Hot Nights. Cruising und Sex in Berlin

I love the Boiler. Before I moved to Berlin, the sauna was on my agenda every time I visited, because the Boiler - currently the only gay sauna in Berlin - is one of Germany's best. While in many similar establishments, the dry sauna often only serves as a cover for sexual cruising, in the beautifully designed and clean Boiler, both sex and relaxation are guaranteed. The Boiler extends over three floors in a Kreuzberg building. The heart is in the basement, beneath the dining café with outdoor terrace, the massage rooms, and the yoga room. In the large, chic 90-degree sauna with a wide window front, staff members provide different infusions every hour. Right next to it, you can either relax in the 60-degree sauna or recharge your batteries in the dense steam of the small hammam with its light show. The highlight of the basement, however, is the centrally located pool with a waterfall and jacuzzi. From here you have a view of all the action and can also look through a large window into the adjacent cruising steam sauna. When you enter, you find yourself in the ultimate cruising labyrinth. Slowly and exchanging glances, you pass naked, sweating bodies, or catch people mid-action. Through the back exit, you enter the adjacent darkroom area. And here, too, no desires remain unfulfilled, because another large labyrinth with glory holes, lockable cabins, a sling, a small cinema room, and a relaxation room can be found. But that's not all: on special occasions, the Boiler and the neighbouring "Unter Tage" club open together and then sauna and clubbing merge into a unique experience.

Boiler Berlin
Mehringdamm 34, 10961 Berlin-Kreuzberg
U Mehringdamm
Boiler Berlin's website

The JAXX: High-speed Adventures in Schöneberg

If you like it less extravagant and are perhaps more in the mood for a quick sexual adventure, visit JAXX in Motzstraße! JAXX is a sex shop with an adjacent, often well-attended, cruising cinema. It’s hardly surprising, as the shop is located in the middle of Berlin's rainbow quarter at Nollendorfplatz in Schöneberg. Just ask at the cash desk for admission to the cinema and for a small fee, you get access to the dark, winding rooms with glory holes, slings, and booths where porn films are screened. Very different people meet here: from the student looking for some distraction between his seminars, to the employee who stops by on his way home from work, to the old-established Schöneberger who lives around the corner and is a regular. At JAXX, you never know beforehand what to expect. From hurried quickies to unexpected, exciting sex adventures, it's all there. And that's exactly what makes this place so appealing.

The JAXX
Motzstraße 19, 10777 Berlin-Schöneberg
U Nollendorfplatz
The JAXX' Facebook page

Berlin is also famous for outdoor cruising. And in my opinion, nothing, absolutely nothing, beats cruising under the full moon on a sultry, Berlin summer’s night! Tiergarten park is a great example. Before I lived in Berlin, a visit to Tiergarten was a must on every Berlin trip. However, because the Tiergarten is quite large, you shouldn't just hope to get lucky. Your best chances are to be discovered in the western part of the Tiergarten, south of Straße des 17. Juni, around the Bremer Weg bridge that crosses a stream. On warm summer nights, it can get quite crowded here. It’s useful to know that during the day, you can sunbathe nude on the so-called "Tuntenwiese", not too far away - east of Fasanenallee and south of Großer Stern. Interestingly, Tiergarten is not only the city's largest cruising area, it also has a history: as early as the 19th century, soldiers are said to have indulged in prostitution here, which attracted "Urninge" (as gay men were known then) from near and far.

Tiergarten
Berlin-Tiergarten
S Tiergarten

The Hasenheide in Neukölln is now as popular as Tiergarten, even if this park usually attracts a different crowd. The Hasenheide is extremely popular with the city's young queer community. They meet, sometimes in large numbers in summer, often south and east of the Rixdorfer Höhe to party and dance to the music until late at night. During the day, however, you can also sunbathe naked on the nudist meadow. Visitors and partygoers also meet for sex in the nearby rambling, overgrown bushes, both during the day and at night.

Hasenheide
Berlin-Neukölln
U Südstern

Speaking of nudism, Grunewald is probably one of the most popular places in Berlin for queer nudism. Around the Teufelssee lake, many queer - and some heterosexuals - gather together in summer to sunbathe nude. Although the Grunewald is in Berlin, visitors find themselves in the middle of a real forest. One of the places to go cruising is south-east of the Teufelssee lake. There you will find the "Sand pit in Jagen 86". A few metres to the south, you’ll find a beautiful cruising area in a clearing. Here, too, numerous gay and bisexual men sunbathe in summer, listen to music, relax, and read, or look for a sexual tryst in the forest. Cruising also takes place here during the day. So, pack a blanket, some drinks, snacks, and some music, and enjoy a sunny day with your friends in a big city forest with sexual adventure opportunities close by!

Grunewald
Berlin-Grunewald
S Grunewald

Sexuality and sex have always played an important role in Berlin's history. Jeff Mannes tells you why and how!

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