Germany Divided

Fun facts

Fun fact · Our own analysis of OpenStreetMap data, not official statistics. How we measured it

Sex shops and strip clubs

Erotic shops and strip clubs per million inhabitants, OpenStreetMap, September 2026

No divide here: 5.5 sex shops and strip clubs per million inhabitants in the East, 5.5 in the West. Hamburg has the most (15.5); Berlin 10.8. Strip clubs are rare everywhere: 86 are mapped in all of Germany.

< 4.84.87.09.111.2≥ 13.4

Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·16 states · September 2026

Former West

5.5

excl. Berlin

Former East

5.5

excl. Berlin

Berlin

10.8

Figures in venues per million inhabitants

The East stands at 100% of the West's level (September 2026).

By state

Former WestFormer EastBerlin
  1. Hamburg15.5
  2. Saarland10.9
  3. Berlin10.8
  4. Bremen9.9
  5. Thüringen7.2
  6. Bayern6.4
  7. Sachsen6.2
  8. Sachsen-Anhalt6.1
  9. Rheinland-Pfalz5.6
  10. Baden-Württemberg5.4
  11. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern5.1
  12. Hessen4.9
  13. Nordrhein-Westfalen4.6
  14. Niedersachsen4.2
  15. Schleswig-Holstein3.4
  16. Brandenburg2.7

September 2026

How we measured this

We counted every place in OpenStreetMap tagged as an erotic shop (shop=erotic) or strip club (amenity=stripclub) and divided by the population on 31 December 2025. We counted with the QLever SPARQL service (University of Freiburg) on the OpenStreetMap planet file of 21 September 2026; each place is assigned to the state or district whose boundary contains it. Rates are our calculation with official denominators.

  • Small numbers: a handful of venues changes a state's rate noticeably.
  • Online shopping has replaced many sex shops; this counts only premises on the map.
  • OpenStreetMap is compiled by volunteers. Coverage in Germany is good but not complete, and it varies with how active local mappers are.
  • Our counts are released under the Open Database License (ODbL), as OpenStreetMap requires.

Notes & caveats

  • Sex shops: 61 in the East, 300 in the West, 34 in Berlin. Strip clubs: 7, 73 and 6. Licensed brothels are covered by official statistics on the "Licensed sex businesses" page.
Show the table
StateSideSeptember 2026
Saarlandwest10.9 venues per million inhabitants
Berlinberlin10.8 venues per million inhabitants
Brandenburgeast2.7 venues per million inhabitants
Mecklenburg-Vorpommerneast5.1 venues per million inhabitants
Sachseneast6.2 venues per million inhabitants
Sachsen-Anhalteast6.1 venues per million inhabitants
Thüringeneast7.2 venues per million inhabitants
Schleswig-Holsteinwest3.4 venues per million inhabitants
Hamburgwest15.5 venues per million inhabitants
Niedersachsenwest4.2 venues per million inhabitants
Bremenwest9.9 venues per million inhabitants
Nordrhein-Westfalenwest4.6 venues per million inhabitants
Hessenwest4.9 venues per million inhabitants
Rheinland-Pfalzwest5.6 venues per million inhabitants
Baden-Württembergwest5.4 venues per million inhabitants
Bayernwest6.4 venues per million inhabitants