The most known gay and lesbian district is Schöneberg where the community sets the flag . Not only coffee shops, bars and other institutions but also the snack-bars are decorated with rainbow flags. Here the community is established for a long time in the streets like Fuggerstraße, Eisenacherstraße or Motzstraße.
One of the first gay bars was the Eldorado which was discovered in the 20s by the avant-garde artists. The Schöneberger district was also the setting of the film "Anders als die Anderen" (Different from the others) from 1919 which deals the first time with the subject of homosexuality. One member of the film team was the sex researcher Magnus Hirschfeld who founded the Institute of Sexual Science in Berlin and played an important role in the gay history. Many of the still existing coffeehouses and bars were established at the end of the 70s, for example the Anderes Ufer, a cosy café where gay and lesbian met. This café remained still here, but the name changed. Today it is called Neues Ufer. Tom's Bar and Hafen are also two time-honoured, but still very popular institutions in Motzstraße. Always crowded in this street is the Heile Welt with its comfortable Lounge and the stylish restaurant More. Its cakes and offers for breakfast helped to put the Café Berio in Maaßenstraße on the top list of favoured cafés not only for lesbians or gays. The Fuggereck has the flair of a typical Berlin pub. In Fuggerstraße gays, lesbians and friends meet in the Café So&So;, which is at the same time bar and Red Lounge. The Prinzknecht as well with its Darkroom and the beer garden stands for fun and action. All kind of parties are celebrated in the disco Connection. Other adresses in this "Kiez" (area) are the WUWU Club in Kleiststraße with its Table Dance and Single Dating Night and the Cave in Eisenacher Strasse.

In the district of Schöneberg exists an excellent infrastructure of information and care centres for gays and lesbians, for example the information centre for lesbians in Kulmer Straße or the helpdesk Mann-O-Meter for gays in Bülowstraße.
The owner of the former Pour Elle, known as the oldest bar and coffeehouse for lesbians in Berlin, has now opened the Together for lesbians and friends. In the Begine, a society for women, culture events and dancing nights are organized.

The district Prenzlauer Berg is one of the most popular districts among Berlin' s students where the parties always take all night long. Especially in the area between the underground stations Senefelderplatz and Schönhauser Allee many gay and lesbian pubs, bars and coffee bars exist which are very en vogue. The cosy coffee bars Amsterdam and Schall & Rauch in Gleimstraße for example are popular meeting points. Here and in Greifenhagener Straße many nice places can be found like Guppi, Villi's Bierbar or the Schoppenstube, one of the first gay pubs in Eastern Berlin.

The bar Bärenkeller in is a place for elderly gays. The owners also runs the Bärenhöhle which invites also to meet people in a cosy ambiance. The Men's Clubs Greifbar and Stahlrohr open their doors in the evening. Another kind of club is the Sonntags-Club founded in 1973 under the name "Homosexuelle Interessengemeinschaft Berlin" which offers a gay-lesbian youth centre, lectures and temporary exhibitions. In the bookstore Lustwandel - erotische Buchhandlung erotic literature can be bought. In the gay and lesbian store eastside books, jewellery, rainbow articles and videos are sold.

Kreuzberg was famous for a long time for being Berlin's most colourful and whimsical district. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the new won role as an inner city district a period of reorientation lies behind Kreuzberg. Fortunately it did not loose its unique character during that process. The gay and lesbian scene is primarily centred around Oranienstraße (colloquial: O-Straße) and a part of the Mehringdamm.
The 50's styled Bierhimmel and the plushy homelike Roses at the Oranienstraße are situated next to the legendary multicultural SO 36. Lesbians enjoy dancing nights at the Schoko in the Schokoladenfabrik or have convivial evenings at the café of the same name.

Around the Mehringdamm at the corner to Bergmannstraße there are a the Bargelb und the Barbie Bar. The so called Café Sarotti-Höfe is the newest meeting point at Mehringdamm. In this street you will find institutions of the gay and lesbian community combined, such as the SchwuZ, the café Melitta Sundström, the Schwule Museum (Gay Museum) and the aha, a working group of homosexuals. The SchwuZ is dedicated to the gay and lesbian movement since 1977 and sees itself as an open communication centre. In the meantime it has also become a regular of the Berlin club scene, here lesbians, gays, hetero friends and drag queens are dancing the night away to House, oldies or Latin. Into the SchwuZ you will get via the Café Melitta Sundström, which is above. The café was named after the famous and beloved travesty star and is the place to get a delicious breakfast. The Schwule Museum (Gay Museum) is the only one of its kind worldwide. Established in 1985 it gives detailed insights into the changeful history and present of gay living by its various exhibitions, collections and lectures.

The district of Friedrichshain has not necessarily been a popular meeting place of the Berlin gay and lesbian community in the past, but things have changed in that respect in the last couple of years. The main centres are the area around Simon-Dach-Straße and the East Side Gallery.

The HT and the Himmelreich invite you to sip cocktails, before you will hit the dance floors at the discotheques near the East Side Gallery. At the Busche, which is Europe's biggest gay and lesbian discotheque party people are dancing to chart music and disco classics. The Kleine Busche (Small Busche) may be smaller, but is popular all the same.
A bit away from the area around Simon-Dach-Straße gay/ lesbian and mixed public may get a new hair cut at Meister Jacobs (Master Jacobs) and then relax with beverages and snacks in the café at the same place. Blühende Landschaften (Flowering Landscapes) is the name of a café in Samariter Straße and worth exploring.

Next to the "Tiergarten" (district and largest Park of the German Capital) with the new Central Station, the trendy district of Mitte is an ideal place to dance the night away in various dance clubs. As a matter of course there are also strictly lesbian or gay parties, that are taking place more or less regularly. While lesbians have fun at Driven Attacks in the Kalkscheune and the female jungle in the Ackerkeller, gay men will enjoy partying at the Club 69 in the Kalkscheune or at the Klub International. Gays and lesbians who would love to have a night out with their hetero friends are perfectly right at the Niteclub in the Sage Club or in the Café Moskau.

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