A visit to the founders in Bielefeld: Wellington Estevo, Jonathan Peters, Gerhard Peters and Timon Rahn are all in their mid-30s. There are desks, sofa, kitchenette, dining table - at first nothing in the backyard agency suggests sizzling eroticism. And yet the idea for the first Christian online erotic shop was born there. "We are four friends, all of us creative people, and we wanted to try something new. We didn't like what was on the market - the design, the lack of information. And that's how the idea came about to start our own erotic shop," Wellington Estevo tells us. There are models for Christian sex shops in the USA and the UK; in the Netherlands, one operator had to close down.

Just in time for the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017, the Bielefeld shop went online (though the founders themselves can't explain what exactly Martin Luther has to do with sex toys).

"More fun for her!", "More fun for him!" and "More fun for both!"

They founded the "holymoly international GbR" for their online shop. The site doesn't look particularly holy, but rather modern, colourful, clear and tidy. The three main categories are "More fun for her!", "More fun for him!" and "More fun for both! ". Schoenerlieben.de differs from other sex shops in that the creators completely avoid pornographic content and naked skin.

The start-up entrepreneurs want to get away from the muckraking image of the industry, towards a higher standard and a focus on couples. They have been working on their philosophy for a long time. "We are not theologians, sexologists, therapists or other experts. We are just normal people who think God's idea of sexuality in a partnership is very important. We want to create a space that is free from stereotypes, prejudices, shame and secrecy," they say. The four, who are themselves members of conservative free-church congregations, would also like to make the topic acceptable within Christian communities. However, they have not only met with approval for this difficult mission: There have been conflicts with members of the congregation, the young entrepreneurs say in conversation.

Customers include both women and men, the core target group is between 25 and 60 years old

The top sellers are couple vibrators, followed by stimulation tools for women and men as well as classic drugstore products such as condoms and lubricants, which go beyond the drugstore assortment - including discreet packaging. Customers include both women and men. The core target group is between 25 and 60 years old; the oldest customer is 89.

Just like the two big competitors in the industry, Amorelie and EIS, the Bielefeld-based company focuses on aesthetics, quality and design; they consider packaging with a porn star printed on it to be outdated. Their unique selling proposition is to "take the customer by the hand a bit more, to explain to them how to use what," says Wellington Estevo. They have a blog for this purpose, and the founders also want to expand their guidebook section further.

But educating is not everything, of course. Just like Beate Uhse, who pioneered the industry with her "specialist shop for marital hygiene", the Bielefelders want to do good business with their start-up. They run the internet shop as a sideline - spending about 40 working hours a week on it. They have hired one employee, otherwise the four founders continue to work in their main professions; two of them run an advertising agency, one works as a professional arborist, one as a change manager. The online shop is simply their "heart's project", also because they see a great need and want to contribute to keeping sex exciting in long-term relationships.

The founders, who started with 300 euros capital, consider the potential clientele to be large. "Who has the most sex?" asks Jonathan Peters and answers his own question immediately: "People in a relationship, of course, people who want to try something out. The industry has misunderstood that so far. I see our customer base at least 20 million."

An 89-year-old customer: "Heaven sent you"

In addition to couples, many singles also order from the shop. As openly as the founders talk about sex toys and problems in bed, they are very secretive when it comes to sales figures. Just this much: The site gets 4000 to 7000 visitors a month, and the trend is upwards; the Covid crisis has boosted business rather than slowed it down.

Advertising on social media such as Facebook and Instagram is not possible for the Christian erotic shop. "As soon as it's about fun, you're out of there," says Jonathan Peters. However, the Bielefelders have had good experiences with events such as Freakstock, a Christian music festival, and the German Protestant Church Congress in Dortmund, where they were represented with a stand in each case. The need for advice was enormous. "At Freakstock, we held talks for ten hours at a stretch for four days," says Wellington Estevo. The sex toys are often just the opener for a conversation, which then also deals with intimate matters. The founders are aware that they cannot save a marriage or people’s sex-life. Nevertheless, they are happy about the positive feedback, especially about the meanwhile 89-year-old customer who told them on the phone: "Heaven sent you".

(Original text: Jutta Oster)