In the roaring Weimar Republic, Berlin’s queer community was thriving. They had their own magazines, bars, and safe spaces, one of which was the legendary Eldorado nightclub.

Eldorado was not like the other clubs. It was a place with variety shows, and the guests were a mixed crowd. The club primarily catered to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals, but the exclusive and open-minded environment also attracted others.

Especially when the slogan was: Here is the right place!

Some of the people who met at Eldorado were transvestites – a term coined by Magnus Hirschfeld to describe people we would today call transgender. Hirschfeld was the founder of the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin and was a frequent visitor at Eldorado.

German actress and singer Marlene Dietrich is also said to have visited the club on Motzstraße.

Because Eldorado attracted queers, celebrities, and curious, cash-rich tourists, it was not uncommon for sex workers to also visit and offer their services.

1920s Berlin was more than just liberalism. It was also the time when National Socialism was sprouting. The paramilitary organization Sturmabteilung, also known as the SA or Stormtroopers, fought with communists in the streets.

The leader of the SA was Ernst Röhm, and he had a secret. He was gay and also visited Eldorado. It is even said that he recruited some of the thugs for the SA in Eldorado.

Röhm ended up being murdered after Hitler seized power, precisely because he was gay.

The growing National Socialism also led to the closing of Eldorado. In December 1932, a month before Hitler came to power, Berlin’s police chief ordered that all clubs offering “homosexual dance pleasures” be closed.

Shortly afterwards, the SA took over the location on Motzstraße, and Eldorado no longer seemed like the right place to be.

Bad times don’t last forever. You can visit Eldorado again today.

Since 2015, the location has been home to an organic supermarket. Although it is no longer called Eldorado, the name still appears under the store’s name.

There is also a typically German irony in the fact that the now former queer nightclub is today an organic supermarket. The Nazis would have hated it.