Sind die Deutschen pervers?
Germans have a lot of international stereotypes to combat. The nation and its countrymen are perceived to be an ordered, punctual and humorless bunch with a penchant for rules, beer and sausage (or, würst). Not only do they have to contend with these assumptions but the global community also seems content to pigeonhole Germans as being kinksters. Are Germans really as kinky as their reputation suggests?!
We wanted to know if Germans really are a kinky bunch or whether it’s just the visibility of their legalized sex industry. So, we took a closer look at the facts and statistics about their sex industry, porn viewing trends and sex lives to get to the bottom of whether Germans really are the kinkiest nation in Europe.
Why Is Germany Considered a Kinky Country?
One of the reasons that Germany is often considered to be a kinky country is the fact that sex here isn’t a taboo like it is in many nations.
Along with just seven other European countries, Germans benefit from having a fully legalized and regulated sex industry at their disposal.
As a result, commercial sex is considered just another service industry. There are more than 3,000 registered brothels across Germany (with around 500 in Berlin alone) and an estimated 400,000 people work as prostitutes – serving roughly 1.2 million clients every day.
These staggering numbers show just how deeply integrated the sex trade is in the economy and social fabric.
You can find BDSM clubs in most German cities, and both brothels and FKK clubs cater for a diverse range of fetishists.
Widely accepted as a legitimate service and an important part of both the social and economic structure, sex work isn’t associated with the same levels of ‘shaming’ that occur in other parts of the world.
The industry thrives in urban settings where FKK clubs, brothels and sex cinemas remain popular. In fact, the country is a popular getaway for European swingers and sex tourists with the escort scene for businessmen and women also being very active.
But it is the diversity of their porn, their clubs and their cultural liberalism on the issue of sex which contribute to the idea that Germany is a kinky nation.
Quite simply, sex is very much a part of the fabric of the nation.
Yes, it’s true that in cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart you can a huge BDSM scene and bondage clubs are often open to both members and visitors.
All of these elements – a comfort with sex, a regulated sex industry, and the visible presence of fetish subcultures – combine to give Germany an outsized reputation for kink.
But does visibility equal prevalence?
To find out, we need to look at how this openness developed and what Germans are actually doing in their sex lives.
The Beginning of Sexual Liberalism in Germany
Understanding why Germany is so sexually open requires a bit of history.
Germany has been at the forefront of sexual liberalization for over a century.
In the 1920s, during the Weimar Republic era, Berlin gained international fame (or notoriety) as a city of decadent cabarets, open homosexuality, and fetish clubs. It was a place where sexual liberation was celebrated as part of the culture.
Unsurprisingly, this spirit was suppressed under the Nazis (with catastrophic results), but Germany’s permissive attitude roared back in the post-war period and especially from the 1960s onward.
The year 1989, which saw the Berlin Wall fall, also saw the birth of the Love Parade… a massive technicolor street party championing free love, techno music, and sexual freedom.
Of course, when it comes to fetishes, one man’s kink is another man’s regular sex life and it’s easy to judge certain behaviours as being unusual even if they are totally normal.
Nudity & The FKK Culture
Unlike in many parts of the world, there are few taboos in Germany when it comes to sex and nudity and the population has very much grown up with the naked body (Freikörperkultur, or FKK) being a cultural norm.
Although the nudist movement was practiced in a few European countries prior pre-twentieth century, it was in Germany where FKK would find a spiritual home.
Founded in Essen in 1898, the first FKK clubs were a kind of holiday resort designed to promote ‘sexual hygiene’.
Though these original clubs weren’t places you could go and take part in an orgy, many FKK venues have developed into sex clubs.
Germany also has some very liberal non-sexual nudism laws which makes it possible to be naked in public places. A popular law with tourists, you can even go hiking in the nude in many parts of Germany.
As a result of their cultural liberalism in relation to nudity, Germans seem to be most frequent visitors to nudist beaches around Europe.
Some may find this ‘kinky’ but for the Germans, nudity is the most natural thing in the world.
By growing up without excessive body-shame, Germans learn to separate nudity from sex, which likely makes them more relaxed about sexual matters generally.
Prostitution
Prostitution has been legal for almost a century in Germany and their adult industry has long been at the forefront of the European porn markets.
The nation accepts that sex workers are a legitimate and important part of their economy and the country doesn’t have a taboo attitude towards this kind of business.
Sex work is therefore a healthy sector which isn’t stifled by gray legal areas and social disapproval. The result is a safer working environment for service providers and clients and a less judgemental space in which to explore kinks and fetishes.
To some extent the combination of lack of taboos and the legitimization around sex work in general has helped make fetishes more of an accepted part of the general diversity of sexual behaviour in Germany.
It’s telling that Germany is sometimes nicknamed “Europe’s bordello” due to the size of its sex trade, valued at over €11 billion annually. One of the largest in the world – and all legal!
Porn
It is perhaps in the porn industry that we see the most obvious cultural differences between Germany and the rest of the world.
The modern industry was born in 1968 when a slew of adult movies were released as part of the sex wave (Sex-Welle). Despite adult content being illegal at this time, new titles were reaching audiences of millions.
Perhaps the most infamous of these was the 1970 release of Schulmädchen-Report: Was Eltern nicht für möglich halten.
Though these were mostly in mainstream genres, the sex scenes would gradually become more explicit and by the time porn was legalized in 1975, the era of hardcore German content was well established.
In reality, the content of most German porn is no more explicit or hardcore than any other country. In many ways its porn is similar to that of American glamcore but there are some exceptions to this.
Most notably is John Thompson Productions which specializes in bukkake content (German Goo Girls), golden showers (666) and gangbangs.
Launched in 1997, German Goo Girls (GGG) content has been widely distributed internationally and has probably done much for the reputation of Germany’s kinky porn tastes. The brand has won plenty of awards for its outrageous sex scenes and plenty of bans for its ‘obscene’ content.
666 also found some international acclaim but due to various laws prohibiting urolagnia and urophagnia (pissing porn) the series wasn’t as successful for John Thompson as GGG.
Beyond this popular and international studio, there are plenty of smaller German porn studios producing niche content in some pretty kinky areas including the infamous ‘scheisse porn’.
Another name for shit, scheisse (or ‘Kaviar’) porn is thought to be popular in Germany but the majority of content that is filmed here is actually made for an export market.
This demonstrates that Germany’s liberal laws on porn production and general lack of taboos on sex make fetish content more visible.
But, again, does this make the German’s themselves any more kinky than the rest of the world?
What Porn Are Germans Actually Watching?
Reputation aside, are Germans really consuming more kinky content than others?
Pornhub’s viewing data offers some insight into Germans’ actual interests.
Germany consistently ranks among the top porn-consuming countries in the world – recently it was the 6th largest source of traffic to Pornhub.
And when we look at what Germans search for, some patterns emerge. Relative to the global average, Germans are indeed more likely to watch certain fetish categories:
Golden Showers
Germans were about 117% more likely to view this category than the world average in recent years.
Both bondage and fetish were common searches in Germany but it’s ‘Golden Showers’ that were the biggest kink being watched.
A report published by Pornhub revealed that Germany was the 4th most likely country where this kind of search was most popular (behind Austria, Switzerland and Czech Republic).
Hmm, central Europe is a bit of a hotbed…
General Fetish Porn
Germans viewed fetish content about 107% more often than average. This broad category can include things like latex, BDSM, spanking, etc. There’s clearly a strong German preference for fetish material.
Feet
Foot fetish content also scored higher in Germany (about 100–108% more likely to be watched). We know this fetish has worldwide appeal, but Germany is really lapping it up.
BDSM Porn
Germans were roughly 86–97% more likely to watch bondage porn compared to the global baseline.
Another report by Pornhub undertaken in 2020 confirms that Germany is also one of the countries with a higher-than-average penchant for BDSM porn.
In Pornhub’s 2020 report, Germany had the 3rd highest relative interest in BDSM videos – about 50% above the world average, behind only Hong Kong and Switzerland
Compare this to the United States where Pornhub visitors are 13% less likely to be watching this kind of porn.
Interestingly, a more detailed insight report into German viewing trends revealed that the taste for BDSM and bondage is more prevalent with the older population.
In the top searches by age group both ‘bondage’ and ‘BDSM’ is missing in the 18-24, 25-34 and 35-44 categories – but ranks in the top 10 most searched for terms in the 45-54, 55-64 and over 65 age range.
This could imply that older generations (perhaps having grown up during more sexually liberated decades like the 1970s) have retained a taste for kink, or simply that younger Germans take their kinks off Pornhub and into real-life play more often!
Either way, porn statistics confirm some kernel of truth to the stereotype: German audiences have a pronounced interest in bondage, watersports, and fetish pornography compared to many other nations
The Fetish Scene in Germany
With a population of over 83 million people, it’s not possible to categorize an entire nation of people by a single fetish. Nor is it easy to determine just how ‘kinky’ they are but we can compare just how active the fetish scene in Germany is to the rest of Europe.
As we’ve already touched upon, sex and fetish clubs in Germany are fully legal and this makes them very visible.
Clubs like KitKat and Berghan in Berlin have become infamous for their decadence and hedonism with visitors often openly engaging in sexual acts on the dancefloor.
Almost every city in the country boasts its own fetish club; Sadasia in Dortmund, Bizarre Klinik in Frankfurt, Respekt! in Hamburg, Domlust in Munich, Chains of Liberty in Dusseldorf to name but a few.
Yet, fetish clubs are also extremely popular in other parts of Europe too.
Of course, Germany is not the only country with a kink scene. We should know!
The UK, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and others all have thriving fetish communities and nightclubs. (In London, fetish club nights have run since the 1980s; in Amsterdam, leather and BDSM clubs are well-known).
What sets Germany apart is how normalized and mainstream its scene feels.
So Why Are Germans Regarded As Kinky?
So, what can we discern from all of this? Are Germans really the kinkiest?
The answer: not necessarily – it’s all about definition and visibility.
Germany has a liberal and legalized sex, porn and fetish industry and an embedded culture which doesn’t demark kinks as being taboo.
Yes, they enjoy a diverse range of fetishes with a strong leaning towards golden showers and BDSM but are they any different to the rest of Europe?
Every country has its own favourite “kinks” if you look closely.
According to Pornhub’s data, for example, the French over-index in searches for lesbian scissoring by 76%, Italians watch foot fetish content 98% more than average, and Spaniards have a thing for “smoking” porn (yes, people having sex while smoking).
The Dutch search for bondage and general fetish videos 40% more than others. Poles are particularly into gangbangs and orgies; Swedes enjoy fisting and some waterplay; and Austrians – unsurprisingly – love the same fetish genres as their German neighbors (bondage, orgies, etc) and are 947% more likely to search for “German porn” specifically.
In other words, when it comes to sexual quirks, every country is a “kinky country” in its own way.
Germans have earned their “kinky” reputation not because every German is a latex-clad dominatrix… but because as a nation they’ve created an environment where sexual diversity is accepted and visible.
So long may the Germans continue to be as “kinky” as they like – inspiring the rest of the world to loosen up a bit, too!
