Editing Prostitution in Germany (section)

== Forms of female prostitution ==

=== Street prostitution (''Straßenstrich'') ===

Regular street-based sex work is often quite well organized and controlled by pimps. Most cities established "Sperrbezirke" (off-limits zones) and charge the street based workers an amusement tax, that in the city of [[Bonn]] for instance is paid by the sex workers at parking meters, six euro for a period of about eight night hours. The same fee is collected from sex workers in apartments and brothels, sometimes by municipal tax collectors in person. Some sex workers have a nearby caravan, others use the customer's car, still, others use hotel rooms. With recent economic problems, in some large cities "wild" street-based sex work has started to appear: areas where women work temporarily out of short-term financial need.  A "[[sex drive-in]]", or "Verrichtungsbox", is a facility of structures to enclose cars to provide a safer place for sex work using cars.<ref name="German1">(25 February 2005). [http://www.stern.de/panorama/prostitution-mit-dem-freier-in-die-verrichtungsbox-537025.html Mit dem Freier in die "Verrichtungsbox"], ''[[Stern (magazine)]]'' (in German)</ref>

=== Prostitution for the procurement of narcotics ===
In every major German city, there are prostitutes who offer their services to procure drugs. This often takes place near the main railway stations, while the act usually takes place in the customer's car or in a nearby rented room. These prostitutes are the most desperate, often underage, and their services are generally the cheapest. [[Pimp]]s and brothel owners try to avoid drug-addicted prostitutes, as they are inclined to spend their earnings solely or primarily on drugs. Other prostitutes tend to look down on them as well, because they are considered as lowering the market prices.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

In a unique effort to move drug-addicted streetwalkers out of the city center and reduce violence against these women, the city of [[Cologne]] in 2001 created a special area for tolerated street prostitution in ''Geestemünder Straße''. Dealers and pimps are not tolerated, the parking places have alarm buttons and the women are provided with a cafeteria, showers, clean needles and counselling. The project, modelled on the Dutch ''[[prostitution in the Netherlands|tippelzones]]'', is supervised by an organisation of Catholic women.<ref>[http://www.taz.de/pt/2005/12/21/a0026.1/text.ges,1 Florierendes Gewerbe im Dixie-Puff.] ''[[Die Tageszeitung|taz]]'', 21 December 2005 {{in lang|de}}</ref> A positive scientific evaluation was published in 2004.<ref>[http://caritas.erzbistum-koeln.de/export/sites/caritas/koeln_skf/jahresberichte/AbschlussberichtEndversion1.pdf Die Verlagerung des Straßenstrichs der Stadt Köln] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928072309/http://caritas.erzbistum-koeln.de/export/sites/caritas/koeln_skf/jahresberichte/AbschlussberichtEndversion1.pdf |date=28 September 2007 }}, August 2004. {{in lang|de}}</ref>

=== Bars ===
In bars, women try to induce men to buy expensive drinks along with sexual services. Sex usually takes place in a separate but attached building. Prices are mostly set by the bar owner and the money is shared between the owner and the prostitute. The prevalence of such practices has diminished as a result of the registration obligation<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bmfsfj.de/blob/117624/e0f1dec4fa4488a4b46f7bb17b8e6f16/prostschg-textbausteine-en-data.pdf|title=The new Prostitute Protection Act|publisher=Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth|date=1 June 2017|website=www.bmfsfj.de|access-date=20 June 2019}}</ref> in the [[Prostitutes Protection Act]].

===Eros centers (''Bordell, Laufhaus'')===
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Rotlichviertel Frankfurt Main.JPG|Red light district in [[Frankfurt am Main]], with several eros centers
File:Abb182Strasze mitBordellen inHamburg.jpg|[[Herbertstraße]], [[Hamburg]] 1890
File:Hamburg Herbertstraße 2009.jpg|Herbertstraße, Hamburg 2009
</gallery>
An eros center is a house ([[Laufhaus]]) or street (''Laufstraße'') where women can rent small one-room apartments for 80–150 euro per day.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/prostitution-is-legal-in-countries-across-europe-photos-2019-3|title=Prostitution is legal in countries across Europe, but it's nothing like what you think|work=Business Insider|date=13 March 2019}}</ref> Then they solicit customers from the open door or from behind a window. Prices are normally set by the prostitutes; they start at 250–500 euros for short-time sex. The money is not shared with the brothel owner. Security and meals are provided by the owner. The women may even live in their rooms, but most do not. Minors and women not working in the eros center are not allowed to enter. Eros centers exist in almost all larger German cities. The most famous is the ''[[Herbertstraße]]'' near the [[Reeperbahn]] in Hamburg. The largest brothel in Europe is the eros center ''[[Pascha (brothel)|Pascha]]'' in [[Cologne]], a 12-storey building with some 120 rooms for rent and several bars.

=== Apartment prostitution (''Wohnungspuffs'') ===
There are many of these advertised in the daily newspapers. Sometimes run by a single woman or man and sometimes by a group of roommates.

=== Partytreffs and Pauschalclubs ===
These are a variation on partner-swapping [[sex club|swing clubs]] with (sometimes, but not always) paid prostitutes in attendance, as well as 'amateur' women and couples. Single men pay a flat-rate entrance charge of about €80 to €150, which includes food, drink and unrestricted sexual activity, with the requirement that these are performed in the open in full view of all the guests. Women normally pay a low or zero entrance charge.

=== FKK sauna clubs ===
[[Image:Freier .JPG|thumb|A prostitute's customer in a Berlin brothel, 2001]]
Typically, these are brothels in houses or large buildings, often with swimming pool and sauna, a large 'meet and greet' room with bar and buffet on the ground floor, TV/video screens, and bedrooms on the upper floor(s). Operating hours are usually from late morning until after midnight. The female sex workers are typically nude, wearing only high heels. The term ''FKK'' is a euphemism, erroneously referring to the German FKK '[[Freikörperkultur]]' nudist culture.<ref name="DW1">{{Cite news|title=Why Germany's nudist culture remains refreshing|url=https://www.dw.com/en/why-germanys-nudist-culture-remains-refreshing/a-43917929|first=Richard|last=Loxton|publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]]|location=Bonn|date=2019|page=|language=en|access-date=2021-09-11|isbn=}}</ref> In some clubs the sex workers are topless instead of nude. Meanwhile the customers and club members wear robes or towels. Men and women often pay the same entrance fee, from €35 to €70, including use of all facilities and refreshments (beer is allowed, but most FKK sauna clubs do not allow liquor). Some clubs will admit couples. This form of prostitution, which was mentioned in the rationale of the 2002 prostitution law as providing good working conditions for the women workers, exists all over Germany, Austria and parts of the Netherlands, but mainly in the Rhein-[[Ruhrgebiet]] and in the area around [[Frankfurt am Main]]. Among the largest clubs of this type are: [[Artemis (brothel)|Artemis]] in Berlin, opened in the fall of 2005, the new Harem in [[Bad Lippspringe]] and the long-established FKK World near [[Giessen]] and FKK Oase in the countryside near [[Bad Homburg]].

=== Escort services (''Begleitagenturen'') ===
Escort services, where a potential male client calls for a woman to visit a residence or at a hotel for sexual services, exist in Germany.

===For special groups===
'''Sexual services for the disabled and elderly.''' The agency ''Sensis'' in [[Wiesbaden]] connects prostitutes with disabled customers. [[Nina de Vries]] somewhat controversially provides sexual services to severely mentally disabled men and has been repeatedly covered in the media. Professional training is available for 'sex assistants'.<ref>[http://www.svd.se/nyheter/utrikes/sexkop-pa-tyska-aldrehem_6172567.svd Sexköp på tyska äldrehem.] [[SvD]] 18 May 2011 See also video [http://www.arte.tv/fr/2151166,CmC=3141312.html Assistante sexuelle Arte.tv 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121015155431/http://www.arte.tv/fr/2151166,CmC=3141312.html |date=15 October 2012 }}</ref>