Austrians rediscover the joy of cuddling

A cuddle club has been set up in Vienna for people who miss physical contact that they can’t get from social media like Facebook and Twitter.

Members at http://www.diekuschelparty.at/ have to pledge that they are there just for a good cuddle and not for any sexual reason – and before they can join in on the group cuddle they have to spend 45 minutes being grilled by other members about what their motivation is for getting involved.

The cuddle club members then lie around on mattresses cuddling each other and getting back a feeling of “closeness” which they claim they are starved of in modern society.

Organiser Andrea Kiss said: “None of our members know each other beforehand – but what they share and what binds them is a desire for physical contact and warmth and closeness with another human being.

“We live in a world where there is an awful lot of single people and although people can get closeness through sexual encounters – sometimes people want to simply feel close without any of that. It’s no longer all or nothing – now what we offer is an in between station with the feeling of connection, more innocent level.

“Cuddling and stroking someone especially if they are stranger is regarded as a taboo in society, that’s especially true for men.

“Now we offer people the chance to spend their time not alone but in the warmth and comfort of others.”

After the introductory questioning cuddlers are invited to loosen up by dancing around the room and then select a partner. Cuddling starts initially with stroking of the hair and hands and then moves on to full on cuddles.

If that goes well the group then moves together for a mass cuddle – providing everybody feels comfortable with the idea, said Kiss.