Features > The Pleasure Activist

by Doug McClelland

(posted March, 2008)

Cologne/Koln

Cologne is a friendly and easy-going city in the western part of Germany, and the fourth largest city in the country with about two million people. In German the city is called Koln, but in the rest of the world it is referred to by the French spelling of Cologne. The city’s gay scene may look a bit provincial when compared to Berlin, but it’s still a hot spot for gay life in Europe.

While Cologne is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in the year 30 BC, it was extensively destroyed during World War 2 so now looks very modern. The only monument not bombed to rubble was the Cathedral.

I have three recommendations for tourist attractions to visit. The Cologne Cathedral was started in 1248 and when it was finished in 1880 it was the first building taller than the great pyrimid of Egypt. The soaring Gothic structure is one of the great buildings of the world, described by UNESCO as an "exceptional work of human creative genius.” You can climb to the top of its tall spires for a panoramic view, which I found exhausting but worth it because you really get up close to the ancient construction.

The Hohe Strasse (High Street) is Cologne's biggest pedestrian zone, a shopping street extending over many kilometres from the cathedral in a southerly direction. This street contains many shops and restaurants and is a great place to shop, stroll or people watch.

The El-de-Haus Museum located at 23-25 Appellhofplatz, is the former local headquarters of the Nazi Gestapo and documents theNazi rule in Cologne with a special focus on the prosecution of political dissenters and minorities. It’s a chilling reminder of the not so distant past.

In the last decade Germany has become one of the most progressive European nations on the issue of gay rights. The age of concent is sixteen years old for all. In the field of employment, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal throughout Germany. The country was the first in the world to include gender identy in anti-discrimination laws. Registered life partnerships have been instituted since 2001, giving same-sex couples rights and obligations in areas such as inheritance, alimony, health insurance, immigration, adoption and name change.

If you like your travel destinations crowded and with a million people partying on the streets and in the pubs then the Carnival in winter and the Gay Pride (CSD) in summer are made for you.

The world-famous Cologne Carnival takes place from Weiberfastnacht (the Thursday before Ash Wednesday) to Shrove Tuesday. Everything centers around Rosenmontag (Carnival Monday or Shrove Monday) with the big parade watched by about a million and half people along the streets. It's neither Brazilian style crazy nor Spanish style mystical-religious; it's mainly Prussian military uniforms. As millions of people visit Cologne for the Carnival the gay pubs, bars and clubs are packed with guys drinking, singing, and dancing.

The other big event is the Gay Pride weekend, on the first weekend in July and officially called Christopher Street Day (in memory of the original New York Stonewall riot), which is one of the largest Pride events in Europe. It’s a huge event with nearly a million people joining the parade celebrations as a Carnival in summer with lots of sun and naked flesh.

There are two major gay areas in Cologne. Many of the cafes, bars and clubs around Rudolfplatz have opened in the last ten years and have a modern style. Traditional pubs and bars for mixed ages are located mainly in the Old Town at and around Old Market (Alter Markt). The Southern Old Town (Altstadt-Süd) is where, between Heumarkt and Mühlenbach, the fetish and bear scene meet. The Germans are a liberal bunch when it comes to nightlife and many of the bars feature sex, either in back rooms or right in the bar.

If you like bears like me, there are great bars like Cox, which is really crowed on weekends and Zipp’s, which is jeans, leather and bears. Boners is the longest running cruising and fetish bar in Cologne, it’s a leather/bear bar with a backroom (and my personal favorite). If you like leather and fetish there are lots of hot options. Chains is a big leather bar with dancing (they do that in Europe), plus special fetish parties. Deck 5 is a leather bar with cheap beer and a backroom. The Midnight Sun attracts younger guys with fetishes such as military, sportswear, skin, and rubber, has two floors plus a darkroom, and enforces a dress code strictly. Station 2b has a bar and dance floor on the ground floor, play area with cabins in the basement, and a huge labyrinth that you could get lost in.

Something hot to take in is the KitKatClub, which is a mixed, kinky fetish party for dancing and playing. It’s mostly straight with about 10-20% gay crowd. It has a strict dress code of fetish, bizarre, and fantasy. To avoid single men outnumbering couples the door policy often rejects single men but two men can come as a couple. I really got off on watching the straight guys. If you are a voyeur this is a hot place.

Cologne has some interesting saunas. The sauna Badehaus am Römerturm blew me away, it was so nice, perhaps the most beautiful gay sauna I’ve ever visited. It’s famous for its pool in the beautiful inner courtyard. Sunday afternoons from 3 to 7 pm had been legendary with guys from Belgium, France, Netherlands and other countries travelling just for this sauna. It is pricey at 19 Euros entry (14 Euros for under 28). The Phoenix is the newest and biggest sauna in Cologne. It’s popular with younger guys. The Vulcano is the oldest gay sauna in Cologne and is popular with mature men and their admirers.

If you like sex shops, Erlebnis-Kino, located at Hansaring 23, has an entry fee of 7.50 Euros for the whole day and you can leave and re-enter as often you want. It has two darkrooms, gloryholes, and attracts some rent boys along with the regular clientele.

The is a gay brothel called Club Valintino, located at Altenberger Str. 13, which is open from 3 pm to 3 am, and has a bar, rooms and suites, strip shows, and escorts. There are usually ten to fifteen boys available at any time.

The best place for outdoor cruising is Aachener Weiher Park, near the Ostasiatisches Museum, near the gay bars in the center. Another popular cruising place is the woods on Hercules Hill (Herkulesberg), next to the train tracks in the day and on the paths everywhere at night. There is also nude sunbathing on warm days in this park.

Men from all over Western Europe visit Cologne for its gay scene. I’d recommend it.

 

Recommended in this article (also see the Sex Listings):

Aachener Weiher. Cruisy park.

Badehaus am Römerturm Friesenstrasse 23-25. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Boners Mathiasstrasse 22. Cruise bar with dark room.

Chains Stephanstrasse 4. Cruise bar with dark room.

Cox Mühlenbach 53. Cruise bar.

Deck 5 Mathiasstrasse 5. Cruise bar with dark room.

Der Faun Händelstrasse 31. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Erlebnis-Kino Hansaring 23. Bookstore with arcade (sexshop).

Herkulesberg (aka Hercules Hill). Cruisy park.

KitKatClub Johannisstrasse 11. Sexclub.

The Midnight Sun Richard-Wagner-Str. 25. Cruise bar with dark room.

Phoenix Richard Wagner Str. 12. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Station 2b Pipinstrasse 2. Cruise bar with dark room.

Vulcano Marienplatz 3-5. Bathhouse with full facilities.

Zipp's Hohe Pforte 13-17. Cruise bar.

 

 

Comments, suggestions, compliments, criticism? You can write to Doug, The Pleasure Activist, at doug@cruisingforsex.com.

Doug McClelland originally entered the adult entertainment business as a centerfold for BEAR magazine, but he soon moved from the front of the camera to behind it. In 1995 he founded chisel.com, one of the original gay porn sites, which in 1996 was the first gay site to netcast live video. He has produced, directed, and occasionally appeared in adult videos. His association with Cruising for Sex began when Chisel became the second sponsor of our site. For the last few years he wrote our advice column called the Guidance Counselor. In the Pleasure Activist column he is our travel reporter, sharing tips and stories from his personal travels.

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