Pension Clausewitz


Pension Clausewitz was a luxury West Berlin brothel. In 1965 it was the centre of an alleged spying scandal, that when investigated, was unfounded.

Background

Established in 1947, the brothel Pension Clausewitz was located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin on the third floor of 4 Clausewitzstraße, a side street off the Kurfürstendamm. In the early 1960s, the founder gave up the running of the brothel after a second conviction for procuring. Pension Clausewitz was at that time the most expensive brothel in West Berlin. Hans Helmcke took over the running of the brothel, assisting him were Fritz Wussow and "Consul Josy" Eugen Indig. All three were well known to the police. In November 1964, Helmcke was in court over the brothel and was fined 3,000 marks. Despite this, Helmcke continued to operate Pension Clausewitz as before.

Spying suspicions

Helmcke and his brothel were under surveillance by the Sittenpolizei (vice squad

In popular media

Based on the events at Pension Clausewitz, Ralph Habib directed the 1967 film Pension Clausewitz starring Wolfgang Kieling, Maria Brockerhoff and Friedrich Schoenfelder in the lead roles. The screenplay was by Franz Baake.