Biggest brothel and a world of options for sex seekers
The biggest brothel in the world, the Pascha, in suburban Cologne, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Each floor has 20 rooms; each room accomodates one self-employed prostitute. That's a mighty lot of accomodation for paying customers.
But this June, when a million foreign football fans converge on Germany for the FIFA World Cup, they won't be restricted merely to legalised brothels like the Pascha. Germany has one of the most liberal commercial sex industries anywhere; it offers a veritable smorgasbord of temptations.
Most German cities boast clubs called FKKs (for Freikorperkultur, or "free body culture"). Once nudist clubs, they are now luxury saunas featuring paid-for sex.
Droves of streetwalkers stroll the conventional red-light districts, such as Hamburg's Reeperbahn, and "dating bars" double as bordellos.
Some places have special "tolerance zones," where the cheapest sex is available. Geestmundestrasse, on the outskirts of Cologne, is one of these. Here, the road full of prostitutes is hidden from view by a vast green nylon curtain. But the curtain has had holes ripped in it, so cheapskate voyeurs can peep for free at the sex-workers.
Sounds like an embarrassment of, umm, riches. Yet some German politicians worry that even this won't be enough to satisfy the fanatic footballers. Some cities—Dortmund, Dusseldorf—propose handing out free condoms to newly licensed prostitutes. Others are building "portable sex huts," where prostitutes can ply their trade.
Some, of course, find this pandemic pandering distasteful. The Swedish Sex Equality Ombudsman even demanded that the national team withdraw from the finals; but the Swedish Football Association said that would "disappoint the country."
Some fear an increase in forced prostitution. It's been estimated that as many as 40,000 women from poorer eastern European countries may be headed for Germany, some of them against their will. But others are just as likely hoping to make a euro or two for themselves.
Considering all the preparations and options, no one should be disappointed.