Sinful Salzburg: Night clubs, escort & prostitution
To make a start: Just like in most other provinces of Austria, prostitution is legal but regulated in Salzburg, for both, clients and prostitutes. It is subject to federal province law, which in turn delegates the right to give the permission to open a brothel to the communities and the "Amt für öffentliche Ordnung".
Therefore, there is little or no need to "cover" prostitution as escort services or night clubs - this explains why you will find brothels at quite a number of spots in Salzburg. However, there is a rule that brothels are not supposed to be run within a radius of 300 metres to a public zone such as schools, hospitals, army camps, playgrounds or religious buildings such as churches or synagogues.
Escort girls and prostitutes in Salzburg are registered, pay tax and have to attend biweekly health checks. Street prostitution and "private" brothels ("single workers") are prohibited, but do happen especially through part-time prostitutes strolling up and down Elisabethstraße, Fanny-von-Lehner-Straße and Sterneck-Straße near the station at night. Not the best part of the town, anyway.
Legal aspects, health and localities
To protect women from illegal trade - an issue often affecting Southeast-Asian and Eastern-European women that are brought to Austria in the prospect of a waitress-job and then forced into prostitution - brothels are frequently controlled by the police ("Bundespolizeidirektion" as well as "Polizei"). The legal age for prostitution in Salzburg is 19 years, which is lower for strippers and escort girls.
Among the many legal brothels in Salzburg are the "Herz′l Bar" in Lehen, the Club Carmen, Jasmin Bar, Puderdöschen and others. They often change landlords and names, but taxi drivers will recognise them. The "Hotel Pascha" is considered to be a high-end night club and brothel.
In addition to that, you will find a number of strip clubs that advertise themselves fairly openly (don′t be shocked if you travel with children and suddenly discover pictures of naked women in the window of a house with a red lantern in front - it′s like a menu and locals are generally used to it and won′t pay much attention if not interested).
For those who like tradition, the "Mainson de Plaisir" in the Steingasse will be of interest; it is said to be a brothel since the time of Mozart. Even older is the Maxim in the Herrengasse, just below of the Hohensalzburg Fortress. It prides itself to be the oldest brothel of Salzburg - offering call girls since 1547. The name of the street is quite appropriate: "Herrengasse" means "gentleman′s lane".
Links
http://www.stadt-salzburg.at/pdf/salzburgerlandes-pol.pdf
Legal status of prostitution in Salzburg - opens in new window
Prostitution, Nudity & Freud: Austria & Sex
