Gay and lesbian life in Hamburg

Openness to the world and tolerance are a long-established tradition in Hamburg. Here gays and lesbians can find – especially in the St. Georg and St. Pauli districts – a lively party scene, impressive events and numerous cafés and bars.

The quarter around Lange Reihe in St. Georg has developed into Hamburg’s Gay Village. Here there are numerous cafés and bars, so the street has increasingly grown to become the pulsing heart of gay and lesbian Hamburg. Boutiques and label stores, restaurants, bookshops and hairdressers attract a colourful public – many sport a rainbow in the window. St. Georg is the homeland of the Hamburg leather and fetish scene with its bars and shops, and the gay infoshop Hein & Fiete is also located in the district.

At night above all St. Pauli becomes a gay hotspot – you can go on from party to party, and it starts to get light much too soon. The interplay of creativity, commerce and multicultural life has added to the attractiveness of the legendary pleasure quarter, which has long enjoyed a reputation over and above its fame as a red light district. When the first rays of dawn appear, a night of abandonment gives way to Sunday morning on the Fish Market and so it goes on and on...

Other attractive quarters for living amenities and lifestyle are Eimsbüttel, Eppendorf and Winterhude. Close to the Magnus Hirschfeld Centre Hamburg’s Stadtpark [Municipal Park] beckons. This not only covers an impressive area – it also has a particularly attractive leafy corner in the Blindengarten.

As well as many regular clubs, Hamburg’s party scene also boasts a widely varied range of gay and lesbian events, often taking place at spectacular venues on the Elbe or Alster. From House to R’n’B, Electro and Indie, disco and pop, there is something for all tastes. The locations are almost without exception on the S-Bahn line going from Altona via Reeperbahn to Berliner Tor.

In cultural terms as well, Hamburg has a great deal to offer. You have a choice of first-class ballet at the Staatsoper, classics of gay theatre like Schmidt’s Tivoli, exhibitions, musicals and a broad theatrical scene. Gay/lesbian events like the Gayvention lifestyle trade fair, the St. Georg Urban Festival, the Christopher Street Day, the Ledertreffen [Leather Convention], the Lesbisch Schwulen Filmtage [Gay/Lesbian Film Festival], the Hamburger Frauenball [Hamburg Women’s Ball] and Winter Pride extend from the end of March through to December. These highlights of the gay/lesbian events calendar in the Hanseatic city are a further reason to experience Hamburg’s varied and exciting programme.