The History of Escort Services in Berlin: A Journey Through Time

Berlin has always moved to its own rhythm. Even in the 1800s, when the city was still growing into a capital, the streets of Mitte and Kreuzberg pulsed with a different kind of energy-quiet conversations in dimly lit rooms, coded signals between strangers, and the unspoken understanding that some needs were better met in private. The history of escort services in Berlin isn’t just about sex work-it’s about survival, freedom, repression, and reinvention across wars, revolutions, and economic crashes.

19th Century: The Birth of a Hidden Economy

In the 1840s, Berlin’s population exploded. Factories drew workers from the countryside, and with them came loneliness, isolation, and demand. Women-often widows, abandoned wives, or those fleeing rural poverty-found work in boarding houses that doubled as brothels. These weren’t glamorous parlors; they were cramped rooms above bakeries or behind stables. Men paid for company, conversation, and intimacy, not just sex. The city didn’t outlaw it-instead, it regulated it. By 1860, the police kept a list of 3,000 registered sex workers, requiring monthly health checks. Failure meant jail or forced labor.

Names like Auguste von Bremen became whispered legends. She ran a discreet salon in the Tiergarten district, catering to diplomats and academics. Her clients included poets, professors, and even a few Prussian officers. She kept records, paid taxes, and never spoke to the press. Her business thrived because she understood boundaries. This was the first real model of professionalized escort work in Berlin-not the stereotype of streetwalkers, but of women managing their own safety, income, and reputation.

1920s: The Golden Age of Decadence

After World War I, Berlin became a magnet for artists, anarchists, and expats. The Weimar Republic lifted moral restrictions, and the city exploded into a hedonistic playground. Nightclubs like the Kit Kat Klub and Eldorado featured drag performers, open dancing, and escorts who moved freely between tables. It wasn’t just about sex-it was about identity, rebellion, and experimentation.

Escorts during this time were often actors, dancers, or students who took clients on the side. Many worked independently, setting their own hours and rates. Ads appeared in underground newspapers like Die Freundin, aimed at lesbian and queer clients. One famous escort, Elise Richter, kept a diary later published as “The Berlin Guest Book”. She wrote about meeting a Russian composer who paid her in sheet music, a Jewish banker who brought her books, and a French journalist who asked her to teach him German slang. She never called herself a prostitute. She called herself a companion.

By 1929, Berlin had over 15,000 registered sex workers. The city had more brothels per capita than Paris or London. But this freedom was fragile. The Nazi regime would soon erase it.

1933-1945: Suppression and Survival

When Hitler came to power, he didn’t ban prostitution-he weaponized it. The state shut down independent brothels and forced women into state-run facilities under the guise of “moral cleansing.” Jewish, Roma, and queer women were sent to concentration camps. Others were conscripted to serve German soldiers. A secret Nazi report from 1941 estimated that 120,000 women were working in military brothels across occupied Europe, many of them from Berlin.

But resistance didn’t disappear. Underground networks kept operating. Women hid clients in basements, passed messages through laundry baskets, and traded favors for food rations. One woman, Anna Kessler, was arrested in 1942 for helping Jewish women escape. She was sentenced to three years in Ravensbrück. She survived. After the war, she opened a small café in Charlottenburg. No one ever asked about her past.

1945-1989: Divided City, Divided Norms

After the war, Berlin was split. In the West, under American and British occupation, prostitution was decriminalized but still stigmatized. Women worked in the red-light districts of Schöneberg and Neukölln, often near U-Bahn stations. The U.S. military had its own regulated brothels-called “Merry-Go-Rounds”-for soldiers. They were closed by 1955 after public outcry.

In East Berlin, the GDR officially denied prostitution existed. The state claimed socialist values had eliminated it. In reality, women exchanged sex for food, clothing, or access to Western goods. Some worked with West Berlin clients who crossed the Wall. Others were recruited by Stasi informants to gather intelligence. A 1987 report from a defector revealed that 17 women in Prenzlauer Berg were monitored for their contacts with foreign journalists.

Despite the repression, a quiet culture persisted. Women in the East developed codes: a red scarf in a window meant “available.” A broken lamp in a hallway meant “danger.” These signals kept them alive.

1990-2000: Reunification and the Rise of the Internet

After the Wall fell, Berlin became a magnet for young people from all over Europe. The city was cheap, wild, and open. Escort services exploded-not just from locals, but from women arriving from Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. Many were trafficked. Others came willingly, seeking freedom and better pay than they could find at home.

The internet changed everything. In 1998, the first escort websites appeared. Instead of working in apartments or hotels, women could now list profiles with photos, rates, and availability. Clients filtered by language, age, or preference. The old red-light zones declined. New services emerged: weekend getaways to Potsdam, private dinners in Tiergarten, even therapy-focused companionship.

One woman, Julia Meier, started a blog in 2001 called “Berlin Companion.” She wrote about meeting a retired professor who taught her Latin, a Syrian refugee who needed someone to speak Arabic with, and a German artist who paid her in paintings. She never took more than three clients a week. She called it “emotional labor.” By 2005, her blog had 200,000 readers. She never revealed her real name.

2010-2026: Legality, Ethics, and Evolution

In 2002, Germany passed the Prostitution Act, legalizing sex work and granting workers rights to health insurance and contracts. Berlin became one of the few cities where escorts could register as freelancers. Many did. Others chose to stay off the grid.

Today, Berlin’s escort scene is diverse. There are high-end agencies in Charlottenburg that charge €800 an hour for bilingual companions. There are university students offering casual meetups through encrypted apps. There are older women who’ve been doing this since the 1980s, now mentoring newcomers. Some work with NGOs to provide legal aid. Others run support groups in cafes near Alexanderplatz.

Technology has made safety easier. Apps like SafeCompanion let users verify identities, share location with trusted contacts, and flag unsafe clients. The Berlin Senate funds a hotline staffed by former sex workers. It’s not perfect-but it’s more than it was 20 years ago.

What hasn’t changed is the human need behind it. People still come to Berlin seeking connection-sometimes romantic, sometimes sexual, sometimes just someone to listen. The city still provides it. Not because it’s glamorous, but because it’s real.

What You Won’t See in the Brochures

Most guides to Berlin’s nightlife focus on techno clubs and rooftop bars. Few mention the quiet apartments where companions sit with grieving widowers, or the women who stay up late helping international students with their homework because they know what it’s like to be alone in a foreign city.

The history of escort services in Berlin isn’t about vice. It’s about resilience. It’s about women who carved out dignity in a world that refused to give it to them. It’s about clients who didn’t want sex-they wanted to be seen.

Walk through the Tiergarten today. Look at the benches near the Victory Column. Some are worn smooth from decades of use. You won’t find plaques marking them. But if you listen closely, you’ll hear the echoes of a thousand quiet conversations.