Café Berio

Title

Café Berio

Subject

Gay-friendly cafe

Description

Situated near the U-Nollendorfplatz station in Schöneberg, Café Berio was founded in 1951 as an Italian ice cream café by Frederico Berio. It originally started as just an ice cream café, but has evolved to be a café that also serves cakes and pastries, as well as light meals. It was known as Berlin-Schöneberg's oldest cafe and was also a social spot for gay men and lesbians since the 1970s. Café Berio's policy is "Full Tolerance, Always." They are known for being queer-friendly, with many types of queer people flocking to the café. Since 2010, the Café Berio also had an art exhibit featuring young, up-and-coming artists. The café had live music nights, champagne happy hours, and pre-clubbing events. The café was also a sponsor to multiple non-profit organizations based in Berlin. The café welcomed a broad spread of people across ages, and guests who are local to Berlin and those that are come from around the world. Being an openly queer-friendly institution, Café Berio saw many queer and non-queer visitors alike. Not much information is available, but sometime in late 2024 Café Berio shut down - a controversial development due to the cafe's long history and reputation as a gay spot.

Creator

Priscilla Lagunas and ?

Source

https://de.linkedin.com/company/cafeberioberlin

2001. "Cafe Berio Advertisement." Siegessäule, December.

Coverage

Cold War era Schöneberg, West Berlin, FRG/BRD; modern Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany

Founders/owners

Original Founder (1951-?): Frederico Berio
Recent Owner (1985-2024): Karsten Schork

Dates

1951-2024

Address

Maaßenstraße 7 10777 Berlin

Participants

Gay men, lesbians, non-lgbtq+ Berliners