dobler, Von anderen Ufern: Geschichte der Berliner Lesben und Schwulen in Kreuzberg und Friedrichshain (Berlin: Bruno Gmünder Verlag, 2003); Mel Gordon, Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin (Los Angeles: Feral House, 2006), pp. 218-19. Cartography by Gabriel Moss in collaboration with Erik Jensen, 2022.