Last updated on 11/01/2026
Berlin has one of the densest queer bar scenes in Europe, and the ten addresses on this list show how different one bar can be from the next. TheCoven Bar on Kleine Präsidentenstraße in Mitte works with dark walls, industrial lamps and cages on the walls, joined by occult props and lavish flower arrangements, and a Berlin architect was involved in the design. Heile Welt on Motzstraße is the living room of the Rainbow Kiez, with a fur-padded wall in the front room, seating groups at the back and a cigar lounge of its own where smoking is allowed. Möbel Olfe above Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg sits in a former furniture shop whose roof sign still spells out ÖBEL OLFE with a broken M, and its high ceilings, concrete pillars and ever-changing decoration make it one of the liveliest queer pubs in the city. Alongside them are a bar with a French touch, places with a darkroom and eighties parties, and a bar carrying the name of a Berlin drag queen.
Francesca Cerza
For this update I walked the queer bar scene again and looked above all for places where an evening on your own still works. Möbel Olfe was the loudest and the warmest, Heile Welt the quietest, and at TheCoven Bar I stayed at the counter longest, because somebody is always starting a conversation. My tip: come early, the small bars fill up fast.
The TheCoven Bar is located at Hackescher Markt in the premises of the former Sharon Stonewall Bar and features a dark industrial look with metal grilles, cages, and occult accessories. The bar offers signature drinks like Coven Garden, Poolside Mezcalita, and Lychee Martini, along with DJ sets ranging from electronic to alternative.
The Bar Saint Jean on Ziegelstraße describes itself as a Gay Bar with a French Touch: a small basement room with dark green walls and a counter made of stacked old ship planks. The house cocktail Le Saint Jean costs 10 Euros, the draft Helles 4.80 Euros, payment is exclusively by card, the establishment does not accept cash.
Café-Bar Himmelreich has stood on Simon-Dach-Straße in Friedrichshain since 2003 and is the queer address on a street otherwise shaped by party tourism. A sign at the entrance marks it as a gay bar, the day belongs to café service and the evening to the bar, and the Frauenlounge adds a format aimed above all at lesbian guests.
Heile Welt on Motzstraße feels like the living room of the Rainbow Kiez: a small lounge with a fur-padded wall, a back room full of seating groups and a separate cigar lounge where smoking is allowed. The cocktails are what regulars come for, Nollendorfplatz lies a few steps away, and the crowd mixes Schöneberg locals with visitors.
Möbel Olfe at Kottbusser Tor calls itself a drinking hall and expressly not a club: high ceilings, concrete pillars, a long wooden bar, and a drinks menu full of Polish beer and Russian vodkas. Additionally, there's a dedicated FLINTA* evening and the 'Solidarity on Tap' principle, where solidarity groups from the neighborhood take over the bar.
Hafen on Motzstraße opened on November 16, 1990, as the first gay bar in the neighborhood without darkened windows or an entrance bell. From here, the Motzstraßenfest, the Teddy Award, and the Red Ribbon Rave originated, Nan Goldin photographed the interior in the nineties, and it has its own float for Christopher Street Day.
The bar Zum schmutzigen Hobby is located in a former fire station on the RAW grounds and was founded in 2005 by drag queen Nina Queer, then still on Rykestraße in Prenzlauer Berg. Today, drag shows, including with Judy LaDivina, and public viewings of casting shows are part of the program. The audience ranges from the queer scene to travelers.
Grosse Freiheit 114 on Boxhagener Straße in Friedrichshain opened in 2005 and reopened in 2021 under new management after a full refurbishment. The name nods to Hamburg's Große Freiheit, 114 is the house number, and since the relaunch the motto has been Queer and Friends. The darkroom stayed, eighties parties were added.
The Betty F Bar on Mulackstraße is a basement bar where the counter takes up almost the entire space. The motto is 'Small but mighty,' Kölsch is on tap, and hits from the eighties and nineties are played. Mulackstraße was already a meeting point for the queer scene during the Imperial Era, and today the bar is an LGBTI* venue for a mixed audience.
Melitta Sundström on Mehringdamm in Kreuzberg has existed since 1995 and carries the name of the Berlin drag queen and activist who died in 1993 and who performed stage shows and chansons in the eighties. For almost two decades the way to the SchwuZ club led through this bar, which today holds a hundred guests and two terraces.
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