ON a busy highway, hundreds of static caravans line the road, lit up like Christmas trees.
Each has twinkling lights hanging from the window. When turned on, they indicate that prostitutes waiting inside are available for sex.
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Punters drive up to the caravans and park between each one before going inside. Credit: Louis Wood
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There are often groups of caravans parked together in areas known for prostitution Credit: Alamy
Although they might sound awful, these mobile homes are a common sight across Germany and a favorite among long-haul truck drivers. And all of this is completely legal under German law.
As part of our investigation into the country’s legal sex trade, The Sun visited Am Eifeltor, a sprawling road in the industrial heart of Cologne, on Friday night.
As British tourists are driven out of Amsterdam’s red light district, more and more are flocking to the West German city known for its mega-brothels and FKK clubs.
But now German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is calling for legal restrictions on sex work, calling it “morally wrong” and telling parliament it is “unacceptable for men to buy women”.
It is estimated that more than 1.2 million men in the country buy sex every day.
But working conditions can vary, and campaigners insist there are few protections for women working in caravans, who represent the darkest edges of the sex work industry.
Unlike brothels, there are no security guards or pimps to deal with unlucky or violent customers – making women extremely vulnerable.
A spate of recent arsons and murders has highlighted the dire dangers they face, with the culprits often able to drive away before anyone can raise the alarm.
In Cologne we witnessed car after car stop to park between caravans before the drivers got out, knocked on the door to negotiate a price and then disappeared inside for 20 minutes.
Clients from all over the continent
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Women show availability by sitting on dimly lit windows Credit: Louis Wood
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Sex industry abolitionist Elly Arrow is concerned about the caravan Credit: Submitted
The going rate here is around £25 to £45, depending on what level of sexual service each client wants.
Sex industry abolitionist Elly Arrow told The Sun: “These caravans get a lot of cross-border sex tourism, but you also have sex tourism within Germany, so to speak.
“They’ll get men who come from other cities, or men who are on a business trip, and long-haul truck drivers, who stop at places like Eifeltor because it’s especially cheap.
“There are a lot of truck drivers. They come from all over Europe.
“So they don’t come to Germany just to buy sex, it’s just part of life on the road. It’s legal here. It’s easy and cheap.”
After the Covid-19 pandemic, many women raised their prices, leaving sex buyers furious.
On forums discussing the trade in Germany, users can be seen speaking angrily about the price increase from €30 to €50 (£25 to £45).
Campsites are a common location throughout Germany and tend to be pushed to the edge of town, often in industrial areas.
A dangerous job
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Several caravans across the country were torched in targeted attacksCredit: Police material
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Caravans are equipped with a bed and often other personal items Credit: Camera Press
But life in these remote caravans can be dangerous for the women who use them as their work.
Arrow explained: “Men can do a lot of risky and degrading things to these women, mostly for pocket money.
“In the northern part of Germany, we had a lot of cases of arson in caravans.
“The women who work in them, although they might be gathered in groups, are isolated along the highway, and the nearest house might be very far away. It leaves them very vulnerable.”
Earlier this year, a camper in Himmelpforten, near Hamburg, was set on fire by a man on a motorcycle.
The static home was completely destroyed, but luckily no one was in it at the time of the fire.
It came weeks after another prostitute was robbed at knifepoint and a year after another caravan was burnt down.
In 2015, a caravan burned down in Wardenburg, near Bremen.
A year before, another caravan in the Horneburg region, southwest of the city of Hamburg in Lower Saxony, was completely destroyed by fire.
Terrible consequences
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Caravans line busy roads where it’s easy for clients to fit between themCredit: Louis Wood
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Closed blinds mean the caravan is occupied or the sex worker is not there Credit: Camera Press
Shockingly, women were even killed while leaving their caravans.
A Hungarian prostitute was killed in 2016 in Peine, near Hamburg. The killer stole her earnings, about 1,000 euros, and her phone.
Shortly afterwards, another sex worker was killed in Vorsfelde, near Hanover.
One man was convicted of both murders and sentenced to life in prison.
Activist Arrow explained: “When you’re alone in a room with a man, you have all these theoretical rights and protections.
“But the reality is, from what I’ve seen on sex-buyer forums and heard from women themselves, men can do almost anything they want except murder and get away with it.
“The chance of a woman taking a man to court for non-payment or attempted murder is unlikely.
“I am not speculating when I say that the fear of assault is a concern of women every day.”
It’s easy to escape across the border
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The caravans are located right next to busy roads where cars and trucks will pass Credit: Louis Wood
Although the work these women do is perfectly legal, many Germans don’t want it happening near their homes.
In response, many caravan parks have been pushed to the fringes of cities and are often located in industrial areas such as Efieltor with a constant flow of traffic passing them by.
Arrow explained, “We often put prostitution on the edge of town because, even though we claim to be tolerant of the industry, nobody really wants it in the neighborhood, or at least not visibly.”
But this means that when something does go wrong, finding the culprit can be nearly impossible.
She added: “Research shows that a disproportionate number of men who kill sex workers do so in locations along highways because they are remote.
“It is easy to put a sex worker in a vulnerable position where it is very difficult for her to defend herself.
“If he is a truck driver, he can very quickly disappear from the scene of a rape, robbery or murder and be in another country. This makes them almost impossible to track.
“Studies have shown that buyers of sex services are incredibly callous or violent towards sex workers and are confident that they will suffer no consequences.”
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Thea Jacobs investigated Germany’s legal sex trade as calls for a ban grow louderCredit: Louis Wood
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