Berlin's techno clubs: from euphoria after the fall of the Wall to cultural heritage

Freedom, pure energy, equality, respect... these are just some of the common words that come up when you ask a Berliner about the techno club culture in Germany's capital.

This special culture that turned this city into a mecca of techno music will now be protected by UNESCO after being included a few days ago on its list of intangible cultural heritage.

“The first thing that makes Berlin club culture special is that there are no time restrictions, at least in general.

This means that there are many and a lot of freedom,” explains DJ Laurine about one of the main characteristics of the electronic scene in the German capital.

“Here politically a culture is allowed to exist.

In the end that is the key to everything.”

More information

The electronic music club: a space in danger of extinction

For this Italian who has lived in Berlin for 15 years, who plays in such famous clubs as the Berghain and co-founder of the Slow Life label, club culture means, above all, “freedom of expression.”

She came on a vacation weekend and immediately saw that it was the place for her.

“I realized that here was everything I needed to be happy.”

The facade of the legendary Berghain club in Berlin.

Alamy Stock Photo

While in Spain it is normal for clubs to close at six in the morning and then you have to go to the so-called

after parties

, in Berlin there has been no closing time since 1949. That year, after a tug of war between East Berlin and West Berlin due to the curfew, a hotelier named Heinz Zellermayer managed to convince the Allies to eliminate that restriction.

When the Wall fell in 1989, East Berlin also adopted this measure.

Not having a closing time is compounded by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the fact that the police had other more important things to deal with in the 1990s.

In this breeding ground a unique cultural scene was born that knew how to occupy the numerous empty spaces left in the city.

“Techno became the soundtrack of the spirit of optimism after reunification,” argued UNESCO when it declared this culture intangible heritage following a petition presented in 2021 by Rave the Planet, a collective of DJs led by Dr. Motte, a famous DJ from Berlin and one of the creators of the legendary Love Parade, which in the nineties brought together more than a million people to the rhythm of techno.

Berlin is not the only place where techno culture originated.

Its roots are in Detroit, Chicago and Belgium, among other places, but also in early electronic music genres such as electronic body music, synth

-pop

and

new beat

, but its peculiarities made it unique, with DJs such as, for example, Tanith, Clé, Kid Paul, Marc Reeder, Cosmic Baby, Ellen Allien, Mike Banks, Robert Hood.

“A kind of utopia was created, that is, a place where it doesn't matter where you come from, what sexuality you have, your skin color or your religion,” explains Alexander Krüger, organizer of the FEEL festival, in the video that accompanied the petition.

The exterior of the Wilde Renate club photographed in 2023. Adam Berry (Getty Images)

“Berlin would lose absolutely a lot if this stopped happening,” adds Dimitri Hegemann, founder of the Tresor club, one of the most famous techno clubs in the world that opened in 1991. “This is the place where everyone comes.

The entire industry is here.

Resident Advisor, Ableton, Native Instruments, Beatport.

If you want to be an actor go to Hollywood, if you want to be a DJ, go to Berlin,” says DJ Alan Oldham.

Techno culture in Berlin is not only a specific musical style, but also includes artistic expressions and the famous

raves

,

clandestine electronic music parties, which for years were held throughout the city center and which have currently moved to the outskirts.

From the beginning, techno united people, without age range or distinction, and marked an entire era.

“Berlin's club culture had a very strong influence on me.

I was lucky to be a teenager in the nineties,” remembers Paul Frick, DJ and musician of the group Brandt Brauer Frick and for a couple of years also of Tangerine Dream.

“I went to places like Tresor or WMF, clubs that I thought were impressive and that introduced me to the music and the people,” he says about two legendary places from the nineties.

“In retrospect, of course, the exciting thing about that time was the anarchy.

The fact that Berlin was not very regulated because the authorities had much bigger problems to deal with,” adds the Berlin musician, who also remembers the illegal parties he had with his friends on the banks of the Spree River, something impossible today.

“That era has passed, of course, but Berlin still has a very rich and diverse club culture, with a lot of offer for different people.”

The list of clubs remains endless – despite the fact that many closed their doors due, above all, to the gentrification that Berlin has suffered in recent years – with some as popular as About Blank, Sisyphos, Kater Blau, Watergate, Club der Visionaere, Else, Hoppetosse, Zenner, Golden Gate, Wilde Renate or the legendary Tersor, KitKatClub or Berghain, to name just a few.

There are parties with room for all types of tastes, which change depending on the day and time.

You can go to dinner with some friends and then go dancing or meet for breakfast on a Sunday and then go to a club to listen to electronic music starting at 10.

The parties and imagination have no limits in Berlin, which also has a strict no-photo policy.

For example, the Wilde Renate hosts the House of Lunacy every two months, a

sex-positive

party with a different theme and a strict

dress code

.

Along the same lines, although it is only for men, is the Lab.oratory, in the Berghain.

This club located in a former power plant is famous for having one of the best sound systems in the world.

The best DJs in the world play there.

This turned the Berghain into the temple of electronic music and one of the great magnets of so-called “electronic tourism.”

If it's sometimes difficult to get into a club, trying to understand the Berghain's esoteric door policy has become something like trying to navigate a Greek labyrinth.

There may be many failed attempts before you can enter.

Celebrities are not the exception either.

Additionally, an Instagram account tells you the current wait time, which can easily reach five hours or more.

But for Berlin to remain Berlin, electronic music and club culture must be protected from real estate developers.

That is why UNESCO's decision was described by the Berlin club network Clubcommission as “a milestone.”

“At the moment it is not entirely clear, but in the medium and long term it will serve to increase funding and, for example, have more possibilities to protect clubs from exclusion or in licensing procedures,” explains Lutz Leichsenring, executive member of the Clubcommission board while remembering that they have already achieved things such as being recognized by the German Parliament as “cultural facilities”.

Leichsenring recognizes that urban pressure takes its toll on clubs.

“The situation was and is very tense, for example, due to the construction of the A100 motorway,” he indicates about a controversial expansion project that would end dozens of clubs, including About Blank or Wilde Renate.

No one can stop the transformation of a city that grows every year and where prices rise relentlessly compared to more than ten years ago when Berlin was, as its then mayor said, “poor, but sexy.”

However, as DJ Laurine points out, “it has clearly changed, but it is still the only city in the world where you can experience such a unique electronic scene.”

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