Well, the law was only established in the 1990s.

It dated back to the Imperial era, and what they called indecency between same -sex individuals, that is, between man and man, or woman and woman, was generally punishable by law.

In the late 60s and early 70s, it was slightly toned down.

Starting in those years, same -sex interactions were only punishable when it involved minors.

Which was also specified in the Basic Law or Criminal Code, meaning with those under 17.

It was punishable if you were engaged in same -sex relations, that is, between a man and a man, or an adult and a young man.

You could be sentenced to a long prison term for it.

I know someone who had been arrested back in the Third Reich for being caught cruising in Tiergarten.

He ended up in a concentration camp for six weeks.

I personally experienced about two police raids back then in West Berlin, supposedly because minors were suspected to be in the club, or drugs were involved.

We were required, back then it was mandatory, to always carry our ID cards since the Allied Forces ruled over us, and they’d check whether there was a warrant out for us, how old we were, and so on.

It was discrimination, and I also experienced harassment from police officers who made anti -gay or hostile remarks.

Thankfully, that has since improved.