Techno temple in Berlin: After the hype of the sale? | Culture | '
How does it fit together? All the world raves about Berlin as the world capital of techno. Every weekend, thousands of techno fans from all over the world flock to Berlin's clubs. The mood at the parties regularly exceeds the boiling point. And yet this unique biotope is threatened like never before.
Is the techno bubble bursting?
Among those who raise their warning voice is one of the world's most prominent DJs and techno producers: Zak Khutoretsky, better known under his stage name DVS1. Khutoretsky is an American with Russian roots and a second home in Berlin, where he regularly hangs out in Berghain, the still-hottest techno club in Berlin. The word of DVS1 has weight in the international scene, some even adore him as a "world conscience" of techno.
Techno-DJ DVS1
DVS1 sees the Berlin techno community in a struggle for survival: "At a certain point, the bubble will burst," he says. "Either you find a solution or the whole thing goes down the drain."
The killing blow could come from different directions: Berlin is going to the hype because the arriving techno tourists destroy the character of the clubs? Or is it the international big investors who drive the clubs out of their traditional locations? Is it the gentrification that comes with priceless rents? Or the complaints of residents about noise pollution, which the clubs have to surrender at the end?
Club dying continues
Of the estimated 100 Berlin techno clubs had to give up four clubs last year, the club commission confirms at the Berlin Senate of the German wave. Another nine clubs are considered endangered. Including the Griessmuehle in the south of the city, founded by David Ciura eight years ago. The today 30-year-old can refer to a proud balance sheet. Everything started – typical of Berlin – with the desire of some people to celebrate undisturbed. The grounds of Griessmuehle, a former pasta factory, seemed ideal.
Ciura now holds 150 parties a year, employs 70 people and its annual turnover, most recently 2.1 million euros, continues to climb steeply. Ciura's techno parties, especially his monthly CockTail d'Amore, hit the nerve of even the very young techno fans.
He is one of the most endangered clubs in Berlin: the Griessmuehle in Berlin-Neukölln
But what hardly anyone knows: Ciura never gets more than half-year contracts. Planning security looks different. His lease was renewed only until early 2020. And that is not an isolated case in Berlin.
The traditional Tresor club, for example, tells one story that for a while he only got leases for a period of three months. "Long-term leases you can not get in the inner city ring," complains Ciura and speaks of the ongoing "fear of being thrown out". This could happen if an investor provided so much for the Griessmuehle site that the owner of the site sold it.
David Cezar Ciura is Managing Director of Griessmuehle
The techno clubs have brought Berlin out of the slumber, says Ciura. "About 10 years ago, the knot exploded, and it would be a shame to ruin it after such a short time." If it were up to him, the Berlin state government, the Senate, would have to send out a signal and not only campaign for prestige projects such as the 600 million euro reconstruction of the city palace.
But politics reacted far too late, criticized Culture Senator Klaus Lederer (The Left) its predecessors and is in the interview with ‘ combative: "I think it is imperative to fight now for every square meter of culture, for free space in this city to fight every club. "
But he admits that politics can do little against the concentrated power of billions of investors. After all, the soundproofing of the Senate supports the clubs now with grants. But this alone is the club dying can hardly be stopped.
Much is at stake: Berlin is still undisputed in the scene. The city is considered unique and vibrant: not only because of their legendary clubs such as Berghain, Tresor or Watergate, but also because of the constant illegal start-ups.
Techno = freedom = Berlin
Established and unmatched: The Techno-Club Berghain
These new foundations are an expression of the freedom that Berlin stands for today. "In Berlin, you can be as free as anywhere else in the world," enthuses David Ciura. And DVS1 adds, "It's about people's freedom to feel what they want, to escape their office jobs, to open up and simply enjoy their lives." He also means the DJ's freedom to play their sets without commercial constraints.
This also works in the Berghain, which as a world-famous Techno-Temple is of course anything but "underground". "I think the Berghain is trying to protect the aesthetics of the underground as much as I do," says DVS1, "No cameras, the total freedom of the people inside, the freedom for artists to play even longer sets." And he mentions in this The feared bouncers, who have denied many visitors access to the club, are also linked to the strict "door policy" necessary to preserve the underground character of the Berghain.
Hardly a Berlin club is as unchallenged as the Berghain. Most will see if, despite the many threats, they can assert their character and economic existence. "A little bit of the sexiness is lost here and there," predicts Kultursenator Lederer. Nevertheless, he hopes that Berlin will not become such a glass-concrete metropolis as many other European cities.
Even DVS1 has not given up hope that Berlin can remain the capital of free, unadapted techno: "If there is a chance anywhere in the world that survives here, then in Berlin."
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