“Erich Honecker liked it” – even Playboy reported on the famous nude dance bar of the GDR Kleine Revue
Jockstrap, feather headdress and lots of bare skin: The Little Revue was famous beyond the borders of the GDR. Sold-out nude dance shows took place here every evening.
During the time of the Wall, the Kleine Revue was an insider tip in the southern wing of the Friedrichstadt-Palast . And Rainer Genss was its star. The 240 seats were always sold out - a ticket was like winning the lottery. You had to wait years for a ticket. In July 1989, Playboy wrote: "Anyone who wants to see a show needs a lot of patience, tickets won't be available again until 1991."
The East Berlin photographer Angela Fensch remembers how she landed a highly coveted job from Playboy in May 1988. Fensch was in hospital when she got a call from Christel Weber from the Quick editorial office in West Berlin. She was asked if she could photograph the dancers at the Friedrichstadt-Palast for Playboy. After the call, she was quickly back on her feet. "That really motivated me," says the former model today. "There's a nice story there."
She had free rein during the photo shoot. She could photograph the dancers however she wanted. She then invited the women to her studio apartment on Bergstrasse in Mitte. "I brought the women into my place." Of course she took great photos - but the client was clearly not satisfied. "No, that's not how it works," was the answer from the Munich-based Bauer publishing house.
The East Berliner was given a second chance and photographed the dancers in the Friedrichstadt-Palast . "Playboy wanted a stage and spotlights. They could have said that straight away," says Fensch. Today she can laugh about it. Back then, a lot of money was at stake. She wanted to buy a camera with the fee, which was Western money of course. Playboy sold the photos from the first shoot to a photography magazine, and they were also published. Why did Playboy want her as a photographer? Fensch explains it by saying "that I had photographed for the magazine, series, erotic-aesthetic photos of models." She was also a model herself.
Solo dancer Rainer Genss brought eroticism and glamour to FriedrichstraßeThe former star of the show temple in East Berlin , Rainer Genss, is now 71 years old. From 1976 until the fall of the Berlin Wall, he performed as a solo dancer - and played a key role in improving the image of erotic dance. Kristina Merkel was his dance partner for a long time, and in 1984 the dance couple performed at the opening event of the new Friedrichstadt-Palast.
The palace on Friedrichstrasse was opened in 1984 by head of state and party leader Erich Honecker and his wife Margot. A scandal accompanied the opening night: the comedian OF Weidling joked about the People's Police and the SED Politburo member Günter Mittag. As a result, Weidling lost his performance license.
Like in the Roaring Twenties: the stars of the palace show nude dancingBut the dance of Kristina Merkel and Rainer Genss also caused a stir. For the first time and with official permission, the two stars of the palace performed a nude dance - she bare-breasted and with feather decorations on her head and bottom, he in nothing but boots and a tiny jockstrap, a piece of fabric for his genitals - his bottom remains bare. The two circle each other courtingly, erotic and athletic at the same time. "Erich Honecker liked it," remembers Rainer Genss. He and his partner later even had to give a private performance for the Chairman of the State Council.
Honecker's ambition to underline the possibilities of the GDR with the Friedrichstadt-Palast is also reflected in the size and technology in the building: 1,900 spectator seats, underground retractable stages for ice rinks and a huge water basin, a 24-meter-wide main stage, longitudinal and transverse flying structures as well as laser beams offer the most modern of the modern.
With the Kleine Revue, the GDR showed itself to be liberal and eroticWhile the Friedrichstadt-Palast is still enjoying success, the smaller venue has been forgotten. Rainer Genss knows everything about the Kleine Revue. Nude dance erotic shows took place here every evening , there was its own ensemble and catering. After the performance, people celebrated and danced until the early hours of the morning.
"Back then, we showed more skin than was visible in the film," says Rainer Genss in an interview about the second season of the ZDF series "Der Palast". It shows how the Palast employees experienced the year of upheaval in 1990 at the Friedrichstadt-Palast.
The Kleine Revue was supposed to be the Moulin Rouge of the GDRThe photographer Angela Fensch also remembers the Little Revue. "It was great!" The GDR wanted to appear open and erotic with the nude dance shows, "not prudish at all". Always sold out, Fensch also remembers. Many visitors from the provinces and from abroad were drawn to the club, which was supposed to be a bit like the Moulin Rouge of the GDR , the "big, wide world on Friedrichstrasse", according to Fensch. This is how Playboy became aware of the "dancers of East Berlin" in July 1989. Under the headline "The bright side of real existing socialism", the world-famous men's magazine printed Angela Fensch's multi-page photo report. It also included a photo of Rainer Genss and his partner Kristina Merkel. Playboy wrote: "Two superstars of the GDR."
Berliner-zeitung
