Gay village berlin

Gay Neighbourhoods in Berlin

Berlin's core of queer activity is Nollendorfplatz in Schöneberg in the south west just beside the city zoo. Every year, the lesbian and gay street festival takes place here, which marks the start of Pride Week. In the 1920s, the neighbourhood enjoys a well-deserved reputation for some of Berlin's best nightlife, as well as restaurants, cafés and shops frequented by the LGBTQ+ community in particular.  Other rainbow neighbourhoods in Berlin not to be overlooked incorporate its neighbour Kreuzberg, and the SchwuZ nightclub in Neukölln. There are also shops along the Bergmannstraße as well as reside music venues where Gay citizens and visitors gather and have fun. The Mitte neighbourhood also has pockets of LGBTQ+ hotspots including Weinbergpark. Find more scene tips for queer places in Berlin.

Berlin's gilded era in the 1920s was also when night clubs for gays and lesbians flourished. The centre of the scene back then was the Nollendorfplatz in Schöneberg. A hundred years ago, there were already some forty gay and lesbian venues in the area. Today, there may be at least twice as many. From Fuggerstraße and Motzstraße to Maaßenstraße and Nollendorfplatz, the many different bars, clubs, restaurants and shops make the Nollendorf neighbourhood the city's gay village. This is also home to the annual Folsom Europe international fetish street fair.

The Nollendorfplatz area is welcoming to the many gay men who live here as well as artists, musicians and actors. A number of initiatives ensure that mutual tolerance among the diverse residents of the neighbourhood continues to characterise the district. But as a reminder that such peaceful tolerance and co-existence was not always a given, a memorial plaque to the gay and lesbian victims of National Socialism is located at the Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn station.