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TRAVELLER
CLUBBING IN BERLIN
is not for
toe-dippers. The city is the living
embodiment of a ‘go hard or
go home’ mentality, and the
‘dooff-dooff’ throb of techno is
never far away. At warehouse-size
superclubs, such as the 3,000
capacity techno mecca Berghain,
‘nights’ can last for 48 hours and
– if they choose wisely – clubbers
never have to stop.
Yet the German capital’s
reputation as the epicentre of
electronic dance music could be
under threat, thanks to stringent
new laws that are putting the
livelihood of Berlin’s best-loved
clubs at risk. GEMA, the German
music copyright agency, is
proposing changes that could
see a scale of astronomical fees
introduced. Because they’re based
on venue capacity, cost of entry
and length of event, the city’s most
hardcore clubs will also be the ones
hit the hardest.
That means the party could be
over for Berghain, which would
be faced with a tax hike of up to
1,400% if the system is brought
into effect on 1 January next year.
As Steffen Hacks of the Watergate
club says: “How is one supposed
to operate as a free entrepreneur
under these kinds of conditions?”
Hacks’ despair is shared by
others in the city, who say that
these measures will kill the freedom
and innovation that have been key
to the unique clubbing scene here
since the 1990s. “Berlin nightlife
will definitely take a big hit,” says
promoter and DJ Michail Stangl,
a resident at Boiler Room Berlin
and Berghain. DJ and music
journalist Philip Sherburne agrees,
adding that for clubbers “it will
almost certainly make cover prices
significantly higher. It would also
cut down on club-hopping, which is
a major feature of Berlin nightlife.”
The city’s party people are not
taking the news sitting down. A
petition has been set up and there
was a 5,000-strong march against
the proposals in July. All that club
owners can do now is hope that
the council takes note and agrees
to a more reasonable fee structure.
There is, however, one glint of
silver in the lining of this particular
cloud. Sherburne believes that
the proposed taxes could end up
taking Berlin’s club scene back
to where it began, as they’ll drive
promoters underground towards
illegal warehouse parties. And
he thinks that’s not necessarily
a bad thing: “These parties played
a huge role in the formation of
Is the party
über for Berlin?
DISCOVERIES
ON THE SCENE
TheGerman capital has long been a hub for 48-hour techno
and all-you-can-handle superclubs, but draconian new fees
could spell an end for the hedonism.
LauraMartin
reports
The Berghainwould
be landedwith a tax
hike of up to 1,400%
Berlin’s nightlife
culture.”
In the meantime,
it seems red-tape
bureaucracy isn’t stifling
club creativity. Some of
the nightlife industry’s key
players are opening up exciting
new venues to keep the party
vibe alive. Christoph Klenzendorf,
Danny Faber and Andreas
Söcknick – the men behind
hedonists’ paradise Bar25, now
defunct – have been instrumental
in pushing boundaries on the club
scene. Klenzendorf opened the
multi-floor club KaterHolzig in
2011, while the trio reunited in July
to open Chalet, a 19th century-
inspired party house and gardens.