{"id":75241,"date":"2025-09-09T14:20:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T12:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/?post_type=magazin&p=75241"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:25:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T16:25:26","slug":"a-night-at-a-cuddle-party","status":"publish","type":"magazin","link":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/en\/magazine\/what-holds-us-together\/a-night-at-a-cuddle-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Closeness without sex: a visit to a cuddle party in Hamburg"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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\n\tWhat holds us together<\/a><\/div>\r\n

\r\n Closeness without sex: a visit to a cuddle party in Hamburg <\/h2>\r\n\r\n
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Clear rules, lots of mindfulness, no ulterior motives: what an evening of touching strangers feels like.
\nBy Jana Junker<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n

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\r\n \"A\r\n <\/figure>\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\n\n\n

A few years ago<\/strong> a friend spontaneously dragged me along to a cuddle evening. Yes, exactly that: an evening full of hugs and touch with complete strangers. I felt totally out of place. Getting so close so quickly to someone I didn\u2019t know felt about as relaxing as a trip to the dentist. But as I lay rather stiffly between two women, I couldn\u2019t help noticing how happy and relaxed everyone else looked. And one participant\u2019s words stuck with me in particular: \u2018Touch and closeness give me so much strength to cope with all the hardships in my life. It\u2019s what keeps me afloat.\u2019
 
Somehow that evening left its mark on me. Maybe there was more to it than I thought at the time. Sometimes it\u2019s the little things \u2013 or in this case the warm, cuddly moments \u2013 that help us get through everyday life. So I set out to find out more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Touch and closeness<\/strong> give me so much strength to cope with all the hardships in my life. It\u2019s what keeps me afloat.<\/p>\n <\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n

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\n \"A\n \n Hamburg, January 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n\n

Participants say<\/strong> they feel more relaxed and balanced after a cuddle event.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n \n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n

Rebecca B\u00f6hme<\/a>, a neuroscientist<\/strong> and the author of the book \u2018Human Touch\u2019<\/a>, stresses how essential touch is for our well-being and health. According to B\u00f6hme, touch isn\u2019t a luxury but a vital need. It influences our decisions, gives us access to our emotions and supports our inner balance. Even newborns benefit from skin contact, as it stimulates their emotional development. In old age, too, touch remains an important factor for health, since regular contact can prolong life and aid recovery. Then Aske and Lorenz agree to let me accompany a cuddle evening with my camera. The two run the Kuschelraum in Hamburg<\/a>, which offers various workshops and events centred on touch. I\u2019m really looking forward to it, and at last the little adventure begins.

The large period flat close to Hamburg\u2019s main station welcomes its visitors with an almost cinematic cosiness: high ceilings, indirect lighting and furnishings in which every detail seems to say, \u2018Why not stay a while and just make yourself at home?\u2019 Antique wooden furniture, lots of pictures on the walls, wide floorboards. In the cuddle room, mattresses with green covers are neatly laid out, with pillows and blankets on top. A pleasant scent that I can\u2019t quite place fills the room. Opposite the door, a large, heavy sofa stands against a wall with a floral pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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