How a Berlin café’s neon sign welcoming the Queer community became a target for hate

Inside a cozy café in one of Berlin’s trendiest neighbourhoods, a glowing neon sign reads “Queer and Friends.”

It was meant to be a warm welcome - an invitation to LGBTQ+ people seeking a safe space. Instead, it has become a target for hate.

Das Hoven café owner Danjel Zarte says his business has faced a relentless campaign of homophobic abuse. In the past 18 months, there have been 45 criminal investigations into incidents ranging from verbal abuse and violent assaults to vandalism involving swastika graffiti, smashed windows, and even faeces.

One person even stood outside the café with a gun, he recalled.

“When I opened the café and it became clear that it would be a queer establishment, the attacks began with faeces on the windows, with things being thrown at the windows or into the café,” Zarte said.“Verbal attacks, physical assaults, fire extinguishers thrown at the first floor of my office, windshield wipers broken off, windows smashed... an act of terror.”

His story reflects a growing crisis across Germany.

According to the Association of Counseling Centres for Victims of Right-Wing, Racist and Antisemitic Violence, anti-LGBTQ+ attacks rose by 40% last year in 12 of the country’s 16 federal states.

Much of the blame, advocates say, lies with the rise of the far-right, including Germany’s Alternative for Germany party (Alternative für Deutschland - AfD), who made significant electoral gains this year.

Yet despite this rise of hate, hundreds of thousands still turned out for Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day parade this year - a celebration rooted in the spirit of the 1969 Stonewall rebellion in New York.

“Suddenly, when you stand in such a crowd and simply see these differences, which then bring us together again, it is very moving to feel completely accepted once a year," said Zarte at the parade.

Check out the video above for more about the hateful attacks on Das Hoven.