I can remember back in 1983, when the first horror messages of a deadly venereal disease first appeared in the press. In New York and eastern parts of America an illness had broken out and its victims were predominantly gay. These reports led to hysteria in the Cologne gay scene: Everyone was infected with anxiety.

The press was relentless. The disease was supposedly a punishment of the gays by God himself. Doctors also had to give their say on the matter. One in particular, Dr. Mutter, recommended tattooing a letter on the foreheads of the infected, as way to distinguish them from everyone else. The Bavarian politician, Gauweiler, also drew lots of attention for his tough stance on gays. With such media dramatizations of the illness, it was no wonder that many of those infected felt like outcasts of society.

From 1972 to 1984, the Sauna Vulcano campaigned for the rights of gays, but after all of the negative press reports about the disease, we thought that all of our efforts were for nothing. We had the feeling, that the majority of people would have loved to have dropped a bomb on our sauna. Every time that I would go to work or exit the sauna, I was uncomfortable from the looks and stares from passersby.

It was around this time that the illness got a name: AIDS. Everyone was talking about it. Many theories as to its origin were speculated about, one of which concerned a toxic leak of biological warfare agents out of a laboratory in America. The origin of AIDS had many people guessing.

Unfortunately it was around this time that one of our colleagues, who I was friends with, fell victim to the disease. He wasn't the only one to die, however; I later found out that his wife and child had also become infected and had died. This would be one among many terrible fates caused by AIDS. At this time you couldn't do much to fight the disease. I know of many people who lost their partners and friends in the most terrible of ways to AIDS. They sacrificed themselves and sat in despair by the bedsides of their loved ones, and watched them as they took their last breaths.

In the 26 years that I have been at the Sauna, I have not heard of a single case of social exclusion, reproachment or of anyone deserting the other one. The exact opposite was true, we helped one another out, because we were all connected through our fates. Who could reproach someone else just because he is ill? No one! You stick together however possible.

The first gay saunas to close were in New York, and many others had to fight to remain open. During this time I was just a masseuse at the sauna, and all of us were asking ourselves if our sauna would close as well. Eventually the scientific community gained the knowledge that the illness was also transmitted by heterosexual couples. It was discovered that HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), was transmitted through unprotected sex. AIDS was not just a “gay disease” anymore, no scourge of God. The reason why so many gays were infected, was due to their high number of partners each year.

In San Francisco, there were examples of how gay establishments should operate. The most important rule was to educate the clientèle of the dangers of unprotected sex and ways to prevent transmission of the disease. At this time health minister Rita Süssmuth, and the department of public heath in Cologne with Mr Engel and Dr Ehrle at the top, called for the first preventative measures. Streetworkers visited our sauna to educate our visitors on safe sex. We also hung up warning signs in our rooms and offered free condoms to our guests. Many condoms were also donated by the Cologne Department of Health, which created a big campaign for safe sex. Many meetings were held in the Department of Health to evaluate preventative concept proposals. One firm conviction was that the people must be educated on the dangers of unprotected sex - and of course, to make condoms readily available to the public. If the gay saunas and bars had closed, everyone would have scattered out and been afraid and the safe sex education campaign wouldn't have been possible.

Today we can testify that many people owe their lives to the safe sex education campaign by the Department of Health, and the work of the saunas and taverns.

Medical advances in AIDS research has led to very effective medications in the treatment of the disease, but it is no cure!

Us older generations have lived through the terror of AIDS from the beginning, and this terrible memory will stay with us forever - we know the importance of protection!

That is why in the Sauna Vulcano you will find two large containers of free condoms, and our rooms have all the necessary equipment, as well.

Please BE SAFE!

Seal of Approval, Cologne Germany

Sauna Vulcano Video (in german)

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