Gay Guide
Listing and event details can change quickly. Please verify with the venue directly before visiting. Lavender Atlas is not responsible for third-party accuracy.
About LGBTQ+ Berlin
Magnus Hirschfeld founded the Institute of Sexual Science (Institut für Sexualwissenschaft) in Berlin in 1919. It was one of the first scholarly research institutes in the world devoted to gender, sexuality, and what would now be called LGBTQ+ rights. Its library was destroyed by Nazis in 1933 in one of the more infamous book burnings of that year.
Schöneberg has been Berlin's historic gay neighborhood since the Weimar era, centered on Nollendorfplatz. The streets around the U-Bahn station, including Motzstraße, Fuggerstraße, and Eisenacher Straße, hold the city's oldest gay bars. A pink granite memorial at Nollendorfplatz U-Bahn station commemorates the gay men deported from Berlin to Nazi concentration camps. It was unveiled in 1989 and is one of the first such public memorials in Europe.
Show less
The contemporary scene is distributed across multiple neighborhoods. Kreuzberg, particularly SO36 around Oranienstraße, hosts the city's queer-punk and politically engaged venues. Friedrichshain holds many of the cruise and sex-positive clubs as well as the long-running techno parties. Neukölln has a growing queer-of-color and trans-oriented nightlife scene.
Berghain, opened in 2004 in a former power station in Friedrichshain, is one of the most internationally recognized techno clubs in the world. Its door policy is famously selective and photography inside is prohibited.
Berlin has two parallel Pride events. The official Christopher Street Day (CSD) takes place in late July, with a parade typically ending at Tiergarten. KreuzbergCSD (Transgenialer CSD), founded in 1997, runs separately each June with a more politically engaged and less corporate program. Lesbian and Trans Pride marches also run separately each June.
Folsom Europe, a leather and kink street fair modeled on San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair, takes place in Schöneberg each September. Easter Berlin is the international leather meet held over Easter weekend. The Pornfilmfestival (October) and the Teddy Awards at the Berlinale (February) are the city's main queer film events.
Germany legalized same-sex marriage in October 2017. Berlin's S-Bahn and U-Bahn run 24 hours on Friday and Saturday nights. The Schwules Museum, founded in 1985, is one of the oldest LGBTQ+ museums in the world and is located in Tiergarten.
Upcoming Events
Cocktail lounge bar in Berlin-Schöneberg. With smoking area. Two rooms, the second with music TV screen.
A cosy gay bar in Schöneberg on Motzstraße, Scheune is part of the neighbourhood's tight cluster of queer venues. Known for a welcoming regulars scene and events throughout the year.
Popular cruisy bar in Berlin-Schöneberg for bears, hairy and mature guys.
A relaxed gay bar on Motzstraße in Schöneberg, Hafen has been a neighbourhood fixture for years. Known for a friendly crowd, regular events, and a low-key atmosphere well-suited to early evenings in the Kiez.
Berlin's most iconic techno club, occupying a former East German power plant on the Spree in Friedrichshain. Globally famous for its door policy, marathon weekend sets, and the Panorama Bar upstairs, Berghain draws a predominantly queer crowd and runs from Saturday night through Monday morning.
A gay leather and fetish bar in Schöneberg on Fuggerstraße, Prinzknecht is a relaxed spot for the bear and kink crowd. Known for themed nights, a friendly regular clientele, and proximity to the Connection Club next door.
Popular bar in Berlin-Kreuzberg with a LGBTQ-friendly clientele. Queerest night is Thursday. Smoking bar.
A gay bar in Berlin's Schöneberg on Eisenacher Straße. A neighbourhood local with a relaxed atmosphere and a regular crowd.
Queer-inclusive bar in Berlin-Neukölln, 'for kings and queens and criminal queers'. Mixed clientele.
Stylish gay-oriented cocktail bar in the theatre and museums quarter of Berlin.
Queer-oriented music bar in Berlin-Friedrichshain. Mixed clientele.
Queer inclusive bar in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg with drag shows, karaoke and performances. Smoking bar.
Popular for its variety and quality of coffees and for people-watching at the street terrace. Not a gay cafe but due to its location at Nollendorfplatz with many gay customers.
Queer, community-oriented vegan cafe in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg with events such as drag brunches, readings and art exhibitions.
LGBT-friendly cafe-bar in the heart of Berlin-Kreuzberg. In summer with big terrace and beer garden. Cakes, salads, hearty dishes and more. Mixed, international clientele.
Gay cruising bar in Berlin-Schöneberg, since 2024 in the former Tom's Bar.
Small gay cruise bar in Berlin-Schöneberg, open 24 hours (hence, be aware that the place can be a bit 'particular' sometimes). Smoking bar.
SM & fetish after-work club. Check the Club Culture Houze website for its program and men-only/mixed policy.
Kinky queer-friendly club for big fetish and dance parties. Dresscode: the more bizarre the better. Mixed clientele.
Club of SM and fetish lovers. Most events are for gay men and take place at the weekend – see the Quälgeist website for the current program.
Gay underwear/naked club in Kreuzberg/Neukölln. Admission: 20 € (incl. 10 € minimum consumption)
Big modern sauna in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Currently one of the best and most visited gay bathhouses in Europe. Mixed ages. Admission: ≈ 26-34 € (up to 27 years 19 €)
Barcelona's renowned fetish shop with a concept store in Berlin-Schöneberg.
Sex shop: toys and fetish gear. Cruising cinema: spread over 3 levels with video booths, cinema room, sling etc. Lockboxes and vending machine.
The new Berlin branch of fetish label MR. Riegillio from Amsterdam, opened in July 2025.
Gay fetish shop: briefs, jockstraps, wrestling singlets, harnesses, trunk shorts, leggings, muscle shirts and accessories.
Leather and rubber gear, toys and accessories. Friendly and competent advice.
Big trendy gay cafe in Berlin-Schöneberg. In good weather with street terrace. Usually well visited.
Gay BDSM club, specialised in spanking and other special interests. Check the Böse Buben website for their next events.
Straight-friendly cocktail lounge bar in Schöneberg. In good weather with popular street terrace. On Tuesday and Thursday karaoke.
Traditional, camp bar in Berlin-Schöneberg. Clientele mainly mature locals and friends.
Small traditional Berlin bar in Schöneberg, with a mainly mature, local clientele.
Cafe-bar at Prenzlauer Berg. Clientele mainly teens or in their 20s. Non-smoking bar.
Berlin branch of the famous leather and fetish outfitter, stocking gear, rubber, and BDSM equipment in Schöneberg.
Longstanding gay bar in Friedrichshain with a classic kneipe feel and a loyal local crowd.
Berlin workshop tailoring made-to-measure leather and rubber wear, a fixture of the city's fetish scene.
Campy little queer bar in Mitte pouring cheap drinks under kitschy decor, packed shoulder to shoulder on weekends.
Gay bar in Berlin-Kreuzberg/Neukölln. Smoking pub. Several nights with live DJs. Small cruising area in the basement. (If you ask people on the street for directions to this bar, be aware that "Ficken" is the German word for "to fuck".)
A gay-owned boutique hotel in Berlin's Schöneberg district, steps from the neighbourhood's historic LGBTQ+ bar scene. ArtHotel Connection offers comfortable rooms with easy access to the area's nightlife and a predominantly gay male clientele.
Historic gay-lesbian cinema in Berlin's rainbow district with a long-running queer film program.
Gay cruise venue known for its sex-cinema heritage, cabins, and adult shop in Schoneberg.
Weekly queer film night (MonGay) at Babylon Kreuzberg, a staple of Berlin's LGBTQ+ cinema scene.
Inclusive gym and training studio explicitly centered on queer and women communities.
Berlin outpost of the Mister B gay fetish and leather retail brand.
Transgender Europe (TGEU) is a Berlin-based NGO advocating for trans rights, policy reform, and community support across Europe and Central Asia.
LSVD+ is a German LGBTQ+ advocacy organization working on equality, anti-discrimination, family rights, and public policy.
A community space in Berlin's Kreuzberg offering support, workshops, and events for LGBTQ+ people of color and those with migration backgrounds. Part of Berlin's intersectional queer support infrastructure.
A Berlin-based organisation supporting LGBTQ+ people from Russian-speaking countries. Quarteera offers advice, community events, and advocacy, and has become increasingly active in supporting queer refugees following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
A Berlin-based company specialising in LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. UHLALA organises events including STICKS & STONES, Germany's largest LGBTQ+ job fair, and provides diversity consulting to employers.
A Berlin-based nonprofit network connecting LGBTQ+ people working in technology. Unicorns in Tech runs networking events and mentorship programmes, and advocates for queer inclusion across the tech industry.
Berlin's annual Christopher Street Day parade, one of Europe's largest Pride events, typically drawing hundreds of thousands of participants through the city centre in late July. Rooted in the political activism of the original 1979 Berlin CSD, it remains one of Germany's most visible LGBTQ+ public demonstrations.
Rubber and latex specialist making and selling fetish gear in-house, from basics to made-to-measure pieces.
Berlin Kreuzberg alternative gay bar with pink fur walls and kitsch decor.
LGBTQ+ bar in Berlin with a local queer crowd and regular social nightlife activity.
Schöneberg institution for the leather and fetish crowd, with strict gear nights and a busy cruising area.
Men-only cruising and fetish club in the Berghain building in Friedrichshain, with its own entrance and a maze of industrial play spaces. Themed nights range from sportswear to hardcore fetish.
Beloved queer techno party series at about blank, known for its garden dance floors and inclusive door.
Berlin's best-known queer sex-positive party, mixing art, performance, and club nights with an inclusive door policy.
Long-running queer party series with marathon sessions, Italo and house on the decks, and a devoted international following.
A legendary Kreuzberg club and cultural venue operating since 1978. SO36 is best known for its long-running Gayhane nights, queer Oriental parties drawing Berlin's Turkish and Middle Eastern LGBTQ+ community, and Café Fatal, its Sunday afternoon ballroom dancing event.
Friedrichshain is a major Berlin nightlife district with queer-friendly clubs, bars, and community events, especially around Warschauer Strasse and RAW-Gelande.
One of Berlin's most politically charged and culturally diverse neighbourhoods, Kreuzberg has a long history of queer activism, squatter movements, and countercultural life. It remains a hub for queer bars, venues, and organisations, particularly in the streets around Oranienstraße and SO36.
A beloved queer karaoke institution in Friedrichshain, Monster Ronson's has been Berlin's go-to spot for late-night singing since 2008. Private booths and a public stage make it equally good for groups and solo performers.
Berlin's Axel Hotels property, a gay-centric hotel in Charlottenburg catering to a predominantly LGBTQ+ clientele. The TWO Hotel features a rooftop pool and Sky Bar, well-positioned between Kurfürstendamm and the Schöneberg gay village.
Germany's oldest surviving gay bookshop, Prinz Eisenherz has been a Schöneberg institution on Motzstraße since 1978. The shop carries an extensive range of LGBTQ+ fiction, theory, history, and magazines, and serves as a long-standing community gathering point.
Queer music collective in Berlin focused on vinyl culture, DJ events, and LGBTQ+ community gatherings.
Berlin's historic gay neighbourhood, centred on the streets around Motzstraße and Fuggerstraße. Schöneberg was home to one of the world's earliest gay rights movements in the early 20th century and remains a hub of LGBTQ+ bars, bookshops, and community organisations.
A Berlin-based LGBTQ+ art organisation and studio space supporting queer artists. Pride Art offers residencies, exhibitions, and events connecting queer creativity with the city's broader art community.
A permanent memorial in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate, dedicated to the gay men and lesbians persecuted and murdered under the Nazi regime. The grey concrete stele, designed by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, features a small looped film visible through a porthole window.
One of the world's largest LGBTQ+ museums, the Schwules Museum has documented queer history, art, and culture since 1985. Located in Schöneberg, it runs changing exhibitions on queer and trans subjects and maintains an extensive archive and library.
A feminist and queer bookshop in Kreuzberg stocking literature, theory, and zines with a focus on women's and LGBTQ+ perspectives. She Said also hosts readings, events, and a community lending library.
An annual Berlin festival dedicated to artistic and politically engaged pornographic film, with a strong focus on queer, feminist, and alternative perspectives. One of the few film festivals worldwide that takes sex-positive cinema seriously as a cultural and political art form.
An LGBTQ+ events, information, and counselling centre in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg, with a café and a Friday women-only evening.
A historic café-bar in Berlin's Schöneberg, one of the city's oldest gay venues and once a David Bowie and Iggy Pop haunt.
A drag and cabaret showpalast in Berlin's Schöneberg with international drag performances and karaoke nights.
A queer bar and café in Berlin's Friedrichshain (Simon-Dach-Straße), welcoming gay, lesbian, trans, and queer regulars since 2003.
A cosy queer café-bar in Berlin's Wedding district serving coffee, cake, and tapas, and hosting LGBTQIA+ events.
An LGBTQ+ youth association for ages 14-27 across Berlin-Brandenburg, running the region's queer youth centre with counselling and activities.
A long-running men-only gay club in Berlin's Schöneberg, open over 25 years, with a bar, lounge, and twice-weekly parties.
A radical queer Wagenplatz (wagon collective) in Berlin, an autonomous living and cultural space.
A queer-friendly bodywork and shibari (rope) studio and community space in Berlin's Moabit.
A queer kink and embodiment education space in Berlin offering shibari (rope) classes and workshops.
An LGBTQ+ intergenerational housing and care project in Berlin run by Schwulenberatung Berlin, at Ostkreuz.
A gay and bisexual men's information, counselling, and health centre in Berlin near Nollendorfplatz.
A Berlin organization for lesbian and bisexual women of all ages, with a focus on older women and those with disabilities, offering events, counselling, and culture.
Berlin's long-standing LGBTQ+ counselling and support organization, covering health, aging, coming out, social law, anti-discrimination, and refugee support.
Queer community space hosting workshops, socials, and wellness events for Berlin's LGBTQ+ scene.
A queer-feminist, sex-positive shop in Berlin selling vegan sex toys, BDSM gear, and books, with a focus on sex education.
A queer community sauna in Berlin with a Finnish sauna, play space, and bar, hosting themed events for trans, non-binary, bear, and FLINTA* communities.
A queer café-restaurant in Berlin's Kreuzkölln serving vegetarian and vegan breakfast, lunch, and dinner with house-baked bread.
A gay-friendly sushi and Vietnamese-Japanese restaurant in Berlin with plant-forward options.
A legendary, long-running Berlin gay disco dating to the GDR era, known for its mixed, unpretentious crowd and pop nights.
A café in Berlin run by Schwulenberatung Berlin, the city's gay counselling organization.
A gay cruising club in Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg with cabins, a darkroom, and regular underwear and naked parties.
A Berlin organization offering psychosocial counselling, group activities, and advocacy on trans, inter, and non-binary issues, running since 2006.