One of Europe’s poshest brothels succumbs to Covid-19

An enormous brothel in Germany is finally turning off the red light and has filed for bankruptcy, after being hit by Germany’s anti-coronavirus measures, reports the BBC.

The 10-storey Pascha is a major landmark in the city of Cologne.

“We are at an end,” the bordello’s manager, Armin Lobscheid, said.

Prostitution has been outlawed in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since the outbreak of the virus.

Some 120 Pascha prostitutes are now back on the streets. Around 60 other staff including cooks, masseurs and hairdressers are also looking for work.

Lobscheid slammed state officials for their handling of the pandemic, in particular their inability to be clear when restrictions might end and the business allowed to resume.

He said officials would tell them every two weeks that they would not be able to reopen yet, but without any guidance regarding the future.

“We can’t plan like this. We might have been able to avert bankruptcy with the help of the banks if we had been promised that things could start again at the beginning of next year.”

In 2006, Pascha made headlines when a group of Muslims threatened violence over an advert on the side of the brothel showing flags of the 32 countries in that year’s World Cup, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, next to a semi-naked woman.

It is being reported in Germany that many similar operations are in imminent danger of going belly-up.

Organisations representing sex workers have warned that the closure of brothels will make prostitution more dangerous by exposing women to greater exploitation risks, as they are forced to operate underground.