One of Germany's biggest luxury brothels is being built in the capital to cater for visitors to next year's World Cup.
The 60-room bordello -- oddly named Artemis after the goddess of chastity -- is within walking distance of the Berlin Olympia stadium.
legitimate work
Prostitution, which was legalized in Germany three years ago, is expected to be a huge money spinner during the competition, with brothels paying around 20 euros (US$24.2) for each prostitute each day to the authorities.
Andrea Petsch of the prostitute support network Hydra said: "The World Cup is a mega-event and lots of money will be made in many areas, one of which is prostitution."
Experts predict that around 40,000 foreign prostitutes will travel to Germany for the football tournament. To save the public from spotting women "offering their services," wooden huts are to be erected close to stadiums in cities including Dortmund and Cologne.
Love shacks
It is planned that the "love shacks" will be assembled in a designated area, complete with condom machines and snack bars.
But Petsch is dubious. "It sounds as if the poor women will be working in something like a toilet cabin. Working conditions at the new brothel in Berlin seem much better.
"I understand it is not going to be like the average brothel, where the prostitutes stand waiting at the windows. It will be more like a spa, with saunas, jacuzzis and bars."
`tolerance'
Prostitution was legalized in Germany in 2002, to remove the industry from criminal hands and to improve working conditions. In most cities there is a legal red-light district, known as a "tolerance zone," but the trade is banned elsewhere.
Germany's largest brothel, which has 120 rooms, is in Cologne, where authorities collect 700,000 euros a month from the trade.
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