Audio 8 > Paragraph 175
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 […]
Audio 7 > POLIZEI! Identity Check
Well, since I was also addicted to drugs, and often on public toilets, not sitting there to cruise but to shoot up, there were also police raids where I was taken to the police station. There I experienced verbal abuse, like one of them saying, can’t you get me some gay porn, making a joke […]
Audio 6 > Schwulen-Klatschen
There were also many homosexual political groups like where we took to the streets to fight for our rights. After we ourselves had seen cruising in our private realm of sexual freedom, we were quickly taught otherwise. Because there were police raids in the clubs, in the bars, in public toilets, even in Teargarten. This […]
Audio 5 > Cleaning!
The BSR handled it back then. Today, with these coin -operated toilets, it’s a private company. But in the past, the BSR, the City Cleaning Service, took care of cleaning the toilets. They came twice a day because, of course, a lot of people either missed the ball when taking a dump, or if they […]
Audio 4 > The Thrill and the Threat
Well, it was in Yorkstrasse. No, it was actually in Gneisenaustrasse, at a sports field, and I often went there in the mornings, afternoons, or evenings, and it must have been around noon. And as I said, I was looking through the hole because someone new had entered the toilet. And there was this beautiful […]
Audio 3 > The stall at Richard-Wagner-Platz
Yes, so before you even went there, I live on the right side of Bismarckstrasse. Right across from me was the main entrance to the Deutsche Opa, and next to the opera, which stretches down from the block, was Krummestrasse. In front of it was, as I said, a snack kiosk, where you could buy […]
Audio 2 > Klappenfahrt
My favorite cruising spots were underground, and on many U -Bahn stations there were often public toilets. This was at Sophie -Charlotte -Platz in Charlottenburg, Olympia -Stadion, Deutscher -Oppert, at Suchtern, at Hermannstraße, Gneisenau -Straße, Meeringdam, Innsbruck -Platz, Rathaus -Schonneburg. So I often took the U -Bahn, not because I had to go anywhere, but […]
Audio 1 > Cruising in West Berlin
Well, what did cruising mean? Yeah, cruising was an intense opportunity. It created a niche for the sexual freedom of gay men in West Berlin. Because when I first went to gay bars, to discos, it was still like that. You had to ring the bell to get in. There was no public access to […]