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Taverne

A small, crude dive bar with ratty decor, a too-loud jazz band, the pervasive smell of beer, and "an aura of frustration and menacing sadism". Frequented by older butches/Bubis who often postured and argued while drunk and sometimes physically fought…

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, bar, lesbian, lesbian bar, music, Weimar

Café Dorian Gray

Advertised as "The Intimate Nexus of the Ladies-World", this was mostly a lesbian bar with live tango music (and an irritating male violinist who begs for tips) and good food. The front was decorated in an artistic café style with real flowers on the…

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, bar, bdsm, club, crossdressing, gay bar, gay club, gay male, leather, lesbian, lesbian bar, lesbian club, music, trans, Weimar

Zauberflote

Zauberflote was a beautiful dance emporium in Berlin that would entertain both gay men and lesbian women. There were three separate floors, each floor could pack in about 1,500 partygoers. The first floor was a dancehall that was strictly for…

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, club, dancehall, gay male, lesbian, lounge, Weimar

Body Culture School of Adolf Koch

The Body Culture School of Adolf Koch was a Nacktkultur school that combined teachings of gymnastics, nudity, and political theory. Located at Friedrichstrasse 218, lectures on hygiene were common as members of the community highly valued healthy…

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, gymnasium, nudism, school, Weimar

Monocle-Bar

The Monocle-Bar was one of three prominent transgender-inclusive bars in Weimar era Berlin, alongside its peers Silhouette and Mikado Bar. Remembered of those three as being popular with actors, the Monocle, along with its peers, rose to popularity…

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, bar, gay bar, gay club, kabarett, Nazi involvement, trans, transgender club, Weimar

Karls-Lounge

A somewhat exclusive establishment that stands out for a multitude of reasons, Karls-Lounge was known for the demographic it pandered to: teenage "line-boys", often coming in to unwind while still in nautical uniform. In league with this, the waiters…

Tags: 1920s, club, gay club, gay male, lounge, military, naval, Weimar

Dédé Bar

Despite being lauded in the list where I first learned of it as "one of the best-known gay bars in Berlin", the Dédé bar is difficult to unearth any information on. One of the bar's co-owners was a Sturmabteilung Lieutenant, which afforded the bar a…

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, bar, gay bar, gay male, Nazi involvement, Weimar

Kleist Kasino

The Kleist Kasino was a Gay Bar that has had multiple locations over the course of almost sixty years. It doubled as a bar and a street theatre. Founded by Robert Dozy, it was made to look like any normal restaurant. Its interior had pink lighting…

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, bar, gay, gay bar, Nazi period, Weimar

Adonis-Lounge

The Adonis-Lounge was a dingy dive bar that was in operation between the years 1924 and 1933. Sailors and queer men often frequented it, women and straight men were never seen at the establishment. It had a very dark atmosphere, so much so that it…

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, bar, gay bar, gay male, military, naval, Weimar

Nationalhof

The Nationalhof served during its operation as a space for queer gatherings both in entertainment and in political activism. Many clubs frequently met in the space and the space frequently hosted queer specific events.

Tags: 1920s, 1930s, activism, education, queer, Weimar

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