Pascha: Pandemic forces one of world’s largest brothel to file for bankruptcy

Pascha, one of the world's largest and Europe’s oldest high-rise brothel has been forced into bankruptcy after failing to operate for months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This is after the state of North Rhine-Westphalia outlawed prostitution in the wake of Covid-19.

According to a report by the BBC, the 10-storey building in Cologne, Germany, has used up all its reserves to pay and maintain over 60 staff including cooks and hairdressers.

"We are at an end," the brothel's director, Armin, told local paper Express.

The landmark building luminescent with intoxicating light, 120 prostitutes and with a client base of about 1,000 customers per day has come to make a name for itself as the largest brothel in the world.

What was once a building vibrating with life, music and merry might soon be a ghost house with empty echoing rooms.

The fear however is for the prostitutes who have worked at the establishment which started its operation in January 1972. Prostitutes will be forced to consider working underground, a situation that is unsafe and unregulated.

In Pascha, the prostitutes occupying the 126 rooms on seven floors would pay a daily fee of Sh23,000 a day which includes, medical care, rent, meals and tax. The women are guaranteed security and even have entertainment joints like a regular hotel, several bars and a table dance night club.

Over the years, Pascha has been a target especially for those who don’t approve its operations. In 2006, Muslims protested in what they termed as an insult when the building erected a large poster with a half-naked woman and the flags from all the countries that qualified for the World Cup that year. Some flags were of Muslim nations.

In 2008, Pascha offered a free life entrance to the brothel and nightclub to any man who would agree to have Pascha’s logo tattooed on their arm. About 40 men took the offer.