When I focused my camera on the famous Kaiser Wilhelm Gedaechtnis Kirche (Emperor Wilhelm Memorial Church) in Berlin’s city center, a shiny, ultramodern structure obstructed my view. The inscription above the frosted front door read, “City Pissoir.” A caricature on the door instantly reminded me of Manneken Pis, Brussels’ famous 1700s sculpture, and left no doubt that this contemporary edifice provided a terminus for urgent calls.

City Pissoir at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin, Germany
Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2015. www.walled-in-berlin.com

What is a pissoir?

The term comes from the Middle French pisser, to urinate. And indeed, a pissoir is a French invention dating back to the mid-1800s. It is a structure that provides support and screening for public urinals without incurring the expense of constructing an enclosed building. Pissoirs were created to reduce the likelihood of urination onto sidewalks and buildings.

History of the Pissoir

In the 1700s, Paris was one of the dirtiest cities in Europe. People openly urinated in the street until the city’s major placed “barrels of easement” on all street corners. These barrels were meant to clean up the streets by clustering the problem in specific locations. Then in 1841, different fixtures took their place in Paris: Crude metal structures that sheltered public urinals. They were called pissoirs or pissotières. In 1850, Napoleon III commissioned Baron Georges-Eugene Haussman to install them throughout the city. By the 1930s, Paris counted about 1,200 of these structures.

Soon, other cities followed the example. In Berlin, the first pissoirs were erected in 1863. By the 1960s pissoirs started to fall out of fashion again, and in the 1980s the present-day Sanisette toilets were introduced in Paris. David Jaggard writes,” Sanisette toilets were developed by the same company that runs the Vélib bike rental system, JCDecaux (corporate motto: ‘From piddles to pedals’.”

Berlin’s City Pissoir

Berlin’s City Pissoir at the Breitscheidplatz is provided by the Wall AG, an International street furniture supplier and outdoor advertiser. It was installed in 2003. Made from power-coated aluminum panels and frosted safety glass, it is definitely high-tech. Motion sensors activate the flushing mechanism and the interior lighting. Motion sensors also activate the basin faucet so that users can wash their hands without having to touch the faucets. But guess what? Berlin’s City Pissoir is for men only, just like in the 1800s! The interior of Berlin’s City Pissoir is divided into urinal and lavatory compartments. A small drain hole is installed in the floor of the urinal section. Definitely not appealing to women. Shall we call this “urinary discrimination?”

Why a pissoir at the Breitscheidplatz?

As it turns out, the Breitscheidplatz where the City Pissoir and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtniskirche are located is not only popular with tourists. It also appeals to locals, particularly following a soccer game when the men have been drinking. According to Sylvia von Kekulè, pastor at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedaechtsniskirche, men have lined up regularly along the church walls to relieve themselves. After having received many complaints from the pastor and surrounding businesses, the city of Berlin hired the Wall AG to install this shiny and free City Pissoir. The only complaint is that it doesn’t take women’s needs into account.

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.