There are several bars in Munich where the stars and starlets of this world used to be regular guests. Robert De Niro and Brigitte Bardot visited the Alter Simpl, and Mick Jagger could be found at Café Jasmin. There is another such place in the Gärtnerplatz district, which, however, became famous not only as a meeting place for artists but also as a gay hangout. Even today, the legendary Deutsche Eiche is still an important meeting place for the queer community, with a long history dating back over 165 years.
Hot spot of the Munich cultural scene
Photo: Unknown/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
From the beginning, the Deutsche Eiche was a tavern or pub, and later the first hotel rooms were added. The inn at Reichenbachstraße 13 was run for a long time by the Reichenbach family of the same name. Due to its proximity to the slaughterhouse and the wholesale market, the Deutsche Eiche attracted many guests; dancers from the Gärtnerplatztheater came there to perform. After the end of World War II, more and more dancers, actors, and artists flocked to the restaurant, and it gradually transformed into an artists’ meeting place. The Deutsche Eiche was popular with them because of its reasonable prices, and meals were often on the house. At some point, premiere celebrations for the Gärtnerplatztheater even took place in the restaurant.
In addition to local artists, international celebrities also frequented the Deutsche Eiche. The singer LaDonna Adrian Gaine starred in the musical “Hair,” which was performed at the Gärtnerplatztheater. During this time, she met an Austrian dentist named Sommer, with whom she was expecting a child. She then changed her name to Donna Summer and lived with her daughter at the Deutsche Eiche. Eventually, she was discovered by Giorgio Moroder, who made her a star.
Director and actor Rainer Werner Fassbinder was another regular at the restaurant, who even moved to Reichenbachstr. 12 directly opposite in order to be as close to it as possible. His polarizing manner is said to have ensured that other guests did not return to the restaurant. Freddie Mercury, who lived in Munich for six years, was also a regular at the Deutsche Eiche, as was Rudolph Moshammer. Today, mosaics of Fassbinder and Mercury adorn the facade of the restaurant.
The significance of the Deutsche Eiche in the queer community
Photo: Birk Ewald/Unsplash
Gay men also frequented the Eiche, and it soon became the epicenter of Munich’s gay scene. In 1971, the HAG, the Homosexual Action Group Munich, was founded here, which was to be the city’s first gay group. In the 1990s, however, the scene’s meeting place was on the verge of closure. Costs were rising and guests were staying away. The Deutsche Eiche was to be sold and converted into an office building, but its supporters fought back and it received worldwide support, even from the USA.
Finally, the Holzapfel family bought the Eiche and turned it into Munich’s first men-only bathhouse. It spans four floors and over 2,000 square meters. There is a whirlpool, two Finnish saunas, several steam baths, a massage area, and a hammam. There are also several dark rooms in the basement. The Deutsche Eiche is the largest men’s sauna in Germany and is also one of the largest of its kind in the world.
Today, however, it is no longer just gay men who meet at the Eiche, but the entire queer community. And heterosexuals also like to come here to eat or enjoy a drink on the roof terrace. Not to be forgotten is the legendary carnival party at the Deutsche Eiche. Artists from the Gärtnerplatztheater began organizing carnival celebrations here over time , and this tradition continues to this day. On Shrove Tuesday, Reichenbachstraße is closed to traffic and you can celebrate on the street with drag queens and DJ sets.