Meet Dennis Reichert, Mr. Bear Germany 2025

Bear Pride Cologne took place from November 27 through December 1. The sexy bears of Germany gathered together for a weekend of fun, frolic and friendship. One of the highlights of course was the election of the new Mr. Bear Germany for 2025, Dennis Reichert who joins us for an exclusive conversation below.

BWM: Can you tell us a bit about your background? Including name, where you are from and current city of residency?

Dennis Reichert (DR): I’m Dennis, I come from the north of Germany, more precisely from Bad Schwartau, a small town near Lübeck, and I currently live in Hamburg. However, I spend most of my time with my partner in Stuttgart. I work as a communication designer in the personnel marketing department of a medium-sized company. I like to spend my free time with my partner on the PlayStation or we enjoy time out together in nature. I have a wide range of interests like design, art and technology.

BWM: What drew you to the bear community?

DR: Due to previous partners, I unfortunately didn’t have much access to the LGBTQ+ community in general. If I did, it was only the bear party in Hamburg in January. It was there that I had my first contact with the bear community, which fascinated me. It was only later, through my current partner, that I had my first real points of contact with the bear community in Stuttgart, through regular nightlife events and the annual Bear Meeting in Stuttgart. I immediately felt a part of it and so welcome. What appealed to me about the bear community was that it welcomes everyone who feels they belong and doesn’t judge people for their appearance.

BWM: Tell us about your local bear scene and some of your favorite places to go.

DR: I only really got to know the bear scene a few years ago so I’m still exploring. I attend events at the regulars’ tables of the Stuttgart Bears together with my partner, and the meetings of the ‘Bartmänner Köln’ in Cologne. Other “must do” dates throughout the year for me now include Bear Pride Cologne, the Bearweekend in Leipzig and the Stuttgart Bear Meeting. These are all great events where you can meet friends and acquaintances from Germany and abroad.

BWM: How is the German bear scene unique? What do you want people to know about it?

DR: I would describe the German bear scene in Germany as unique in that there are many smaller and larger local clubs from north to south and from west to east, and individual members attend each other’s events. There are groups in every region that you can join and make new friends.

BWM: Tell us about the competition.

DR: After I requested the application documents for the competition, the exciting journey began. The first task was to fill out an application and questionnaire and submit a short application video including application photos. After I had sent the documents, I received the information a few weeks later that I was allowed to take part in the competition.

The competition itself took place in several phases: After announcing the candidates, it was up to us to advertise ourselves. Be it offline or via social media. We used all our private Facebook and Instagram channels for our promotion. A few weeks after our announcement, the online voting started. Everyone had the opportunity to vote for 2 candidates. The online voting ran for around 5 weeks and ended a few weeks before the election night. On election day, we still had the task of presenting ourselves to the jury, consisting of several current title holders from across Europe, and answering their questions on stage before the audience voting started.

The competition is and was a huge opportunity for me to leave my comfort zone and I was able to gain a lot of self-confidence and grow far beyond myself during the process.

BWM: What are your goals for your title year? Where will you be appearing?

DR: My first goal is to proudly represent the bear community that has welcomed me so warmly and to give something back to them. In addition, mental health is an important topic for me and I want to address mental problems in order to combat exclusion and stigmatization. As a leather bear and part of the leather and fetish scene, I also want to build bridges and represent us bears with dignity outside our own community.

Events on my agenda are Bearpride Cologne, Cologne Pride, Amsterdam Pride, Belgium Bearpride, Stuttgart Bear Meeting, Mr Bear Europe election in Poland, Bear Weekend in Leipzig and, at the beginning of the year, the Bear Weekend in Hamburg.

BWM: What are some important issues you feel that need to be addressed in the bear community?

In my opinion, it’s an important issue that people stick together and stand together, especially in the current times, both across the community and within the bear community. We also need to give a place to people who were not born male but identify as male.

Be sure to follow Dennis Reichert, Mr. Bear Germany 2025, on Instagram at @mrbeargermany2025 and @blcklthr.ftsh or on Facebook @mrbeargermany2025.