The bar Bei Cosy existed from 1962 to 1982. It was an institution for subcultural diversity. Already in the early 1960s, gays, lesbians and heterosexuals met here, in an age where the tolerance of minorities was still mostly absent.
I chose the name Cosy as a derivative from my surname Conscience. In the 1960s, it was nearly impossible to obtain a license for a queer bar, but that was not my initial intent anyway. I wanted to have a place where all existences could coerce and enjoy one another’s company, get to know each other better and tolerate one another. To begin with, this was something utterly new.
The bar quite quickly became an attraction in the Gaertnerplatz neighborhood, not least because of the amount of parties we threw at irregular intervals. The so-called “prude 60s” was dissolved by the youth revolution. We demanded transparency, student revolts on the streets of Munich and an establishment of truth in the torn political landscape of the years following the war. There were tensions worldwide.
Bei Cosy established itself as an island of happiness for all kinds of creatures of the night. Among them, artists such as Klaus Lemke, Uschi Obermaier, R.W. Fassbinder with Hanna Schygulla and her boyfriend Ali, Hildegard Knef with her husband David Cameron, Alekos from the disco P1, Johannes von Thurn und Taxis with Gloria, and many more.
Following Bei Cosy in the Baaderstrasse, I opened the second in the Klenzestrasse. It was here, that for the first time, we had a transvestite show, performed by Andrè from Berlin’s acclaimed Chez-N. The bar was literally bursting at the seams. I also went on stage here, just as I previously had. I discovered my love for chansons, writing my own lyrics and songs, which my good friend, pianist Meike Illig, accompanied and composed for. From then on Meike and I performed at many a Cosy evening. She was a great humorous musical entertainer and did so into the early mornings.
In 1970, Bei Cosy moved to a cellar at the Elisabethplatz of the previous Blow-Up club, and our audience moved with us. I took over the 3am license from the previous owner and that was worth a mint. The creatures of the night now came in droves, sometimes so many that the waitresses and waiters could barely move through the crowds to take orders. I even had to employ a doorman (Axel from the Alter Simpl). I am actually against face checks, but it wasn’t about faces, it was about reducing the amount of people. And so, this was the place where all those that were out and about after 1am, would come. Musicians, actors, dancers, transvestites, homosexuals, heterosexuals and the other regulars, whose names I cannot all remember. By that time, Marianne Saegebrecht had reopened the Muttibraeu. She was the initiator of the Opera-Curiosa (which I was also part of, at a later date) and was one of our regulars at the Elisabethplatz, together with her other artists and friends.
I was a bar owner and an artist at the same time. For me, it always belonged together. After a while, I ran out of steam and wanted to return to my work as a painter. I had previously completed my studies in Brussels and in my home city of Cologne, at the Academy of Fine and Applied Arts. However, with the birth of my son in 1960, I had to rethink things. I was a single mother and needed a means of existence, which my work as a bar owner provided.
I sold Bei Cosy in 1980 to my partner and co-worker at a very good price. And so, I had no influence on the future of the bar.
In 1982, my son was grown up and I picked up my artistic work again. I had a lot to catch up on, but when in 1985, the Dany Keller gallery in Munich took interest in my work and subsequently represented me internationally, I had fulfilled my dream.
Cosy Pièro on occasion of the exhibition Bei Cosy at the art space Rongwrong, Amsterdam, 2017