Mardi Gras

About this place Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras on the Königstraße occupies the most conspicuous gay-bar position in Nuremberg: the city's main pedestrian shopping street, flanked by the medieval Altstadt and its famous Christmas Market square, runs past a gay bar that has been serving the city's queer community with no need for concealment. This visibility is itself a statement — Nuremberg's gay scene operates in the open, in the centre, with the castle visible on the hill above and the medieval walls a five-minute walk in any direction. The contrast between the ancient architecture and the contemporary LGBTQ+ scene is part of what makes Nuremberg interesting to queer visitors: this is a city that has processed its extremely complex history (the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 targeted Jews but also homosexuals; the post-war Nuremberg Trials took place here) and arrived at a contemporary civic identity that includes genuine LGBTQ+ inclusion. Mardi Gras serves cocktails and a mixed gay clientele, with the kind of reliable central opening hours that make it the natural first stop and the obvious meeting point.