One-Two-Two

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One-Two-Two
One-two-two, 122 rue de Provence, Paris 8e 2.jpg
The building in 2020
Paris department location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Location in Paris
General information
Type Hôtel particulier
Architectural style neoclassical
LocationParis, France
Address122, Rue de Provence
75008 Paris, France
Coordinates 48°52′27″N2°19′35″E / 48.8741861°N 2.32641389°E / 48.8741861; 2.32641389
Completedcirca 1800
Technical details
Floor count7

The One-Two-Two was one of the most luxurious and illustrious brothels of Paris in the 1930s and 1940s. The name was taken from the address, 122 Rue de Provence, 8th arrondissement of Paris. The numbers were translated into English to ensure that foreign tourists would be able to find the brothel and as a password for French people.

Contents

Opened in 1924, the "One-Two-Two" closed its doors in 1946 when the Loi Marthe Richard prohibited brothels in France. The building is now used for business and law offices.

Operation

The building had twenty-two decorated rooms. Forty to sixty-five prostitutes worked for 300 clients per day. It was open from 4:00 pm to 4:00 am and the sub-mistresses filtered the men at the entrance. The girls of the establishment had to have four sex-sessions a day at twenty francs each, excluding tips, and two sessions on Sundays. There was also a bar, a refectory for the girls, and a doctor's office. [1]

There was also a restaurant, the Boeuf à la Ficelle ("beef on a string," named after a recipe of roast beef filet dipped in a broth of vegetables and spices on the end of a string). The waitresses wore only high-heeled shoes and a camellia in their hair. Guests were welcome for dinner and coffee and to smoke a cigar in a living room afterwards. They could chat with girls without the obligation to go further. [1]

German occupation

The establishment was not affected by rationing. Otto Brandl, one of the main officers of the Abwehr in France after September 1940, was involved in the Parisian black market. He and captain Wilhelm Radecke ran their black market operations from the One-Two-Two. [2]

After the Liberation of Paris by the allies, Fabienne traded with the Americans. She wrote that there were very good people, but also racists. She didn't accept that one guy wanted to hit a girl because she was black. [2]

"The journey around the world"

Each room had its own women, highlighted on pedestals, with fitting outfits and lighting. The rooms were decorated like théatrical scenes of many periods and countries of the world. Some guests practiced "the journey around the world", which consisted of adopting positions inspired by the Kama Sutra, in the rooms of different countries, thereby making a world tour of erotic pleasures.

The main rooms were: [3]

The rooms on the upper floors were devoted to BDSM pleasures. As Fabienne Jamet said: "The closer one got to the sky, the closer one got to Hell.": [4]

References

  1. 1 2 https://www.clippcity.com/article/insolite/le-one-two-two-la-maison-close-preferee-des-celebrites#%5B%5D
  2. 1 2 "One Two Two, le lupanar des SS".
  3. "The One-Two-Two". Atlas Obscura.[ unreliable source? ]
  4. Adam (6 April 2009). "One-Two-Two Rue de Provence".

See also

Bibliography

Filmography