Pascha (brothel)

Pascha is located in Cologne and is one of the biggest brothels in the world.

WikiSexGuide at the front of the Pascha mega brothel

Sex Scene and Prostitution

The Pascha (Hornstraße 2, 50823 Cologne-Neuehrenfeld) is an 11 to 12 storey, 9,000 square metre brothel in Cologne, Germany. With about 120 to 150 self-employed prostitutes, around 80 employees, and up to 1,000 customers per day, it is the largest brothel in Europe. The building operates 24/7, 365 days a year.

History

The brothel was opened on 10–11 January 1972 under the name "Eros Center". It was Europe's first high-rise brothel. The city of Cologne wanted to eliminate the street prostitution district in the "Kleine Brinkgasse" in the city centre and issued a licence to concentrate sex work on city-owned land in the outskirts. The prostitutes sued against the closure of the Kleine Brinkgasse area and lost.

Between the late 1970s and mid-1990s, business slumped as many women moved to private clubs. In 1995, the owner of the Eros Centre changed following a forced auction (foreclosure), and the establishment was rebranded under the name "Pascha". Houses under the same name were subsequently opened in Salzburg, Munich, and Linz.

In September 2020, after a five-month COVID-19 lockdown, Pascha filed for insolvency and shut its doors in March 2021. The property was sold for €11 million to a Chinese businesswoman and reopened in mid-November 2021 under operator André Wienstroth with a freshly painted pink facade. In August 2024, Düsseldorf public prosecutors placed a provisional seizure on the building and land in connection with a wider money-laundering and immigration probe, though day-to-day operations continued.

Operation and Floors

The house operates as a Laufhaus. Women rent their own rooms (historically around 180€ per day, which covers room rent, meals, medical care, and the daily municipal sex work taxes including Cologne's pleasure tax) and negotiate rates directly with clients. The house takes no cut of what clients pay the sex workers; its revenue comes entirely from room rentals and the house admission fee.

The layout of the complex includes:

  • Ground floor: Main reception, bistro/bar, and casino.
  • 1st floor (Budget/Express): Geared toward cheap, fast turnaround sessions.
  • Standard floors (2nd to 6th, 8th): Standard Laufhaus rooms. There are no designated nationality floors; women from Germany, Eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Poland), Latin America, and Asia are mixed across these levels. About 30% of workers are historically German.
  • 7th floor (Trans* Ladies): The entire 7th floor is exclusively dedicated to trans women. Pascha remains one of the few European mega-brothels with a permanent floor reserved specifically for trans sex workers.
  • 9th floor: Hotel P9 (rooms typically start from ~199€–200€ per night).
  • 11th floor (Club / VIP): A high-end, separate club-style brothel offering premium and unrestricted ("tabulos") services.
  • Basement (separate entrance): The Pascha Table Dance / Nightclub.

Prices and Rates

Entrance Fees

The house entry fee has barely moved across five decades:

  • 1972–2001 (DM era): ~5 DM (roughly €2.55). Included non-alcoholic soft drinks.
  • 2002–2020 (€ era): 5 Euros. With the euro changeover, the price shifted nominally to €5 (a ~2x real-terms increase), continuing to include free soft drinks at the bar.
  • 2021–Present: 5 Euros. Following the late-2021 reopening, entry remains 5 Euros for men aged 18+. Pensioners enter for free upon presenting a pension certificate. Unlimited free drink promotions were dropped post-reopening in favor of standard bar pricing.
  • Nightclub / Table Dance: Entry to the separate nightclub typically costs between 20€ and 35€ depending on the day and promotions (often including party/drink deals).
  • 11th Floor (VIP Club): Entry typically costs 50€ to 60€.

Cost of Sex (Services)

Because the women are self-employed, there is no official house price list; all service fees are negotiated individually at the door:

Period Quickie / Short (15 min) 30 min Standard 1 Hour Notes
1970s–1980s ~20–30 DM ~50 DM — Standard German Laufhaus pricing
1990s ~30–50 DM ~50–80 DM ~100–150 DM Entry stayed 5 DM
2002 (Euro switch) ~30€ ~50€ ~100€ Direct nominal conversion from DM rates
2000s–2010s 30€ (1st floor) 30€–50€ 80€–100€ Launch of the 1st-floor express rate
2020s (Current) 30€ (15 min) 50€–70€ 100€–150€ General post-lockdown price drift
  • Express / Quickie (1st Floor): Typically 30€ for 15 minutes (basic oral/intercourse).
  • Standard Session: 50€ to 70€ for 30 minutes; 100€ to 150€ for a full hour.
  • 7th Floor (Trans Ladies): Rates are negotiated individually, typically starting around 80€ to 120€ for 30 minutes, though rates can be negotiated lower.
  • 11th Floor (VIP): Premium sessions generally start from 80€ per 30 minutes.
  • Special Services: GFE (Girlfriend Experience), fetish, and roleplay generally range from 150€ to 250€; BDSM/dominatrix sessions run from 200€/hour; outcalls to local hotels run roughly 250€–400€ for 2–3 hours or 600€+ overnight. VIP room surcharges add about 30€–50€.

Tips for your Pascha Visit

Repeat customers usually get better service than tourists. It is advisable to pretend that you are in city for a longer period of time. This way you get better service because she wants to see you again to get more money.

Be aware of the fact, that there are some scammers that want to squeeze out as much cash out of you as possible and returning as little as necessary or nothing at all.

When you negotiate the price make sure:

  • what is the maximum time
  • how many times you will be able to cum
  • are you allowed to change positions during intercourse or does extra positions cost more

You will avoid to get scammed if you make things clear from the beginning. Some hookers (usually the German whores that believe they are something better than their Latina and eastern European counterparts) promise you everything. Don't lose your head! If you do, this may happen: Suddenly she will only allow you to lower your jeans a little and will start to give you a hand job. She will ask for more money for oral sex, than she will charge another 20€ if she takes off her bra and each other promise will set you back more and more financially without any real benefit. This scam is designed to get you to a point when you will just say, NO and leave with less euros and no satisfaction at all. Rather give up your initial investment of 30 € and venture for a new girl if you get caught in this trap. The girl has secret alarm buttons in her room and within a short time 2 or 3 flatheads with pitbulls will be waiting in front of her room and not let you leave before you pay her. They will ask for money themselves.

Usually pay is before service. However it is advisable to pay after if possible or deposit the money on a table visible for the lady so she can take it after the job is done.

Incidents

The Pascha and the poster during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with the Saudi Arabian Flag and Iranian Flag blacked out after protests and threats.

In June 2003 a Thai prostitute was stabbed to death by a customer in the Pascha; she managed to press the alarm button in her room and security personnel caught the culprit. In January 2006, another prostitute was attacked by a customer with a knife. The woman working next-door alerted security and the perpetrator was caught; the victim survived.

After a police raid of the brothel in April 2005, it was reported that a gun and some cocaine was found and 23 prostitutes were arrested, most of them because of suspected violation of immigration laws. Further it was reported that four of the prostitutes were between 14 and 15 years old. The brothel was not fined however, since the girls, who were from Africa, looked older and carried fake documents showing an older age.

A bizarre story was reported in August 2005: two women, 19 and 29 years old, had rented two rooms in the Pascha and announced over the internet that they would pay any man 50 Euros for sex; the goal was to find out who could have more partners in one day. In the end they had sex for 11 hours with a total of 115 men, and about 1,700 others had to be turned away. The German tabloid Bild turned the story into a headline the next day. The women insisted that they had paid the men from their own vacation money and had not received any compensation from Bild or Pascha.

Before the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Muslims protested that the brothel insulted Islam when it advertised using a 24-metre-high by 8-metre-wide poster, mounted on the side of its building, containing a half-naked woman and the flags from all of the countries which qualified for the world cup, including those of Muslim nations. The slogan on the poster read "Die Welt zu Gast bei Freundinnen" ("The world as guest with girlfriends"), a pun on the slogan for that year's World Cup, "Die Welt zu Gast bei Freunden" ("The world as guest with friends"). The protestors compared the poster to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. In response to the protests, and threats of violence, which began on 2006-04-21, the owners blacked out the flags of Saudi Arabia and Iran (both of which include words from the Quran, though the flag of Tunisia (which does not show any scriptural text) was left alone.

In March 2007, the Pascha announced that senior citizens above the age of 66 would receive a discount during afternoons; half of the price of 50 Euros for a "normal session" would be covered by the house.

In September 2007, a Turkish customer tried to set fire to the Pascha by igniting gasoline in the entrance area; he also carried a number of Molotov cocktails. He had earlier had a conflict with a prostitute and security personnel and returned with 10 accomplices. He received a suspended sentence of two years in prison.

In 2008, Pascha offered free entrance for life to the brothel and the night club to men who agreed to have Pascha's logo tattooed on their arm; about forty men took them up on the offer.

In December 2008, three of Pascha's bouncers beat up an Albanian man who supposedly had ignored an order to stay away from the house and who might have been involved in the bouncer scene. The three men received fines and suspended sentences of 18 months for aggravated assault.

In December 2009, 50 Cent gave a concert in Pascha's night club.

On Mother's Day 2011, the brothel organised a tour for women; female guests are normally not admitted to the establishment.

Documentary

Like a Pascha (2010) (Swedish: Som en Pascha) is a documentary by Svante Tidholm looking at the crisis of masculinity from a feminist point of view. It was filmed at Pascha over the course of three years. The film features interviews with the manager, an employee, a prostitute, a customer and some footage of a rooftop orgy at the brothel. Tidholm remained critical of the business.

See Also

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