One of Europe’s largest brothels, the “Pascha” in the German city of Cologne, has declared bankruptcy, the local press reported. “We are at the end,” said space director Armin Lobscheid, to the newspaper Express.
According to Lobscheid, the brothel used up all of its financial reserves during the ban on prostitution enacted by state authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia because of the current covid-19 pandemic.
The brothel operates in a ten-story building and houses about 120 prostitutes freelancers, in addition to about 60 employees, including massage therapists, hairdressers, security guards or cooks.
The official responsible for the space criticized the authorities for not being clear about when the restrictions on the operation of the brothel may end, with the decision to postpone the reopening to be taken every 14 days.
“We can’t plan things like that. We could have managed to avoid bankruptcy with the help of the banks if we had a guarantee that it could be up and running again early next year,” he told the newspaper, adding that everyone knows that prostitution continued despite the ban, but anonymously and without taxes being paid. And leaving women more unprotected.
Germany legalized prostitution in 2002. In Berlin, brothels were allowed to reopen in mid-August, but only for services such as erotic massages. Sex was still forbidden, and new measures are expected to be eased only in September.
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