Gay Guide to Karlsruhe
Germany repealed the last of Paragraph 175 in 1994 and opened marriage to same-sex couples in 2017. Karlsruhe, home to the country's Federal Constitutional Court, keeps a friendly, low-key queer scene rather than a flashy one.
Café PRINZs on Zähringerstraße, in the old Dörfle quarter near Fasanenplatz, is the queer café-bar, with drag shows and drag bingo, and Topsy Turvy on Hirschstraße is a long-running gay bar and small disco with DJs, theme parties and karaoke. Rosapark, the city's big LGBTIQ party, has filled the Nachtwerk club on the first Saturday of the month for more than 20 years.
Saunaland Aquarium on Bachstraße is the men's sauna, over three floors. queerKAstle on Liebigstraße is the queer community centre, and LA ViE, run by the city's youth committee, is the LGBTQ+ youth centre.
CSD Karlsruhe comes early in the season, at the start of June, with a demonstration from Rondellplatz that loops through the centre past the Marktplatz and a family festival on the Marktplatz and Schlossplatz.