Photo Credit: The Local (Germany's News in English)

When sex workers have to give discount coupons you know the economic crisis has gotten really bad. When I first read "Hookers offer discounts amid limp sex trade" I thought it was some joke, but no, that's a real headline. I'd like to think it wasn't an accidentally funny translation from the German.

Here's the story:

The Local (Germany's News in English), Hookers offer discounts amid limp sex trade

The recession has reached the German sex industry, with many brothels offering specials to keep business pumping, daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.

Frankfurt’s oldest bordello was forced to close recently, and Cologne pornography producer Bernd Schütt told the paper that the entire German sex industry is facing a “crappy situation.”

Flat fees and two-for-one deals often include free snacks for tightwad johns.

“It’s nothing new and it's spreading,” prostitute and head of the BSD federation for sex workers Stephanie Klee told the paper.

Sex industry businesses have also asked the government for financial support, just like banks and auto manufacturers, the paper said. But the industry was struggling long before the global financial crisis, pornographer Schütt said, blaming online piracy.

“The market is dead anyway,” he told the paper. “When a student can get laid for €20 and get the whole shebang, prices are just tanking completely.”

Prostitutes are also complaining that their regulars come less frequently, or not at all, the paper said. Tourists are also staying away from red light districts like the famous Reeperbahn in Hamburg.