Artemis is one of the largest brothels in Germany, where

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

and brothels are legal and widespread. The "wellness" brothel opened in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in September 2005, a four-story building complete with a pool, three saunas, two cinemas, and with room for up to 70 prostitutes and 600 customers."Im Gewerbegebiet"
, '' Berliner Zeitung'', 10 November 2005. Extensive report on Haki Simsek and Artemis.

Name and location

Some newspaper articles have pointed out that the brothel's name is somewhat blasphemous, as

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

was a goddess in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

who pledged to remain a chaste virgin. Artemis is located near the west end of the Kurfürstendamm in an industrial area of

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

, close to the metro and railway station Westkreuz and about south of the ICC congress center. It is a little more than from Berlin's Olympic stadium, famous for hosting the 1936 Olympics and the venue for several games of the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

Organization and ownership

Artemis was created by the Turkish businessman Haki Simsek for about €5 million. Early investment came from German financier Florian Homm. One review in a German online publication wrote "Although the outside of the building is about as erotic as a corporate office park, the interior is a bizarre cross between mid-1990s Las Vegas and a cheesy British ' Carry-On' film."Soccer Fans Will Get a Kick out of Berlin's Latest Brothel
''Spiegel Online International'', 23 September 2005 Artemis is organized as a sauna club, similar to several other German brothels: both customers and prostitutes pay an entry fee and can then use the facilities for 24 hours. The entrance fee is 90 Euros (40 for taxi drivers and pensioners on Sundays and Mondays); half an hour sex costs 70 Euros. Food and non-alcoholic beverages are included in the entry fee. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased at the bar and start at EUR 10 for a beer. Fifty women work on a typical night; they are mostly nude or near nude, except on certain days such as Wednesday, which is "lingerie day". Women work in two shifts, starting at 11 am and 7 pm. Sexual services typically include oral sex without a

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...

, and

sexual intercourse Sexual intercourse (also coitus or copulation) is a sexual activity typically involving the insertion of the Erection, erect male Human penis, penis inside the female vagina and followed by Pelvic thrust, thrusting motions for sexual pleasure ...

with condoms. The payment is given directly to the women after the act; the house does not receive a cut but regulates the prices and services. The brothel has 49 employees, in addition to the prostitutes who officially are not employees, but have to follow the house rules regarding services and dresses. Each prostitute pays a pre-tax of 30 Euros per day to the government, which is collected by the brothel. The women are regularly interviewed by officials from the state criminal police office. Prostitutes can stay at the brothel, renting rooms on the fourth floor which is off-limits to customers. Customers leave about 25 million Euros per year in Artemis, with about half of that money going to the prostitutes. Annual profit of Artemis is estimated at 3 million Euros. The German prostitute support group ''Hydra'' has endorsed the transparent concept but has reserved judgment until the working conditions of the women could be evaluated. Several comparable clubs exist in Germany, most of them in the area north of

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. One of them, Atlantis, was closed in 2004 after legal troubles.

Events and incidents

Various news sources reported on Artemis in relation to an expected increase in prostitution in Germany during the

. Norman Jacob, the lawyer of the owner, was quoted in one article as saying "Football and sex belong together". On 30 June 2006, ''The New York Times'' reported that these expectations had apparently been too optimistic. In the early morning hours of 17 August 2012, four guests refused to pay their bill at Artemis. One of them drew a gun and shot at the doormen, injuring three of them. The group then fled by car. The gun was a modified alarm gun that shot plastic bullets. A few weeks later, a Russian resident of Berlin was arrested as a suspect in the case. As part of a campaign to criminalize the purchase of sex, five topless members of the feminist activist organization Femen chained themselves to the entrance of Artemis on 27 November 2013. On 14 April 2016, Artemis was raided by 900 police and customs officers investigating human trafficking and tax evasion. The police had obtained information that members of the Hells Angels forced some women to work in Artemis. One of these women had talked to the police about her abusive pimp, a former professional football goalie who would be convicted of trafficking, coercion and extortion and sentenced to 7 years in prison in October 2017. The tax evasion charges against Artemis were based on the allegation that the prostitutes working there were fraudulently classified as independent contractors rather than as employees. The brothel reopened the next day but the two managers Hakim and Kenan Simsek and four madams remained in custody. In late July 2016 the '' Kammergericht'' ordered their release because of insufficient evidence. Defense lawyers announced plans to sue the state of Berlin for damages, arguing that authorities had approved of the Artemis business practices for years. The accusations were not proven and the criminal case was rejected by the Berlin Regional Court in 2018. In December 2022, the Berlin Court of Appeal found that prosecutors' comments to the press about the allegations were "culpably in breach of official duties" and ordered the city to pay €100,000 as damages. A second lawsuit for the wrongful detention of the two operators was settled in June 2023 with the city paying them €250,000 as compensation and issuing an apology for their actions. The operators indicated that they would use the funds to pay detained female workers and donate the remainder to charity.

References

Further sources

Germany backs bigger brothels to fight World Cup sex explosion
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 9 December 2005
World Cup amenity: a 4-story brothel
MSNBC, 30 September 2005

''

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

'', 24 September 2005
Soccer Fans Will Get a Kick out of Berlin's Latest Brothel
'' Der Spiegel'', 23 September 2005
It's going to be an invasion
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 18 November 2005 * Eros alla berlinese, '' L'Espresso'', 24 July 2007
Mega-brothel for soccer world cup
''

The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand, ...

'', 09.12.05

External links