GOODBYE TO BERLIN

For many people, Berlin is the true capital of Europe. Having, at one historical time, been split into both an East and West Berlin, it can truly claim to being the middle point of post-war Europe, where the West met the former Soviet Union.

Between the two world wars it enjoyed a salacious reputation. It was the capital of the “anything goes” Weimar Republic as documented by British author/gay pioneer Christopher Isherwood, and as portrayed in the musical Cabaret. It all came to an untimely end when Hitler’s Nazi Party stomped ominously to power in Germany in 1933 and remained there for 12 long, destructive years until the end of World War II.

With the collapse of the Berlin Wall, followed by German reunification in 1989, came the notion that Berlin should, once again, become the true capital of a unified Germany, much to the West German city of Bonn’s displeasure.

Long admired before reunification for its bohemian ways and artistic bent, greater Berlin was heralded as the home of the much-feted annual Love Parade. It was also a revolutionary place where techno and electro came together on dancefloors and became a nightclub nirvana.

Today, Berlin’s reputation as a sex destination for gay men is deserved. Mostly, what happens in Berlin, stays in Berlin. In fact, much of it couldn’t, and wouldn’t, happen anywhere else in the world.