photos: Frank R. Schröder.
Last weekend was a sad one for Berlin – after 48 years the city’s biggest queer club closed its doors forever following years of economic struggles. SchwuZ was a second home to many nightlife workers, DJs, drag queens, performers, and of course the queer community that came together here to celebrate in their own safe space. It’s a tragic loss for the community and the nightlife.
In the last year, I have visited the club at Rollberg more than ever. Our friends from Furiosa and Holy Karaoke started to make their parties here, Berlinale Talents hosted their closing party here, and Rebecca Black came for a concert. It was a place so diverse and lively – apart from being a queer space it was also just a really nice club.
The last weekend was the big farewell with their annual Halloween Ball on Friday and the final closing party on Saturday. I had the honor to photograph the Halloween party and to do the occasion justice I came up with the most elaborate costume I ever made. In the same way that SchwuZ was the “one and only” big queer club in Berlin – I came as the “one and only” 24 karat gold Labubu. You heard that right – I came dressed as the super viral and kinda obnoxious collectable plush toy.
And in the same way that SchwuZ made a lot of people happy over the years, I seem to have made a lot of people very happy with my costume – I hardly managed to do my job and take photos as everybody wanted to take photos with me. I felt like a beloved mascot at a meet-and-greet. But quite honestly it was fun for me and made me happy that my efforts to make this costume were worth it.
The Halloween Party was a big load of fun! It was super full – as you would expect at the last weekend of the beloved club. Our friend Karaoke Jesus hosted a special show with some of his biggest Karaoke stars and also DJed one of the best pop sets I ever heard in SchwuZ. The holy halls of the club were haunted one last time with all the ghouls and ghosts that “Gay Christmas” had to offer. It was so much fun capturing everyone in their outfits and costumes. I saw some of the best Halloween looks I’ve seen in a long time.
I will really miss this place – it’s such a tragedy there was no way to save it. I really hope a new place will open up offering something similar to what SchwuZ did. We really need it now more than ever!
Here comes my full Halloween set at SchwuZ. Enjoy!
Goodbye, SchwuZ!
