Erlkoenig is a bookshop in Stuttgart's Rathaus district that has been running since 1983, alongside a now-closed queer cafe that stood nearby at the time. Its whole catalogue is organised by identity rather than by the usual genre shelves: a section for gay men, one for lesbians, and one for trans readers and writers, alongside photography, film and magazines.
Staff give personal recommendations and will track down a title outside their own stock on request. Readers describe it as one of the last specifically queer bookshops left in Germany.
The shop ships online as well as selling from its Stuttgart premises.
The people in this picture are AI-generated.
