Weisse Maus
The Weisse Maus (White Mouse) opened in 1919, at Jägerstraße 18. The busy Friedrichstadt area of Berlin was famous for its numerous cabaret clubs and revue theatres.
It is rumoured to have acquired it’s name as it was across the Friedrichstraße from Rudolph Nelson’s cabaret Chat Noir (The Black Cat).
It is described as a “beautiful 98-seat cabaret venue with a curtained stage” and was frequented by all manner of people from travelling salesmen on expense accounts to members of the criminal fraternity, alongside elderly couples from the provinces and a smattering of Berlin intellectuals.
In addition to the standard cabaret fare, naked ‘beauty dances’ were staged after midnight. The proprietor Peter Sachse insisted before each performance that there was absolutely no pornographic content ”We come here for beauty alone”.
Customers who wished to conceal their identities were given a choice of a black or white mask to wear.
In the Autumn of 1923, the outrageous and provocative naked dancer Anita Berber was performing here regularly, along with her own troupe of six teenage dancers.
In 1926, the venue was to become the Monbijou Cabaret and home to Erich Lowinsky’s infamous Monday-night venture ‘Kabarett der Namenlosen‘ – The Cabaret Of The Nameless.