As of December 31, 2025, 238 persons were validly registered in Thuringia under the Prostitutes Protection Act (ProstSchG), four fewer than a year earlier. This was announced by the Thuringian State Office for Statistics on September 8, 2026. At the end of 2024, there were 242 persons, of whom 75 — just under a third — were registered in the Gotha district.
How many locations there are where this work takes place, however, is surprisingly unclear. In response to a minor inquiry in the Thuringian state parliament (document 7/9003, November 2023), the state government cited 73 prostitution establishments for which an application for permission under § 12 ProstSchG had been submitted at all since the law came into force. The Federal Statistical Office listed 19 valid permits for prostitution operations in Thuringia as of December 31, 2022 — and according to the same response, these consisted exclusively of businesses whose continuation is permitted under the transition provision of § 37 paragraph 4 ProstSchG. Police estimates from early 2020 assumed around 150 operating locations in the state, the vast majority being appointment apartments.
Between these three numbers lies the subject of this text. Because the licensing requirement does not only apply to large establishments with reception and bar. It potentially applies to every apartment in which one person provides rooms for another to provide sexual services — and that is a threshold that one can cross more easily than the number 19 would suggest.
When Work Becomes a Business
The crucial definition is in § 2 ProstSchG. A person operates a prostitution business if they offer services related to the provision of sexual services by at least one other person on a commercial basis or provide rooms for this purpose. A prostitution establishment is a building, a room, or other permanent facility used as a business location for sexual services.
Two things follow from this, which in practice are often confused:
Anyone working alone in their own rooms does not need a permit. For one’s own activity, the registration requirement under §§ 3 et seq. ProstSchG applies, not the licensing requirement under § 12. The process of this registration — two appointments, consultation, health counseling — is a separate chapter and is described step by step in a separate post.
Anyone who provides rooms to others can become an operator — even without a club. The administrative practice of the states explicitly classifies apartment-based prostitution as a prostitution business as soon as rooms are provided for others’ activities. The appointment apartment in which a colleague rents for a day is thus structurally the same case as the house with twelve rooms: licensing is required if the characteristics are met.
Exactly where the line runs when two persons jointly rent an apartment and split rent and costs fifty-fifty, without one „providing“ anything to the other, is a question of individual circumstances. It depends on the lease, contract structure, external presentation, and who appears as the provider to clients and landlord. This is not a question that can be clarified through internet research — for this, the responsible district authority or independent city is the right contact, and that should be before moving in, not after the first inspection.
Who Decides in Thuringia
The Thuringian law implementing the Prostitutes Protection Act (ThürAGProstSchG) dates from July 31, 2021. Since January 1, 2022, implementation has been with the districts and independent cities; until December 31, 2021, the Thuringian State Administration Office was responsible. Implementation was transferred for registration and its renewal, data changes, health counseling, orders to businesses, and oversight of prostitution activities.
For the operator permit, this means: The responsible authority is at the location of the business establishment, not at the place of residence. Anyone operating an apartment in Erfurt and living in the Sömmerda district applies in Erfurt. The application forms are available through the Thuringian Forms System and the Service Portal (buerger.thueringen.de), including a dedicated form „Application for Issuance of a Permit under § 12 ProstSchG“.
In practice, this is only relevant in just under a dozen municipalities. The Thuringian Ordinance Banning Prostitution of April 24, 1992 prohibits prostitution in municipalities with up to 30,000 inhabitants; remaining are cities such as Erfurt, Jena, Gera, Weimar, Gotha, Nordhausen, Mühlhausen, Eisenach, Suhl, Ilmenau, and Altenburg. Why this boundary makes almost the entire state a prohibited zone and what exceptions are theoretically possible is detailed in detail elsewhere. For the permit procedure: A permit for a location where prostitution is prohibited cannot exist. The location question thus comes before the application question.
What the Authority Actually Examines
The permit under § 12 ProstSchG is threefold bound: to the person of the operator, to a specific operating concept, and to specific structures and rooms. A separate application is required for each prostitution establishment, each prostitution vehicle, each prostitution event, and each prostitution mediation service.
Reliability
§ 14 ProstSchG lists the grounds for denial. If any of these apply, the permit must be denied — the authority has no discretion in this regard. Personal reliability is examined, usually through a certificate of conduct from authorities (document type O, for submission to an authority) and extracts from the Commercial Register. For legal entities, the examination extends to authorized representatives. Persons who are to assume management functions in the business may also be subject to a separate reliability examination; for this, Thuringia has a separate notification form.
Operating Concept
The operating concept under § 16 ProstSchG is the heart of the application and the part where most procedures lose time. The essential characteristics of the business and the measures to comply with statutory obligations must be described — including the typical organizational procedures and conditions under which sexual services are provided, measures to prevent activities by minors, measures to reduce infection risk, and provisions to prevent minors from being in the establishment.
Important for everyone who works there later: The operating concept is not an internal document but part of the permit content. If the operating method changes significantly — different rooms, different model, different location — this is not a formality but affects the validity of the permit.
The Rooms
§ 18 ProstSchG sets minimum requirements for the facilities used. These include a functioning emergency call system in every room where sexual services are provided, doors that can be opened at any time from the inside, adequate sanitary facilities, and suitable accommodation. What authorities regularly do in the application process: request documents, schedule a site inspection, and conduct a personal meeting. The permit can be issued with a time limit; anyone who continues to meet the requirements applies for renewal in good time.
The Permit Does Not Replace Anything Else
This is underestimated: The permit under ProstSchG sits alongside other permits, it does not replace them. Building, restaurant, business, and environmental protection law remain unchanged. A room that is approved under building law as a residential unit does not automatically become a permitted business location through a ProstSchG permit; the change of use is a separate matter under Thuringia’s Building Code and local building plans. Anyone serving drinks also falls under restaurant law. And the business registration under § 14 GewO is also not covered.
This is the most common planning mistake: one clarifies the permit, checks it off — and fails at the building authority or with a neighborhood complaint that triggers a building law review.
Costs, and Who Bears Them
Thuringia, together with the implementing law, enacted its own cost regulation, the Thuringian Administrative Cost Ordinance for Public Services under the Prostitutes Protection Act (ThürVwKostOProstSchG). It makes the services around sex workers’ registration — registration, renewal, health counseling — free of administrative costs. This is a deliberate state policy decision and not self-evident nationwide.
This does not apply to the operator permit: It is subject to fees. A uniform figure across the state cannot be reliably stated here, because the specific fee amount depends on the scope of the procedure and is determined from the fee schedule. Anyone planning should inquire about the amount from the responsible district authority or city administration before applying and consider ancillary costs: certificates of conduct, register extracts, possibly architect or fire protection documents for the structural side.
What the ongoing settlement looks like afterward — income tax, sales tax liability, contributions — is a separate matter; the fact that in case of doubt no one settles accounts for you applies to operators just as much as to the self-employed.
After the Permit: Obligations and Oversight
With the permit come operator obligations. § 24 ProstSchG requires care for safety and health protection in the business. § 26 limits instructions and requirements toward sex workers — the design of sexual services is determined exclusively between the sex worker and the client on their own responsibility. So anyone making specifications about which services to provide at what price is operating outside what the law permits the business to do. § 32 additionally requires a clearly visible notice regarding condom requirements and prohibits advertising that suggests condomless sex — also in veiled form.
This is monitored. Between 2022 and 2025, Thuringian authorities conducted 164 inspections in the prostitution sector. The deficiencies found read like a commentary on practice: missing registration certificates, defective emergency call systems, missing notices regarding condom requirements. Regulatory authorities and police can enter business premises, conduct inspections, access documents, and identify persons. § 33 ProstSchG scales fines according to the violation — the range goes up to 10,000 euros, and operating a licensed prostitution business without a permit is among the violations at the upper end. Additionally, what is more serious in practice: closure orders and the loss of workplace for everyone working there.
What This Means for Sex Workers Who Are Not Themselves Operators
The permit is an operator matter — its consequences are not. Anyone renting a room in Thuringia works either in a business with a permit or without one. The difference usually only becomes apparent in an emergency.
A few questions that can be asked before moving in, without offending anyone:- Is there a permit under § 12 ProstSchG for this exact address? Not for the operator in general, not for the sister flat two streets away.
- Does the emergency call system in the room work – and can the door be opened from the inside? Try both before the first booking. These are the two points most frequently cited during inspections.
- Is the condom notice posted? Its absence is a reliable indicator of how seriously the operation takes its other obligations.
- Are specifications made regarding services or prices? This must not happen, and it’s a signal about the overall situation.
- Is the contractual situation clear? Rental agreement, billing model, termination periods – and who bears the risk in case of closure by authorities.
If you’re uncertain or don’t get a clear picture on any of these questions, you don’t have to sort it out alone. Thuringia has a specialized advisory service in Erfurt that offers advice anonymously, free of charge, and independently of registration or residence status; what it provides and where its limits lie is a topic in itself – but it’s the obvious first point of contact when official correspondence arrives or an operation raises questions.
The Gap Remains
Nationally, the Federal Statistical Office counted around 2,260 valid permits for a prostitution business at the end of 2025, practically unchanged from the previous year; 93 percent of reported businesses were prostitution premises. Thuringia contributes a very small share to this number – smaller than the estimated number of actual operating locations in the state might suggest.
This difference is not a statistical detail. It describes a market that takes place largely in apartments where the protective provisions of the ProstSchG formally apply, but in practice no one has checked whether the emergency call system, doors, and sanitary facilities meet minimum requirements. For operators, the permit is effort and cost. For the people working in these spaces, it’s the difference between an operation that has been inspected and one where you have to rely on assurances.
Binding information on permit requirements in individual cases – and particularly on the question of whether a specific residential arrangement already constitutes a prostitution business – is provided exclusively by the responsible district authority or the administration of the independent city where the business is located. The forms and local jurisdiction can be found via the Free State’s service portal. A conversation there before renting costs nothing and can save you from a procedure if in doubt.