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permitting. Their front bar is wall-towall
packed with people most nights,
but there’s also a sophisticated, ultramodern,
and comfortable lounge that
extends far into the rear. It’s open
Wednesday through Sunday for casual
cruising, or just to get some spreadingout
space. Heile Welt roughly translates
into “perfect world,” and you can’t get
more perfectly queer than this.
There are ample opportunities for
sex in Berlin clubs. Many are the darkroom
and video arcade options, and
numerous dance clubs and ordinary
bars have naked nights and sex parties
that might surprise and delight North
Americans accustomed to more regulation.
Sexual opportunity is so common
as to be unremarkable here, and except
in some of the kinkier and serious fetish
venues it’s usually playfully casual.
Scheune (Motzstrasse 25) is a longtime
favorite that draws many butch
men and their admirers. Leather and
uniform, though popular , is not strictly
enforced. Cruise the video bar and
check out the porn videos playing
before heading into the darkroom.
There are naked safe-sex parties on
Sundays at Scheune, and many other
special events throughout the year.
Tom’s Bar (Motzstrasse 19), famous
for their heavy darkroom action, has a
cruisy vibe with hot videos firing up an
already obviously horny crowd.
Prinzknecht (Fuggerstrasse 33) has
sidewalk seating (and indoor darkrooms)
as well as great original art
lining the walls. Come sunset, Wednesday’s
two-for-one happy hour, 7-9 p.m.,
attracts a nearly overwhelming crowd
that spills out onto the street.
Next door, Connection Club
(Welserstrasse 24, at the corner of Fuggerstrasse)
has a large following on the
weekends for late-night dancing and
cruising. Their downstairs bar has
sprawling space with big comfortable
chairs and a crowd that runs from
Levi/leather to college-age student
types. This area extends into a threelevel
complex of darkroom play-spaces,
the “Twilight Zone,” where the party
begins at midnight and gets very busy
At Connection
André, Jan, Uwe,
Eric, & Nico of Cafe More
At Connection
Robert of
Cafe More
BERLIN
Marc & Jonathan
of Inside Out
Sasha & Conny at Heile Welt
MAY 2008 THE GUIDE ■ Guidemag.com 41