Urban metro systems are the lifeblood of most cities; tens of thousands of locals and visitors alike use them on a daily basis. Travelling on often crowded trains can be unpleasant, but in many cases the experience is made more appealing by the fact that in many European cities the metro systems also double as art galleries, showcasing designs and works of famous artists. Station platforms, ticket halls, passageways, accesses reflect art trends, visions, ambitious plans – or maybe just the desire to create spaces people could feel comfortable and at ease into, even while doing something quite ordinary like commuting from A to B. 

So when you travel in these six cities below, perhaps from one museum to another, don't forget that there is an awful lot of amazing architecture and art below ground, not just above... 

LONDON 

Why it's so special

London has one of the most famous metro systems in the world and yet many people forget that it also a huge architectural treasure trove. The man behind such legacy is Charles Holden. Holden designed some of the most iconic Art-Deco stations on the network in the 1920s and 1930s, together with the HQ of London Transport, situated right above St James' Station and the imposing Senate House at London University in Bloomsbury. A key defining moment of Holden's work is when he travelled to Germany, Scandinavia and the Netherlands in the early 1930s. After this journey his projects displayed a stronger European/Scandic influence. 

What to look for

One of Holden's first project was a string of stations on today's Northern Line, between Clapham North and Morden. These South London stations, built in the mid-1920s have a typical Modernist look and are characterised by the white Portland stone cladding, huge ticket halls and the iconic Underground roundel in coloured glass, framed by two columns at the front. Another of Holden's creations was the beautiful and functional large circular ticket hall of Piccadilly Circus station. After his trip to Northern Europe, Holden designed the stations on the Northern and Western extensions of the Piccadilly line. One of my favourite is Southgate, which looks like a flying saucer. Another very interesting station is Gants Hill on the Central Line: this station is entirely below-ground and was designed in the 1930s but because of the war was not completed until 1947. Here Holden experimented with a grand vaulted ceiling, a style he saw in the Moscow metro.

PARIS 

Why it's so special

Paris Metro boasts probably one of the most recognisable designs, particularly the famous entrances to the subways, which were designed by architect Hector Guimard. In fact Monsieur Guimard designed two types of entrances, one with a glass roof and one without; both are iconic example of French Art-Nouveau, built in cast iron and displaying the classic botanic symbolism associated with this style. Sadly of the 141 entrances built between 1900 and 1912 only 86 remains as many were (criminally, I'd say) removed in the 1960s. 

What to look for

Although not all the Guimard's distinctive entrances were torn down, unfortunately just two roofed accesses remain, one at Porte Dauphine and another at Abbesses. The inside of all the stations built in the same period (i.e. before WWI) is quite austere and with the famous white glossy bevelled rectangular tiles. The reason for the stark choice was that electric lighting was very rudimental at the time and so this design allowed for a better refection of the light. When the new North-Line was built (now line 12 and part of line 13) the design was improved adding arches of coloured tiles – the colour to mark interchange from ordinary stations. The best preserved station in this very distinctive style is Solférino.

STOCKHOLM

Why it's so special

Stockholm metro (Tunnelbana) was developed in the 1950s, at a time of strong cultural and artistic expansion in Sweden. Being the city located on a number of islands, the tunnels had to be dug very deep, in fact right into the bedrock - and in most stations the bedrock itself has been left magnificently exposed, adding to the cavernous and almost pre-historic atmosphere. In the 1960s and 1970s the then Social-Democratic government decided that art had to be available to everyone, not just displayed in galleries and therefore commissioned a number of projects for the Tunnelbana, transforming it in what is now called 'the longest art museum in the world'. Get a day-pass and take time to explore the Tunnelbana network - which is also a sensible option in case of bad weather.

What to look for

There are several stations worth mentioning, but I'd note in particular T-Centralen, where in the 1970s the artist Per Olof Ultvedt honoured the workers who built the station by painting their silhouettes (and his own) on the walls and ceilings. At Solna Centrum, Anders Åberg and Karl-Olav Bjork painted a fiery orange/red, hellish landscape above a Scandinavian pine forest, running for almost 1km along the walls, a statement again deforestation that was taking place in Sweden in the 1970s. 

Östermalmstorg features stark charcoal-coloured drawings showing key female figures from history: it is the work of feminist and peace advocate artist Siri Derkent in the early 1960s. Don't be surprised by the cold and haunting atmosphere of this place; the artist wanted to highlight that this station was designed to double as a shelter in case of nuclear attack. At Rådhuset, the artist Sigvard Olsson created a pink underground grotto, complete with various imaginary archeological findings, including a mock chimney stack base.

VIENNA

Why it's so special

Vienna Stadtbahn was built at a time of Austro-Hungarian imperial opulence and splendour, between 1894 and 1901. Although several lines were originally planned, only part of the network was eventually built and in the 1980s the Stadtbahn was incorporated into the city's U-Bahn system - it now constitutes lines U4 and U6 of the system. The style of some of the stations built at the turn of the 20th century reflects the Jugendstil/Art-Nouveau architecture, which in Austria found its expression in the Vienna Secession manifesto, a movement of artists who objected to the prevailing conservatism of the Vienna cultural establishment with its traditional orientation toward Historicism.

What to look for

he two above-ground buildings part of the (former) Karlsplatz Station are some of the finest examples of this style and were designed by Otto Wagner and Joseph Maria Olbrich, both members of the above mentioned Secession movement (the latter was in fact a founding member of it). These stations, with their distinctive steel framework and white marble slabs became the most modern, innovative, revolutionary (and thus controversial) buildings in Vienna at the time. Believe it or not, they were both scheduled for demolition in the 1980s, but thankfully the resulting public outcry managed to save them and today one of them houses a small museum and the other a cosy café. Another beautiful Art-Nouveau station is Kettenbrückengasse - also designed by Secessionist architect Otto Wagner.

ATHENS

Why it's so special

Compared to other European cities Athens metro system is fairly new as the bulk of the network was built from 1991 onward, though Line 1 is actually an old rail link between the city the Piraeus port that opened in 1869. However the tunneling of the other two lines under such an ancient city led to the discovery of over 50,000 artifacts, making it the biggest ever archaeological excavation ever made in the Greek capital. Many of these art treasures are now displayed in the stations, which means that metro travellers can almost journey back in time in time, rather than just from place to place.

What to look for

Syntagma Metro Station is where many of the artifacts discovered during the tunneling have been put on display and it is not unrealistic to say that this is now a huge, if slightly unusual, museum of Greek and Roman local antiquities. Here metro passengers can view Roman baths, an ancient aqueduct, marble tombstones, and even a mosaic from the fifth century AD. Archaeologists have also included a very educational geological cross-section – each layer of earth is testimony to a different period reaching back to prehistoric times, starting with Byzantine times, moving down through Roman, ancient Greek, and finally prehistoric. Indeed, a travel back to ancient times.

BERLIN

Why it's so special

As in other cities, Berlin started developing its metro (U-Bahn) system at the turn of the 20th century and also in the German capital we found one man behind most of the architectural design of the stations. Swedish architect Alfred Grenander worked on the U-Bahn stations design from 1902 until 1930, including the viaducts between Nollendorfplatz and Kreuzberg, which proved highly controversial at the time. Sadly he was almost forgotten after his death in 1931, but his designs are strikingly modern and still welcome thousands of Berliners and visitors alike today.

What to look for

Grenander's style evolved over the course of his work on the U-Bahn. Wittenbergplatz station, which opened in 1913 and was partially rebuilt after being damaged in WWII is arguably his masterpiece, a stunning example of Art-Nouveau. Toward the late 1920s his style became more modern and functional and we can see this at Hermannplatz (1926) and Alexanderplatz (1930 - his last work): here we find coloured glazed tiles, riveted steel columns or grand pillars covered by tiles and exposed beams.

Apart from Grenander's style, Berlin's U-Bahn is a fantastic mixture of modern and old, which means that every station is different and a real pleasure to explore.

When to visit

Discover and enjoy...

• 

  Unmissable Berlin

  If you're never been to this amazing destination, make sure you include these must-see sights.

  1. The Brandenburg Gate is one of the best known symbols of Berlin. Built in 1788, it sustained severe damages during WWII and then at the time of the Wall (1961-89) it stood metres from it, just within East Berlin, so it was inaccessible to the public and a true symbol of the city's division. When the Wall came down in 1989, it was here that the celebrations reached their peak. Today it's a symbol of Germany's reunification and has been lovingly restored to its splendour.

  2. The Pergamon Museum is a must for any visitor to Berlin and houses much of the findings made by German archaelogical expeditions in Greece, Cyprus and the Middle East. You will remain breathless at the main exhibits - the Pergamon Altar from the 2nd century BC, with a 113 meters (371 ft) long sculptural frieze  and the Gate of Miletus from Roman times. Also stunning is the Ishtar Gate with the Processional Way of Babylon.

  3. The Reichstag (Parliament) is another symbol of Berlin and its history. Set on fire by the Nazi in 1933, it was damaged during WWII. Although it sat within West Berlin, it did not house the Parliament until the reunification because the capital was then Bonn. After a huge remodel of the building, including the stunning glass cupola by Norman Foster (from which you can enjoy stunning views of the city), the German Parliament finally resumed here in 1999.

  4. The Berliner Fernsehturm (TV Tower) is so tall, at 368 mt, that is visibile from every corner of the city and so it's an umissable feature of the Berlin landscape. Built in 1965 by the then GDR government, today it offers an amazing platform to view the city from above courtesy of the viewing platform, at a height of 207 metres, which includes a bar and a revolving restaurant.

  5. The Siegessäule (Victory Column), with its golden glistening statue on top, sits in the middle of the beautiful Tiergarten park and both are iconic symbols of Berlin. Originally the column wasn't here, but rather near the Reichstag, but Hitler had it moved in this site as part of his larger city plans. Wandering the Tiergarten is a must, to find tiny secluded lakes, wooded areas, beer gardens and even areas where you can sunbathe naked. 

  6. The Gendarmenmarkt is one of Berlin's most beautiful squares, dating back to between 1668 and 1773. Here you will find the Berlin concert hall, along with the French and German Churches. One of the most pictoresque Christmas Markets in Europe is held here.

• 

  Be dazzled at the Festival of Lights

  Each year in October, Berlin turns into a city full of light art. National as well as international artists present light installations and transform the city into a huge stage. They tell stories, draw attention to the special and present their cultures, arts, crafts and messages. Berlin landmarks, historical places, streets, squares, trendy neighborhoods and hotspots of recent history are staged with suggestive lights.

  Find out more

• 

  Feel festive at the Christmas Markets

  Germany is famous for its Christmas Markets and Berlin is no exception. The main ones are held in Alexanderplatz, Gendarmenmarkt, at the city end of Ku’damm and also at Potsdamer Platz, where a giant toboggan is placed. There are also smaller markets around the city. Most markets open around the 20th of November and close just after the New Year’s Celebrations.

  Find out more

• 

  Find your favourite movie at the Berlinale

  When it comes to Film Festivals, the Berlinale ranks up there with Cannes and Venice, and rightly so. Held in mid-February it boasts over 330,000 tickets sold for a total of 400 films. The best of LGBT cinema is celebrated and recognised at the Berlinale with the annual Teddy Awards.

  Find out more

• 

  Enjoy the wildest fetish scene in the world.

  We can safely say that Berlin is the fetish capital of the world where one can really delve into the realm of the unlimited. There are so many events that it's impossible to mention them all, but these are the main dates on the fetish calendar.

  1. Folsom Europe Street Fair. Held on the second week of September (in 2016 between 7-11 September), this is the sister event of the famous San Francisco celebration of everything leather & fetish. The actual fair is held along the Fuggerstrasse, in Schöneberg at the weekend, but there are events all through the week, culminating with the official closing PIG Party on the Saturday night. For more information, visit folsomeurope.info

  2. Easter Berlin. This annual fetish gathering over the Easter holidays is organised since 1973 by Berlin Leder und Fetisch (BLF) and represents the city’s fetish culture worldwide – from dance to politics. There is a huge list of events in this period, so worth checking the calendar. Info: https://easterberlin.de/en/easter-berlin/ 

  3. SNAX Party. This huge fetish party is held twice a year (usually on Easter Saturday and in November) at the famous Berghain club (in fact in both the Lab.Oratory downstairs and Berghain proper). Expect thousands of hot men in fetsh gear (the door policy is strict) and the sleaziest atmosphere imaginable, dancing to hard techno music. Get in early as the queues are as famous and wild as the party itself.  Info: https://www.berghain.berlin/en/ 

• 

  A taste of the Cold War

  It is difficult to imagine Berlin during the Cold War as so many changes have happened in the city since the fall of the Wall, but one place still offers a feel of that hectic time. Head for Teufelsberg, which is a eerie man-made hill created by the piling of all the rubble gathered after much of the city was bombed at the end of WWII. Today the hill is covered in trees, but at the top sits a huge US abandoned spying station, which was in service from 1963 until the end of the Cold War. Since then, the station was taken over by graffiti artists and the huge radio surveillance domes are in ruin. A must see. 

• 

  Where the Wall once stood

  The physical division of the city of Berlin between East and West lasted less than 30 years (1961-1989) and yet it was the most concrete symbol of the Cold War. In the years following the reunification, the majority of the Wall was torn down and the security area (the land in the East close to the border) was opened up and reconnected to the city. Throughout Berlin, the most you see of the conflictive border today is a double cobblestone line in the ground where the Wall once stood. There are however some segments of the Wall left to remember the folly and brutality of the division. 

  One such place is the East Side Gallery, along the river Spree in Friedrichshein, the longest continuous section of the Wall still in existence (1.3 Km) and today an uninterrupted open air gallery since 1990, i.e. just after the Wall was opened up.

  Another place to visit is Bernauer Strasse. Here a large open air exhibition on the former border strip covers four areas with historical audio materials and pictures, a visitors’ centre and an observation tower. There is a 70-metre stretch on the Berlin Wall with border strip and watchtower directly on Bernauer Strasse. The iconic image of a GDR soldier jumping across while the fence was built in 1961, for instance, was taken here.

• 

  An eerie former airport

  The former Tempelhof Berlin Airport has been receiving flights until 2008 and since then has been lying idle and its runways are today a vast urban park. However, this airport has a long history. It was one of the first commercial airports, designated as such in 1923. But even before that, this was the site where American aviation pioneer Orville Wright demonstrated his skills in 1909, and spectators marvelled at the Zeppelin airships. During the Nazi period, the airport was remodeled in a faraonic style as it was meant to serve and represent the capital of the Nazi Reich. So grand in fact that the airport's main building was for decades among the twenty largest buildings on earth, with 9,000 rooms. The terminal building anticipated many concepts found in today's airports and so it is considered an architectural landmark and one of the most amazing buildings of the modern age. You can visit the vast terminal building booking with one of the guided tours available. 

  The airport also had a major role during the Berlin blockade of 1948, when the Russians blocked all access to West Berlin in protest for the introduction of the DMark in the city. For almost a year thousands of American planes brought food and supplies into the city - landing at Tempelhof, until the Russians finally gave up and reopened the border.

  Find out more

Gallery

Planes, trains and automobiles...

Useful links

• Official Berlin Transport Website (BVG - Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe)

• Official Berlin Airport Site

• DB - German Railways 

The Scene

• 52.520815,13.409419

  Berliner Fernsehturm

• 52.5162746,13.377704

  Brandenburg Gate

• 52.4972222,13.2411111

  Teufelsberg

  Abandoned Cold War spy station

• 52.499333,13.3533905

  Nollendorfplatz

  Square leading to Berlin's historic Schöneberg ´gaybourhood´.

• 52.514534,13.3501015

  Tiergarten

  Large inner city park, with known cruising areas.

Related stories

It is often said that there is more than one side to a single history. What one person may describe in a particular way, could be defined quite differently by another. And it isn’t a case of one of the two versions negating or contradicting each other, but rather two perfectly valid cases. 

As every city, Berlin has its own history, made by the million of people who lived (and live) there. So when we look at a picture of this city during the times of the Wall (1963-1989) many will underline the sobriety and the sense of impending doom of living in a divided city where the Cold War and its effects were visible and tangible through daily reminders, such as the streets abruptly cut by a fortified border and the ghostly dimly-lit U-Bahn stations that western residents would see from the window of their non-stopping services running under parts of the East, duly staffed by armed soldiers to avoid any defectors trying to escape by jumping on a passing train. 

And yet, many others would look at Berlin in those years as a world of its own, a magnet for alternative cultures and sub-cultures, proud diversity and revolutionary ideas. Living in the city was easy at the time, because many properties were empty so squatting was not a problem. Many young people who refused the establishment came here, also because residents of Berlin could avoid the mandatory military service in West Germany. 

Many artists established themselves in the city during those incredible times, attracted by this unique environment. David Bowie moved from the trappings of pop celebrity in Los Angeles to the relative anonymity and detachment of West Berlin at the end of 1976, in his words, ‘a city that’s so easy to get lost in – and find oneself, too’. Bowie was a great admirer of the artists and writers of the Weimar era, such as Bertold Brecht and Christopher Isherwood, so it is not surprising that he choose the city as the set for his ‘reinvention’. Planning his move to Berlin after years of drug addition in the US, in the end his relationship with the German city became something legendary. In fact, his three studio albums Low (1977), Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979), are usually referred to as The Berlin Trilogy and not only because they were written during Bowie’s residence in the city, but because they are inspired and infused with the spirit of Berlin in the late 1970s.

Though forty years have passed since Bowie’s passing through Berlin and yet his mark on the city remains as vivid as ever. 

Hauptstraße 155, Schöneberg
This very unassuming building on a busy road was Bowie’s residence in Berlin for two years. For a time he shared the large and bare apartment with his good friend Iggy Pop (one would say - not the perfect flatmate to get away from drugs…). Being quite a way away from the main visitors’ hangouts, this area hasn’t changed so much since the 1970s and apart from the plaque remarking Bowie’s residence here and the occasional floral homage to the artist, one could walk past and entirely miss the spot. 

Neues Ufer, 157 Schöneberg
A few doors down from Bowie’s apartment is this cosy café and exhibition space, which at the time was called ‘Anderes Ufer’. This iconic queer hangout opened about the time of the artist’s arrival in Berlin and one of his regular haunts as he loved the relaxed atmosphere. It was one of the first LGBT+ spaces in Europe to have open windows and it hosted exhibitions from famous artists, such as Tom of Finland. As a shrine to the British singer, there’s a lot of Bowie memorabilia around the café and of course plenty of graffiti left by visiting fans.

Hansa Tonstudio - Köthener Straße 38, Kreuzberg
As previously known, the Meistershall had been a hub for Berlin’s cultural life since the 1920s. The Nazi used it for concerts and after the war it staged revues and balls. In 1961 it was converted into a music studio, first for the Ariola label and then in 1967 it became known as Hansa Tonstudio. A few of Bowie’s songs in the Berlin Trilogy were recorded here, including Heroes, in a studio from where he could see the Wall and the DDR guards patrolling the no man’s land just across. The list of artists who recorded here is immense, from Bowie’s friend Iggy Pop, who recorded here Lust for Life to Brian Eno, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Nina Hagen, Depeche Mode, U2, R.E.M. and many more.

Dschungel - 53 Nürnberger Strasse, Schöneberg
The ‘Jungle’ was a very well known club in Berlin that was in operation between 1978 and 1993, though it operated in different locations before that. Considered Berlin’s answer to NYC’s ‘Studio 54’, in its Schöneberg location it was one of Bowie’s (and Iggy Pop’s) favourite hangouts. A fair testimony of Bowie’s relative anonymity in Berlin, is that one night he sang a Sinatra song on stage but was booed by the public who had no idea of who he was. Dschungel could not survive the change of musical taste towards techno and closed for good in the early 1990s. The building housed a hotel for some time, however it closed in 2021 and it's currently being redeveloped. During its heydays the club also saw other famous international artists such as Frank Zappa, Mick Jagger, Prince, Grace Jones, Depeche Mode, Boy George and Barbra Streisand. 

Brücke Museum - Bussardsteig 9, Dahlem
One of the reasons Bowie moved to Berlin is his deep appreciation for the Brücke movement, a group of Dresden artists founded in 1905. Bowie would visit the museum quite regularly with his assistant Coco Schwab and take inspiration from the sculptures and paintings in the gallery and gardens. In fact Bowie was profoundly influenced by these artists since before his time in Berlin, so much that during his time in the city he worked with his friend Brian Eno on what he called ‘expressionist mood pieces’. A visit to this little known museum really unlocks Bowie’s captivation for these artists and ultimately the city of Berlin.

Paris Bar - Kantstraße 152, Charlottenburg
This upmarket and ritzy French café, famous for its bright red neon sign above its front door, is still in operation today and according to Bowie it served the best steak frites in town. After all he wasn’t so broke. Apart from Bowie and his mate Iggy Pop, this brasserie has seen innumerable artists since its opening in 1962, from Yoko Ono to Madonna. The Paris Bar was also the set of a famous 1979 Rolling Stone interview to Bowie and Iggy Pop in which the latter turned up so drunk that he was reportedly rolling in the snow and ice outside the venue. The reporter, Chris Hodenfield wrote that he sat in a “subdued green room holding a few green souls like they had all stepped right out of Van Gogh’s The Absinthe Drinker.” 

The Reichstag
One of Bowie’s most known songs - Heroes and part of the Berlin Trilogy, released in 1977 tells the story of two lovers, one from the East and one from the West who try to meet at the Wall. It was unfortunately a hopeless wish many attempted to achieve: in the same year 1977 two people, aged 18 and 22, were shot by the DDR guards, trying to cross the border. Ten years later, in 1987 and in a still divided city, Bowie performed the same song at a historical concert in front of the Reichstag: unusually the concert was broadcast live on the West Berlin Radio, so that people in the East could listen, though this was officially forbidden. Also the concert location, so close to the Wall itself, allowed for the music to travel across the border unimpeded and many East Berliners crowded along the Wall to listen to the forbidden music wafting across. For this reason it is said that this historial concert was one of the factors that helped bringing down the wall a couple of years later.

It is undeniable that today’s Berlin is a very different place from the one Bowie lived in back in the late 1970s. The singer was very aware of that but his three years experience in the city marked him profoundly and he always kept Berlin alive is his heart. In his 2013 song “Where Are We Now?”, released on his 66th birthday, Bowie nostalgically remembers his days in Berlin and quite melancholically stresses the changes intervened since the fall of the Wall. The video of the song, which shows images of the exterior of the flat he lived in on the Hauptstraße, the Wall itself, Potsdamer Platz and other locations around the city, concludes with sights of the Siegessäule and the Victory Angel.

If we asked a random sample of LGBT individuals to point out an event that in their opinion represents the beginning of the struggle for liberation and equality, most of them would probably mention the Stonewall riots of 1969. In fact we celebrate most Prides around the date of the riots themselves, in the early summer.

But without taking any relevance and importance out of this key defining moment for LGBT rights, often we forget that the first real liberation movement happened in Germany – and Berlin in particular, in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.

Many have read or watched movies about Berlin's 'Golden Age' of the 1920s, so vividly portrayed in the film Cabaret, starring Liza Minnelli and inspired by Christopher Isherwood's novels. Like many other gay men and women from all over the world, Isherwood moved to Berlin to enjoy what at the time felt like an inebriating level of sexual freedom. More recently the relative laissez-faire of the German capital in the late 1920s was immortalised in another successful TV series, Babylon Berlin. And it wasn't fiction: it is said that in the late 1920s there were about 100 venues catering for gay & lesbian people in Berlin alone, many around Nollendorf Platz, which is still today a key LGBT area. 

But why Berlin, how did it become such a beacon of tolerance? And who are the unsung and often very much forgotten heroes of this first affirmation of LGBT freedom and pride?

The treath of Paragraph 175

A bit of context first. Even in the days of Berlin's 1920s and early 1930s glorious hedonism, sex between men was illegal. That is because of the infamous paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code. This prescription was introduced in 1871 at the time of the German unification under Prussia. The law was made much more restrictive and punitive during Nazi Germany. After the fall of Nazism and the division between East and West, the latter retained paragraph 175 in its original Nazi-reinforced form until 1994, though some modifications were made, for instance in 1969 an 'age of consent' of 21 was introduced. It is calculated that post-WWII over 50,000 people were prosecuted in West Germany under the law. East Germany abolished the Nazi amendments in 1950, so for all its faults, it is not completely without foundation to say that until its demise, Socialist DDR was less discriminating towards its LGBT citizens than the supposedly free West. But discrimination took other forms there, often related to political dissent.

Why in Berlin?

Some say that the German Romanticism movement, its idealism and ethos that heroic individuals could obtain freedom to make their own laws, in defiance of society is the reason why, of all places, the homosexual liberation movement started here. Friendships that bordered on the homoerotic are common in German Romantic literature. So, although in other countries the absence of specific legislation against gay men (for instance in France and Italy) acted as a powerful magnet versus much more repressive countries, it was in Germany that the talk of sexuality was actually entertained for the first time, despite the prohibition of homosexual practices due to paragraph 175.

For what concerns Berlin, a lot of the responsibility for the ascent of the city as a gay capital can be traced back to the 1880s when Police Commissioner Leopold von Meerscheidt-Hüllessem instituted a 'Department of Homosexuals', religiously listing all the known gay male individuals in town. This might sound very much as a J. Edgar Hoover-type action, but the commissioner's purposes were a lot less malign. Although he was not gay himself, he was of the belief that in order to keep control of the phenomenon, the best thing to do was to keep it in check, avoiding abuses, radicalization and criminal infiltrations. Von Meerscheid-Hüllessem was so respected in the resulting thriving early gay community that he was regularly invited to the many transvestite balls and revues held in Berlin.

The Commissioner's actions were well approved by his superior, who was rumored to have a penchant for young cadets and had therefore all the interest to keep the city as lively and free as possible.

Different ideas: Adolf Brand and Magnus Hirschfeld 

One beneficiary of the relaxed climate of the German Capital was Magnus Hirschfeld, a Jewish-German doctor who in 1897. founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee – WhK) and later the Institute for Sexual Sciences (Institut für Sexualwissenschaft) in 1919. The WhK's aim was the support of gay, bisexual and transgender men & women – the first ever institution with such aim and could not have been existed without the support of the Police. Hirschfeld's thought was that there was a 'third sex' between man and woman, and that this was pretty much innate, something that another great unsung LGBT hero, Karl Henrich Ulbrich, had for the first time verbalized and put forward a few years before.

Hirschfeld was not entirely without enemies in Berlin. He was very much interested in transvestitism, lesbianism and effeminate behaviours and some others thought that this was not entirely representative of homosexuality. In fact they believed that love between men was über-masculine, or the ultimate masculinity. Adolf Brand is responsible for having set up the first gay magazine ever - Der Eigene, in 1903, breaking away from the WhK. Not all aspects of this magazine were particularly salubrious: a lot of this hyper-masculinity was mixed with misogyny, antisemitism and nationalism and yet it remains a milestone for LGBT culture.

The Danish Girl

After the First World War, Germany became a republic. Despite being plagued by tremendous internal problems, including an enormous war debt to repay, the German Capital quickly reaffirmed its leading role as a tolerant city. With the vestiges of Imperial Germany gone, the bohemian and decadent connotation of its life increased. This is the golden era of Berlin, where pretty much anything was allowed, probably also because there were a lot of pretty more urgent problem on the agenda, including hyperinflation, which made the currency effectively worthless in 1921-1923.

Magnus Hirschfeld opened his Institute for Sexual Sciences in 1919 in a villa close to the Tiergarten and the Spree river. It was a revolutionary concept: broadening his scope he offered a clinic where he offered sex advice, birth control advice to straight couples and even collaborated on the primitive sex-change operations. Lily Elbe, the first transsexual, so vividly performed by Eddie Redmayne in the film The Danish Girl was operated by Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld himself in the Institute.

However opponents of Hirschfeld, especially Brand and Der Eigene, treated this as a freak-show. The magazine took a more and more anti-Semitic note and some of Brand's associates started flirting with Nazism.

The fall

When in 1933 Adolf Hitler became Chancellor, the purge of LGBT clubs and institutions in Berlin gathered pace and organized gay group were swiftly outlawed. Some people managed to flee Germany, including Hirschfield, who was in the US on May 6^th, 1933, when the Institute die Sexual Sciences was attacked by a Nazi mob, the huge library and archives hauled out and burned in the street, while Joseph Goebbels gave a speech. Also seized were the Institute's lists of names and addresses – it is said that this aided Hitler in his persecution and many of those people were rounded up and sent to the concentration or forced labour camps.

A route through history

Over eighty years have passed since the end of the Berlin Experiment. During WWII the city was heavily damaged by extensive bombardments and more changes were caused by the East-West division in 1963-1989. But if you are fascinated at how this city for a few decades became a shining beacon of LGBT tolerance and then dramatically turned into a terrifying nightmare, here are a few places worth seeing.

7 Nollendorf Strasse, Schöneberg
Christopher Isherwood, who so vividly depicted the Berlin of the late 1920s, lived here with Jean Ross, who acted as a model for the capricious nightclub singer Sally Bowles in his books (and the musical and film Cabaret). The building was also home to many weird and eccentric people who were translated in many characters of Isherwood's novel. His stoical landlady Meta Thurau, who was forced to take a lodger because of the post WWI economic difficulties, inspired the character of Fräu Schroeder, who Isherwood depicts as a typical Berliner of the time

Eldorado – Motzstrasse 25, Schöneberg
The legendary Eldorado nightclub stood in this location, now occupied by a supermarket (Speisekammer im Eldorado) between 1928 and 1933. Inside the shop there is a small photo-gallery showing the pace in its 1930 heydays, on two levels and with sumptuous chandeliers and art. Here transvestite performers nightly paraded on the stage and even straight people queued up in the street to enter the venue. Marlene Dietrich was a regular customer.

Schwules Museum - Lützowstraße 73. Kreuzberg – www.schwulesmuseum.de
Anyone wanting to know more about Berlin's (and Germany's) LGBT history should hear for this very well organized museum, that aims at tracing a history of the gay movement and its struggles. There are a few very interesting images and objects exhibited, a great window on the Berlin of the golden years of the 1920s, including magazines, show programmes and even the special tokens that were used by the punters of the Eldorado to tip their favourite transvestites. There are also plenty of heartbreaking images depicting the Nazi raids and of people who were arrested and deported to the concentration camps.

Site of Institute of Sexual Sciences
The site where the ISS was located was destroyed in WWII, but it was located along the Spree, where now the Haus Der Kulturen der Welt stunning building stands. However there is a plaque dedicated to Magnus Hirschfeld in the park, just to the west of this modern architectural landmark, placed here in 1994 to remember the actual location of the Institute.

Monument to the LGBT victims of Nazi persecution – Nollendorfplatz
While a new memorial to the gay & lesbian victims of Nazism has been inaugurated in 2008 in the eastern side of the Tiergarten, there is also a monument in Nollendorfplatz, maybe more poignant because it mentions the pink triangle (rose winkel) which the Nazi used to brand LGBT people. We can just picture thousands of them bearing this infamous symbol being deported from this area, once bastion of tolerance, to the labour and concentration camps.

Stolpersteine
The Stolpertsteine project was started by artist Gunter Demnig in 1996. He placed some 48,000 small bronze plaques on pavements around Germany to remember those who were deported by the Nazi between 1933-1945. Have a look around the Schöneberg area - most of the plates here commemorate the last known residence of hundreds of Berliners deported to the concentration camps because of their sexuality. An eerie reminder.

I am sure that at least once we have all found ourselves in the centre of a major city, in the middle of the summer, the tarmac melting under our feet and the searing heat radiating from the buildings wondering why the hell we didn't choose a better time to visit... And indeed summer is not really the best time to visit cities, but thankfully many cities boasts blissful oases where visitors and locals alike can swim and relax - and why not, socialise! Here's our pick of the best.

Rome – Capocotta 

Visiting the Forum and the Colosseum is a must when in Rome, but in the height of the summer you could roast a steak on those ancient rocks, so what to do to get some respite? The good news is that the Eternal City is close to the sea and to a great gay beach – the bad news is that it's not so easy to get there. 

But let's start with the good news: Capocotta Beach, affectionately named 'il buco' because in the early 1970s the first users of this long stretch of coast could only get there via a hole (buco) in the perimeter fence, is to the south of the coastal town of Ostia Lido. In 2000 it was officially recognised as the first nudist beach in Italy and is a wide stretch of sand bordered by dune formations, covered by some shrubs. In parts the vegetation is thick enough to provide shelter (and opportunities for cruising, of course). Being quite a distance from urban areas, the sea is quite clean and in fact there is a marine reserve just about 5 kilometres offshore. There are some seasonal kiosks providing refreshments and also facilities like sunbeds, but we recommend to bring some food and drinks as at the time of writing some of these kiosks are under threat of demolition by the authorities. 

The gay beach is accessed via the 8th Cancello (Gate), which is also the furthest one. Recently the beach has become so popular that there are now unofficial areas for different 'gay tribes' – so you will encounter the bears in one section, the muscle boys in another, and so on and so forth. You can of course sit wherever you like! Just choose your fancy… Now the bad news – Capocotta beach is not so easy to get to. You will need to take the train to Ostia from the Ostiense Station (connecting with the B line of the metro), alight at Lido Centro and then take the bus (line 061) to the 8th Cancello. If you have a car of course it is a lot easier: you can park along the main road.

London - The ponds at Hampstead Heath

London doesn't have a reputation for getting scalding hot in the summer, but when it does it's pretty much unbearable. The Thames' greeny-grey hue does not look like an inviting swim and Brighton is a pretty long hike – so where to go for a refreshing swim?

Hampstead Heath is famous as a cruising ground, but the Men's Pond is nowhere near the cruising area – it's actually right on the other side of the vast parkland. There are actually several ponds, of which three are for swimming but the men's pond is the second from the South. 

The water in the ponds is crystal clear as it is fed from natural springs underneath the park (in fact the ones from which the historical and now hidden River Fleet originates), but for this very reason it is also pretty chilly, even on the most searing hot day. You are able to swim here every day, even in winter, though we wouldn't recommend it unless you're a penguin. There is a charge to enter the pond area, between £2.10 and £3.50 depending on the time/season. Or you can get a day-ticket for less than £7. 

Around the swim area are some pleasant lawns (these are outside the swim area so they are free to access) and on a warm day it feels like the whole of gay London comes here to picnic. To get to Hampstead Men's Pond the nearest station is Gospel Oak on the Overground – from there is about 400 mts walk. Or alternatively the nearest underground station is Tufnell Park, on the Northern Line and then it's about 600-700 mts walk from there.

Madrid - Lago

The Spanish capital often stays in the high 30s or low 40s (that's over 100F for our US readers) for most of the summer months. Positively roasting – not even a gallon of iced sangria would be enough to refresh (and we wouldn't recommend that anyway!). 

But in these positively scalding temps it's good to know that even in Madrid there are opportunities for socialising and having fun by the water. And only a few minutes from the city centre. The Piscina de Lago (or more correctly Centro Deportivo Municipal Casa de Campo) comprises several pools, including one that is 50 square metres. The pools are surrounded by nice lawns to sunbathe and of course socialise with the neighbours. There is obviously a mixed crowd but there is a 'gay enclave' at the top of the complex – it won't take long to find it: just follow the hot boys… 

In the summer the pools are really busy, especially at weekends so if you want to avoid the queue and more importantly find a spot to lay your towel try to arrive early, i.e. before lunchtime. The pool becomes astonishingly (and probably very predictably) busy on the week of Madrid Pride in early July – but it's a great place to hang out pre-parade/pre-party. 

The pool is open from late May till September and the entry charge is very reasonable (about €6). You can buy drinks (including alcohol), snacks and food inside the complex. There are of course changing facilities, showers, etc. To get to the Piscina de Lago is really easy – just get the metro line 10 towards Puerta del Sur and alight at Lago (it's only two stops from Plaza de Espaňa).

Barcelona - Platja de la Mar Bella

Being a coastal city with miles and miles of sandy shores, Barcelona offers a perfect blend of culture, entertainment and beach fun. The beach of Mar Bella was actually created during the redevelopment of the seafront in the early 1990s (before then it was a rather dismal industrial site) and since then it has become a favourite with the gay community, also because the beach has also a clothing-optional policy. Some people bare it all, some others don't – take your pick. 

The beach is not as wide as Barceloneta further south and it gets very busy at weekends, but it's a must over the summer months and the local chiringuito BeGay is a great spot to watch the world (and especially the hot men) go by, have a tasty snack as well as a drink or two. The chiringuito is open until late and there are often evening parties in the summer season – check theire website for details. 

There are also some activities i.e. kayaking, wind-surfing and skate boarding around. Despite not being in the very centre of Barcelona, the Mar Bella Beach is easily reachable by metro – linea 4 – and from the station of Poble Nou it's just about ten mins walk.

Berlin - Wannsee

Berlin summers can be hot as well. But fear not: the city is literally awash with opportunities for a refreshing swim and we are sure we won't surprise anyone in saying that the locals aren't shy and have no issues in skinny dipping.

It's a bit of a trek to reach the Strandbad Wannsee but it's possibly the closest you'd get to an ocean beach in landlocked Berlin – they even went to the length of shipping sand from the Baltic Sea to add to the marine feel. The area has been popular for over 100 years and the facilities have been recently renovated. The Wannsee itself is beautiful and back at the time of the Wall it was the only main lake within the West so it has some historical significance. The complex is actually huge – the sand stretches for over a kilometre and on busy days the Lido can accommodate up to 30,000 bathers, so it can get quite cosy on the sand! There is a nudist area and within it the gay section: as you enter the Lido turn right, walk past the FKK (nudist) section and then is the gay 'enclave'. Entry to the Strandbad is €8.

In terms of food & drinks, there are opportunities to buy some there, but it seems that most Berliners bring their own stuff and have a picnic. To reach the Strandbad you can take the S-Bahn lines S1 or S7 to Nikolassee (not Wannsee) and then it's about 10-15 mins walk from there.

Urban parks and gardens are an antidote to the city's noise, pollution and chaos. However some of the green spaces enclosed in our cities are more than that. They tell amazing stories and often help us understanding the history of the centres they sit in. Here are a few more or less known parks and gardens and the fascinating histories they hold within.

Rome – Orto Botanico / The Botanic Garden

The Italian capital is known for its chaotic and rather unruly traffic and in the summer for the often searing heat and humidity. Yet there is a place where peace and quiet are the norm, a green oasis in the very centre of the bustling metropolis, offering some beautiful panoramic views of the city and a welcome break from the summer sun. If it is forgivable for tourists not to be aware of Rome's Orto Botanico, it is rather amazing that many locals don't know about this urban garden either, tucked away as it is, wedged between the river and the slopes of the Gianicolo hill, a fifteen minutes walk from busy Trastevere.

There has been a garden on this site since the thirteenth century, when the Papal orchard used to be located on this spot. Later a proper botanical garden was established here by Pope Alessandro VI - a key figure of the infamous Borgia Family - in the sixteenth century and this makes the Orto one of the oldest botanical gardens in Europe. Successive pontiffs enlarged this space and brought a water supply from a nearby aqueduct, also to feed lakes, fountains and a number of decorative streams. When Rome eventually became the capital of the new Italian unified state, the park was further enlarged when the neighbouring Villa Corsini was annexed, in 1883. Today, the twelve hectares' garden features over 3,000 vegetal species. The view of the city from the upper reaches, which sees trees dating back over 300 years is just breath-taking and you'll be amazed that such space does not yet see more tourists.

Madrid – Parque del Buen Retiro

It is pretty much impossible not to notice the big green blob just south-east of central Madrid. But the history of this large park (350 acres) is quite impressive and deeply connected to the destiny of this country.

During the reign of Isabella I (1474–1504), the Jeronimos monastery was moved to this location and a small royal palace was built next to the church. When King Philip II moved the court to the new capital, Madrid in 1561, he ordered his architect Juan Bautista de Toledo to enlarge the Retiro and formal avenues of trees were laid. The expansion continued in the 1620s when Gaspar de Guzman, the Count-Duke de Olivares, who was King Philip IV's powerful protégé, gave the monarch several adjacent plots so that a magnificent royal house could be built. At the time this area was just outside the city, a cool and wooded location.Many buildings were added and in the 1630 the great lake (Estanque del Retiro) was inaugurated, which was sometimes used for mock naval battles. The Buen Retiro was described as The world art wonder of the time, possibly the last creation of Renaissance in Spain and a true symbol of Spanish power and grandeur.

The park fell into disrepair and then restored to its former splendour several times and the palace was almost totally destroyed by the Napoleonic troops in 1808, but in 1868 as a result of the Glorious Revolution (La Gloriosa) Isabella II was dethroned and the park became a public space, as it is today. A great green space where you can really experience the last 500 years of Spanish history.

London – Crystal Palace Park

London is a city rightly famous for the abundance of green spaces and urban parkland. But whilst almost everyone will visit the beautiful spaces like Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, hardly any tourist venture beyond the centre to explore some pretty impressive and historical parks further afield. One of them is Crystal Palace Park, south of the city. The name is already pretty meaningful: situated on the top and southern slopes of one of the highest hills in the metropolitan area (Penge Hill), it used to be home to the magnificent Crystal Palace, which was an enormous cast iron and glass structure built by Sir Joseph Paxton for the Great Exhibition of 1851 and housing 14,000 exhibitors in a space almost a million square feet large – a true engineering feat. The Palace was originally built in Hyde Park but was moved on this site after the end of the exhibition. Sadly, if you're looking for this beautiful example of Victoriana you will find almost nothing as the structure was entirely destroyed by a massive fire on 30 November 1936. You can still see the stairs leading to the building and some enormous statues that once decorated the entrance but one can hardly imagine how magnificent this structure once was. The Victorians had also built two impressive rail stations to accommodate the flow of visitors and one of these still remains, though under-used – the other is long gone. It is said that this area also saw the first ever (and possibly last) experiment in a pneumatic passenger railway, though sadly nothing remains of it.

Sir Paxton's work is not the only interesting feature of this green area. When the Palace was relocated here in 1851, a series of stone dinosaurs were placed in the adjacent park, arranged in scenic settings recreating pre-historic environments. The history of these statues is pretty intriguing, for their sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, under the direction of Sir Richard Owen, created these works six years before the publication of Charles Darwin's 'On The Origin of Species'. Understandably, these dinosaurs' reconstructions, though somehow inaccurate in light of today's knowledge, created furore and outrage at the time, because they put the biblical concept of divine creation in doubt for the first time and in front of a bigger audience. Though these ideas were already circulating in the scientific world, it was the first time the public was effectively exposed to the revolutionary theory of evolution.

Victorian brilliance, engineering masterpieces and revolutionary concepts – that's more than worth the hike to the furthest reaches of south London.

Berlin - The Tiergarten

The first mention of the main parkland in the centre of Berlin dates back to 1527 when it was an area set aside by the king for the purpose of deer hunting. The limits of the park extended much further out than today, as this area was on the outskirts of the city of Berlin at that time. The urban expansion meant that the park progressively shrunk in size and in 1740 Frederick II - who wasn't so much into hunting pursuits - decided to transform the area into a pleasure garden (lustgarten). To this purpose he instructed architect Georg Wenseslaus von Knobeldoff to enrich the park with flower beds, tree-lined avenues and areas where Berliners could congregate and freely converse. A pheasant house was also built, which would then become the central nucleus of the Zoological Gardens in 1844. There were other modifications in following decades, especially the ones carried on by Peter Joseph Lenne to make the Tiergarten a 'Prussian park for the people', but the gardens remained under the possession of the monarchy until 1881 when Wilhelm I abdicated his rights to this parkland. 

One of the main alterations after this period was the addition (finalised in 1901) by Kaiser Wilhelm II of a Siegesallee, a 'Victory Parade', stretching 750 mt from Kemperplatz to the Konigplatz, which was the original site of the Siegessaule, the Victory Column. The Siegessaule itself is today a key landmark of the Tiergarten: designed by Henrik Strack to commemorate the Prussian victory in the Danish-Prussian war it was inaugurated in 1873, by which time Prussia had also defeated the Austrians in 1866 and the French in 1871, giving the statue a new purpose.

However the Siegessaule, as mentioned before, was moved from its original location at the end of the Victory Parade to a new site in the middle of the Tiergarten (where it still is today) during the Nazi period. The move was part of a general re-organisation of the park; Adolf Hitler wanted the Tiergarten to be one of the main highlights of the new monumental Nazi Capital and he therefore ordered the widening of Charlottenburger Chaussee, today known as the Strasse der 17 Juni, positioned the Siegessaule in a prominent site at the Grosser Stern and even altered its height by adding another 7.5 metres to the structure, to make it more imposing. This would have provided the perfect backdrop for Hitler's triumphal military parades. In a way this relocation saved the Siegessaule, because the original location of the structure was severely bombarded during the war so it is very likely that had it stayed there, not much of it would have survived.

Unfortunately after the war and the aerial bombardments, the park suffered some further damage in the immediate aftermath of the WWII conflict. The Tiergarten ended up being entirely in the West side of the partitioned city, but the shortage of coal meant that a large number of trees were felled to heat homes in the brutal Berlin winters. Thankfully starting in 1949 the park started to be reforested and saplings came from all over West Germany to help with the enormous task. Damaged statues were restored and the park became once again a favourite spot for Berliners. The Berlin Wall used to run along the northern and eastern edge of the Tiergarten. After the fall of the Berlin Wall the beautiful perspective of the Tiergarten through the Brandenburg Gate was finally restored.

Today the Tiergarten is an integral part of the city and a much loved green space all year round. In winter the small lakes freeze and the park turns into a snowy enchanted forest. During the long summer days the Tiergarten offers plenty of entertainment, including colourful restaurants & biergartens, such as the Cafe am Neuen See and the Teehaus in the English Gardens. There are also plenty of areas prefect for sunbathing and in many of them it is common to do that fully naked, especially in the area south of the Siegessaule, near the Lion's Bridge. 

The Tiergarten also features a monument to LGBT people persecuted and killed by the Nazi. It can be found just off the Ebertstrasse, on the south-eastern quarter of the park and opposite the Jewish Holocaust memorial. It was designed by artists Elmgreen and Dragset and completed in 2008. It consists of a cuboid with a window through which one can see a short film of two men kissing. 

San Francisco - The Golden Gate Park

In the 1860s the city of San Francisco had plenty of golden aspirations. The gold rush and consequent expansion of the urban area had created the need for a park, on the style that was already being developed in New York for Central Park. A decision was made to locate this new green space to the west of the existing city limits, in a area that at that time was an expanse of sand and not much else. Some argue that this decision was driven also by developers who were keen in starting a construction boom in that area. What we know for sure is that the Golden Gate Park in the form we see it today is very much a creation of two men; William Hammond Hall who surveyed the land and became the park's first commissioner and his assistant John Hays McLaren, a Scotsman who replaced Hall as commissioner for 53 years from 1890. 

Turning an expanse of dry, shifting sand into a park was by no means easy. Lots of water was needed and this initially came through surface pipelines at a costly price. One of the works carried on during McLaren's tenure was the erection of the two windmills to the western end of the park in 1903 and 1908. These windmills had the practical purpose of intercepting a natural source of water underground and directing it to Strawberry Hill and the surrounding Stow Lake, for use in the park. Today the area is one of the quietest and most remote of the Golden Gate Park and is a well known cruising spot. 

The Golden Gate Park houses some remarkable museums, in particular the stunning California Academy of Science, which is a must for any visitor to the city. The original museum was built from 1916 but was damaged in the 1989 earthquake: the present building encompasses 37,000 square meters and includes exhibits of natural history, aquatic life, astronomy, gems and minerals, and earthquakes.

The Conservatory of Flowers is another landmark of the park. The Victorian-style structure dates back to 1879 and is built out of wood and glass. It houses 1,700 species of plants, mostly tropical and aquatic. There is also a botanic garden in the park, which due to the local climate allows the growth of wide range of species, some no longer existing in their natural habitat.

Another beautiful and quiet area can be found around the National HIV/AIDS memorial. The city of San Francisco was severely hit by the epidemic in the 1980s and this peaceful spot allows any visitor to reflect on the immense tragedy and remember those who died as a result of the virus. Situated at 856 Stanyan Street, in the eastern section of the park, the construction of the memorial started in the early 90s and there are over 1,500 names of HIV/AIDS victims inscribed in the flagstone. 

There are other spots that are profoundly intertwined with the city's history. The panhandle section of the park (between Oak and Fell Streets) was the location of the 'Human Be-In', which was held here on 14 January 1967. This event that preceded and anticipated the famous 'Summer of Love' of the same year, which catapulted the counter-culture movement of Haight-Ashbury onto the world's attention. Attended by 30,000 people it included speeches by Allen Ginsberg and music from many famous bands, including The Grateful Dead and George Harrison. Nearby, the height to the east of the Conservatory of Flowers is still aptly called Hippie Hill and is a great spot for people-watching and absorb some of San Francisco's fantastic colourfulness.