Stung by the economic crisis, a brothel in Berlin has leapt on the “green” bandwagon and is offering discounts to clients who can prove they arrived by public transport or bicycle — with some success.
“Everyone’s a winner,” explained Regina Goetz, a former prostitute who runs the Maison d’envie — “House of Desire” — brothel in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg. The district, located in the former East Berlin, is a stronghold for the ecologist Green party.
“The environment is a topic on everyone’s lips and it’s pretty difficult to park around here. So we came up with the idea of an “eco discount” of 5 euros (US$7.40) to anyone who leaves the car at home,” Goetz told reporters.
PHOTO: AFP
“The crisis has slashed our turnover in half in the last year,” the 56-year-old told reporters over coffee and cakes, flanked by scantily clad prostitutes.
But the green discounts have proved a roaring success and got business back on track, she said.
Fifteen minutes in the brothel costs 25 euros rather than 30 euros for environmentally conscious punters, around 10 percent of whom have taken up the offer.
To qualify for the discount, “clients who come by bike show their helmet or their padlock keys,” she said. “Others hand in their ticket or monthly pass if they have come on the bus.”
The brothel itself is a model of discretion — only a small brass plaque advertising “the little sexy address” betrays the true purpose of the building, housed in a block with a bike shop, a burger bar and a pub.
Clients pass through a courtyard scattered with rubbish dumps, pushchairs, kids’ bikes and buggies before arriving at a corridor where a doormat emblazoned with a red heart indicates the hoped-for destination.
“We have a really nice atmosphere here, the neighbors are great,” said one of the prostitutes, a blonde in her 30s with short hair, sporting fishnet tights and red lacy undies under her turquoise dressing-gown.
She said that she had already welcomed several customers on the eco tariff, like all her colleagues — about a dozen women aged between 20 and 45, the majority of whom work part-time.
One of them said she was a nurse secretly moonlighting as a prostitute. Another said she was a dietary counselor in a gym — “but times are hard.” A third said she was a housewife.
As for the clients, they come in all shapes and sizes, from all social classes and all ages, right up to the “doyen,” who is 86 years old, said Goetz.
All the employees of the Maison d’envie wholeheartedly approve of the eco tariff. “Regina is full of good ideas,” one said.
The establishment also offers special “weekend rates” with jacuzzi options and a “two-for-one” rate.
For Goetz, the brothel is “a business like any other” and prostitution is a legal sector in Germany with around 400,000 employees.
“In these tight times, we are cutting costs. We’ve binned the tax advisor, reduced the hours of the cleaning lady and I only buy low-cost cleaning products,” Goetz said.
And like any other head of industry, she is careful to appear bullish on the sector’s prospects.
“In a business like ours, there are always ups and downs. But we want the recovery to come quickly. I check the stock market prices every day,” she said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue