October 18, 2025, 1:22 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
Founded in Karlsruhe in the last century, the online community Knuddels still exists in the German-speaking world today. TECHBOOK takes a closer look at its history–and it’s not without controversy.
Beginnings and Rise of the Chat Community Knuddels
It all started in 1999. Computer science students from Karlsruhe had the idea to create a chat platform “with more heart and warmth,” as they themselves recount on the Knuddels website. While the chat platforms available at the time generally excited them, they seemed “too technical and too cold.” This also explains the name: Derived from the German word for cuddling, Knuddels was meant to convey the familial and friendly atmosphere the founders desired.
The mix of public chat rooms, avatars, photo galleries, games, and a distinctly positive community culture apparently struck a chord. In the early 2000s, Knuddels grew rapidly and became one of the most popular platforms in the German-speaking world. According to their own data, it had 4 million active users daily in 2006.
From 2007, the Number of (Young) Users Declined
But this time also marked a turning point. With the rise of social networks like Facebook and the spread of smartphones, user habits changed. Young people increasingly chatted via WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or Snapchat–conveniently on their phones instead of on a PC. Although Knuddels launched its own app in 2010, the trend had already solidified. The result was an aging user base and stagnation in community growth.
At the same time, the name seemingly suggests something harmless, childlike–doesn’t it? This is all the more concerning because Knuddels has repeatedly faced criticism for lacking youth protection measures.
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Knuddels Repeatedly Criticized
The initiative “Look! What Your Child Does with Media” from the Federal Ministry for Education, Family, Seniors, Women, and Youth (BMBFSFJ) warns that children on the anonymous chat platform could encounter inappropriate content or even cyber grooming. If children enter a false, older age when registering, they can chat with significantly older users despite the contact filter. Several TV reports over the years have shown that sexual harassment did occur in Knuddels chat rooms. “Knuddels has long been considered a secret tip in the pedosexual scene,” said Beate Krafft-Schöning, an expert on sexual violence against children on the internet, to Medienbewusst.de.
Knuddels has responded to the massive criticism. Since 2023, the company has been working with the Federal Criminal Police Office to more consistently pursue cases of abuse. Additionally, AI-supported filters are used to automatically react when minors are involved in problematic conversations. “In such cases, chats are terminated, accounts are blocked, and those affected can forward the conversation directly to our team for review,” according to Knuddels. According to the operators, the number of identified suspected cases has significantly decreased since the measures were introduced.
What Is the Current State of Knuddels?
Knuddels still describes itself as the “largest German chat community.” Around 1.6 million registered members are said to use the service, about 90,000 of them daily. Despite declining relevance in the broader public, the platform has retained its loyal core user base. However, it also receives numerous negative reviews on sites like Trustpilot. Dissatisfied users particularly express doubts about the authenticity of profiles and feel that inappropriate content is not sufficiently moderated.