Travel: Berlin and Dresden — Bouncing Back, Post Pandemic
I had a day-and-a-half in Berlin. I was a gay man on a gay mission!
But when you are looking to blow (ahem) your reputation as thoroughly as possible, Berlin represents a sizable mouthful. Gay life revolves around the Shönenburg neighborhood just south of the Tiergarten, the large park where the conventional tourist spots — the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, the Victory Column — all await your TikTok feeds. But Shönenburg is so packed with gay goings-on, and Berlin is so big and gay-accepting by itself, that even these narrow coordinates need further parsing.
So I booked a room at the Hotel Berlin, Berlin, a convenient and surprisingly sumptuous midpoint between Berlin's daylife and nightlife (that king size bed rocked). The hotel is walking distance from Eisenacher and Motzstrasse streets, the gay spine of the neighborhood and where bars (Blond, Tabasco, Club Berlin, Heile Welt Club), fetish clubs (Scheune, Mutchmann's), and gay restaurants like Sissi (try the wienerschnitzel!) serve it German-style.
I did learn some things the hard way: Gay Germany is a cash society. Have your euros handy. Also, learn the busses; a trek from the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church to Berlin Cathedral is filled with sights historical and ironic (the McDonald's next to Checkpoint Charlie, the symbol of a divided Europe, is priceless), but walking Berlin will swallow the day and leave you exhausted come night.
While Berlin's bars bounced back from the pandemic relatively quickly and the crowd at SchwuZ, the oldest and biggest gay club in town, was delicious, worrisome undercurrents flow. While raves and outdoor events like the raucous Gay Pride CSD Parade solidify Berlin as a gay capital, the actual clubs are on borrowed time, suffering a double-whammy combining economic loss from a two-year lockdown with the slow grind of gentrification. So great is the threat of closure that Rave The Planet, an association of DJs and industry mavens, are pushing to get the Berlin technoclubs recognized by UNESCO as an intangible human asset. It would force city officials to keep the clubs as they are and prevent their neighborhoods being subsumed by rich heteros with kids. In any event, get there sooner rather than later.
And then there is monkeypox. This virus hit gay Berlin hard. When I IM'ed my Berliner followers on social media for travel tips, all of them warned me about it. Victims are contagious for weeks and the virus spreads so easily — hugs, handshakes, from sheets or towels an infected person touches, to say nothing of sex — that the whole atmosphere of Berlin is...cagey.
"The Florence of the Elbe"
When it comes to gay scenes in Germany, Berlin is a tough act to follow. But the sex maze at Dresden, whose gay pride is in September, is no push-over. Rather, in this town, each "play of the night" has a corresponding bar: BOYS is where the party starts, Valentino is where the party continues, and Pick Up (next door to Valentino) is where the party gets real. The stage is smaller, but the players still put on a great show.
The capital of Saxony, Dresden was never intended to be. However, thanks to a grab bag of medieval shenanigans, this city far to the south of Berlin on the Elbe River became the seat of the Wettin Dynasty and suddenly needed to look the part. The glow-up reached new levels of WTF extravagance in the 1600s, when the nobles went gonzo with the baroque style, whose hallmark is "putto," or angelic naked babies. For the Wettins, if one naked baby is good, 500 must be better!
Naked babies on the Royal Palace! On the Zwinger! On churches! Friezes! Random pediments! Playing! Dancing! Flirting! Singing! Strangling each other (not joking)! This baroque-gone-berzerk city has major wow-factor, especially since it is, essentially, 30 years old. Bombed inside-out in WWII, central Dresden was a crater throughout the penniless East Germany years; my guide recounted how as kids he and his friends snuck into the palace ruins on a dare.
That Dresden is gone. My view from the Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe was over a plaza that is pure European sophistication. Dresden 2.0 is one of the great success stories of German reunification. Reconstructed using the original plans and sandstone from the original quarries, Trinity Cathedral, the Estates House, and the Royal Palace, now the city's foremost museum, all tower in curlicued magnificence. On one side of the Palace is the eye-boggling Fürstenzug, a porcelain mosaic of Wettin princes 335 feet long. On the other is an inner courtyard dominated by a huge white-on-black etched mural of Saxon knights. And did I mention the Frauenkirche Cathedral? Jeez...
Across the Elbe River is the Neustadt ("New Town"), where all nightlife is. This not only includes the gay bars and the drag queen compound of Carte Blanche, but also Louisengarten, the best beergarden in town (the bratwursts ain't bad, either) and Pfunds, arguably the most ornate cheese cafe I ever ate my way through. It is also where Lili Elbe, one of the world's earlier recipients of gender reassignment surgery, is buried (at Trinity Cemetery). Dresden was always forward-thinking; its LGBTQ+ history goes back 200 years.
Both cultured and historic, Berlin and Dresden represent a "big pond/little pond" experience for LGBTQ+ travelers. In the latter, you'll stand out from the crowd; the former, you'll be carried away with it. Flip a coin. Heads or tails, you're not going to lose.
More on Berlin:
Where To Go
Tiergarten: A massive park in central Berlin, it has all the major sites, from the Brandenburg Gate to the Reichstag.
Checkpoint Charlie: Once the crossing point between the Soviet bloc and the free West, this wooden shack is now an Instagram stand-by.
Schwulen Museum: This space is dedicated to the LGBTQ+ experience of Berlin and beyond.
Where to Stay
Hotel Berlin, Berlin: Near the southwest corner of the Teirgarten, this very gay-friendly hotel has a perfect location for all Berlin's highpoints. Great sauna, too.
Where to Eat
Sissi: This gay restaurant in the Shönenburg district has the best wienerschnitzell in town.
More on Dresden:
Where to Go
Royal Palace: The Palace, now a museum, is gorgeous. Inside or out, just walking around it is an experience. Don't miss the Fürstenzug, a mammoth mosaic of Saxon rulers.
Zwinger: It's baroque on adrenaline. Actually part of the palace, the Zwinger is the icon of Dresden.
Carte Blanche: A legendary drag theater, there is even a hotel for fans.
Valentino: These two gay bars in Neustadt are nextdoor neighbors. Very convenient...
Where to Stay
Steigenberger Hotel de Saxe: Located in the Old Town, the Steigenberger is the "impress them" address. Located on the Neumarkt plaza, the hotel is 10 minutes on foot from all the major Old Town sites.
Pullman Hotel: Close to the main train station and Old Town, is both pampering and practical.
Where to Eat
Louisengarten: It is an eating must-do in Dresden, and with the best bratwurst.
Lila Sosse: This healthy-eating space in Neustadt also has a vegan and vegetarian menu.
BrennNessel: With modern takes on traditional German menus, this place is in one of the few remaining original buildings in Dresden.
Heiderand: It's a trek, but this restaurant is one of the best in the city.