A local politician in Germany is organising a swingers party in his city's town hall, hoping to turn Mannheim into a 'swinger paradise', but the city's administration is 'not amused'.
Councillor's plan for Mannheim
Julien Ferrat has put out a public invite to any residents in Mannheim, south west Germany, to come to the political sex event. The councillor said: 'I want to promote Mannheim as open for nudist and swingers tourism. I want to make these topics less taboo'.
Ferrat, 35, was elected as a member of the city council in 2024 as a representative of the local Mannheimer party. An open swinger and a nudist, he has already hosted local trips to the world's most popular nudist resort of Cap d'Agde in southern France.
Attracting nudists en route
It was after that trip that the councillor spotted a gap in the market to attract nudists who need somewhere to stay en route to Cap d'Agde. 'For people in northern Germany or Scandinavia, Cap d'Agde is too far to reach in one day,' he said. 'If they are looking for somewhere to stay, we can attract them to Mannheim. If we can attract more nudists and swingers it would be a good way to create more income for the city of Mannheim'.
Ferrat dreamed up organising a swingers party to shine a light on Mannheim and make it Cap d'Agde's 'little sister'. He thinks the town hall is 'perfectly suited' for swinger parties and claims there are 'no house rules or municipal bylaws that explicitly prohibit' the sex events there.
Response from the city
The local politician has been touring Germany's media to highlight his plans and has already received lots of positive responses. He thought that perhaps around 50 locals had reached out to say they were interested in the idea, although doubted all of them would actually take part in the end. Among those interested is another local politician from a Mannheim district council, below the city council.
The city administration is less impressed however. A spokesperson for them said they assume the event 'cannot be held' at the town hall. Ferrat also claims he tried to advertise the party in the city's gazette but was denied. The gazette did post an advertisement for Ferrat's trip to Cap d'Agde last year, which attracted nearly 30 participants.
In a statement, Mannheim City Administration told Metro: 'The City of Mannheim contacted Mr. Ferrat to obtain information about the event at the City Hall that he had announced in the media. Unfortunately, in his response he did not provide any of the specific information requested—neither a date nor a room, nor any indication of how the planned event relates to his mandate as a member of the municipal council. Based on the information, which remains very limited, the City assumes that the planned event cannot be held at City Hall.'
Ferrat, who does not dispute the label that he is the 'craziest' local politician in Germany, is not backing down over his swingers party. He said: 'If they do not allow it, I will take legal action. If that doesn't work then I will hold it in a private place.'
