Tom's Bar

About this place Tom's Bar

Tom's Bar on the Motzstraße has been in operation since 1976, making it one of the oldest continuously operating gay venues in Berlin. In a city that was already developing a distinctive gay scene in the 1970s, Tom's was established early as a cruising bar for men — and its character has not fundamentally changed in 50 years. The bar occupies multiple levels, with the basement darkroom as the venue's defining feature. The crowd is predominantly gay male, tends toward bear, leather and masculine presentation, and has a significant proportion of regulars who have been coming for years. Tom's Bar is one of the anchors of what remains of the Schöneberg cruising scene — a tradition that was far more extensive in the pre-AIDS era but which the bar has maintained through changing times. For visitors looking for the direct historical connection to Berlin's gay scene of the 1970s and 1980s, Tom's Bar is one of the few remaining physical links. It is not a tourist attraction but a working venue — and the distinction matters.