With the imminent closing of beloved Neukölln nightclub Griessmuehle coming up soon, the oldest cinema of Berlin, Moviemento, fighting for its survival and the iconic Clärchens Ballhaus already shut down the current mood of the city is pretty much set. Is the Berlin that we know and love gradually going to shut down now? Did the commercial powers that be finally win and swallow the alternative, untamable, free-spirited Berlin? I’m not gonna blame you if this is how you feel.
As someone who has been observing Berlin for 20 years now, I have seen many cherished clubs and cultural places go, some are even dearly missed today. The division of the city, the unwanted and abandoned places, relics of the industrialization, they all offered so much space for the underground and nightlife scenes to develop and thrive, especially since the wall came down. It created an ever thirsty and unflinching spirit to re-invent, re-purpose and experiment with spaces, objects, ideas. It created a city that turned its lack of pompous sights into a virtue and made its lifestyle into the magnetic quality that brought countless people here over the past couple of decades.
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by Frank | Stories
Who would have thought in the mid 2000s that a tiny shack of scrap wood on an abandoned lot at the river Spree would ever become the quirky urban oasis that is the Holzmarkt today?
It was in the year 2004 when I stepped into the so-called Bar25 for the first time. At the time it was a tiny improvised bar made of recycled wood at the end of an overgrown footpath in the wastelands of the Spree riverbanks in Friedrichshain. There was no techno party going on there, just the comfort of a worn out couch and some beers. I was on a date then that I hardly remember now, but I remember the place because it became of one the most legendary international techno clubs and a hub for youth culture of the post-millennium era.
Over the course of the next 7 years the buzz around this inconspicuous little place became louder and louder. I dropped by every now an then observing their journey to techno heaven and international fame. The bar grew bigger ever year, adding a small circus arena, a pizza parlor, a restaurant, a spa, a pool, a hostel and more cute little things to its world making it a little paradise that you never wanted or needed to leave. They started the whole cult of going to a place and not leaving it for 5 days straight. You didn’t have to, because there was everything you needed – plus a swing with a lovely view of the sunset over the Berlin city silhouette. There was a lot of feathers, confetti and glitter involved, something that set the Bar25 apart from it’s more understated neighbor Berghain that opened around the same time as them.
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by Frank | Clubs, Friedrichshain, Restaurants
A couple of weeks ago we gave you our first official Club Guide for Berlin with some of our favorite clubs and parties that we like to recommend as part of the AXE BLACK NIGHT campaign. In continuation of this collaboration we have now been asked by AXE to share our most memorable experiences in the Berlin nightlife, those parties, that took us by surprise and will remain in our memory forever. Of course living in Berlin for 15 years and having been to all the notable clubs and a lot of amazing parties and places of this period I have quite a few stories to tell and it was a little hard to narrow it down to only a few. Flipping through my huge catalog of party photos (believe it or not I have an archive that exceeds 18.000 photos) I took a trip down memory lane and collected some of my most special nightlife experiences that go all the way back to my first year in Berlin.
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by Frank | Party, Stories
Berlin is known worldwide for being home to one of the most influental and thriving scenes for electronic music and club culture. Countless musicians and DJs are based here and are successful with their productions and in the clubs, not just here in Berlin but also all over the world, often with the “Made in Berlin” seal of approval.
Jan Blomqvist is one of the young talents of Berlin’s electronic music scene that managed to stick out of the masses and within only a few years he gained a huge fanbase that reaches far beyond the city limits. He grew up with the success of legendary clubs such as Bar25 and its follow-up Kater Holzig. Now he plays in the most popular clubs in the world and at big festivals. His music is a clever fusion of melodic electro-pop, deep house and minimal techno – a combination that melted the hearts of many club goers and music lovers. His last EP was released back in July and features his summer hit Time Again which is one of his most impressive tracks to date.
We visited Jan in his studio on a lovely Autumn day and talked with him about his music and his relationship to Berlin before we went with him to explore some of his favorite places in the city. Enjoy our interview and exclusive photo series with Jan Blomqvist after the jump. We would like to give a warm thank you to Italien menswear label Antony Morato who supplied us with oufits for the photo shooting and inspired us with its #antonymoratoplaces focused on creative European cities. Enjoy the perspective on our city through the eyes of one its most promising musicians
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by Frank | Music, People, Photos, Stories
photos: Carolin Saage
After the Bar 25 movie and the Bar 25 novel, a new merchandising product about the legendary club was released recently. But unlike the documentary Days out of time (where opinions diverged) and in contrast to the book Die Bar by Ju Innerhofer (which was strongly criticized), the photo book 25/7 by Carolin Saage is just wonderful. More after the jump.
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by Jens | Music, Party
Ju Innerhofer, photo: mediaconsult.tv
After the movie Tage außerhalb der Zeit (Days out of time) the Bar 25 now also gets a literal monument: A few days ago, the novel Die Bar by Ju Innerhofer was published. The author has worked in Berlin’s club scene for three years. In her book, she describes her experiences. More in the German version of this article.
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by Jens | Entertainment
photo: Carolin Saage
When news was spread about an upcoming Bar25 movie, some people naturally resisted and immediately accused the producers of commercialization. However, when the documentary Tage außerhalb der Zeit (Days out of Time) was finally released in Spring 2012, it was only shown at some smaller cinemas in and outside of Berlin. So it obviously did not become another Berlin Calling as some feared. Regarding the artistic quality of the movie, people of course also differed in their opinions. While some just enjoyed the time journey back into the colourful Hippie world, others criticized the movie for being narcissistic and transfiguring… Anyhow, decide for yourself: If you have not seen Tage außerhalb der Zeit at the cinema, you can now watch it for free (and legally!) online.
by Jens | Movies
This weekend is basically an explosion in terms of parties. There is the Berlin Festival and all the other events of Berlin Music Week that bring along a truckload of parties and concerts. And then there is the seasonal closing of the Bar25 which will surely involve a lot of glitter and confetti!
But with all these big players we shall not forget about the little ones, like the Un-Opening of Pavilion, the Blind Date Swingers Club, the Sparkle Army at Monster Ronson’s and the Pink Pong Party at the Bar25 Spa. The flyers with infos after the jump.
If you’re up for a cool early evening program you might wanna check out the two orchestras that are playing at Stattbad Wedding on Saturday.
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by Frank | Events, Party
photos: Kieran Behan
As you might have noticed I got a bit lazy with making party photos in the last weeks. So as I stumbled across these pictures by Kieran Behan taken at the Bar25 @ .HBC party hosted by Comme Ci Comme Ca the other week, I thought of those readers who enjoy these kind of photos so much and decided to post them. I actually like the idea of setting up a fancy backdrop for the photos and have the camera hungry hedonists pose in front of it. It might not capture the actual party very well, but it reflects what kind of people went to it. And it just looks like a lot of fun! More of it after the jump.
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by Frank | Party
The Makers: Interview with Channel X
The “X” in the name of the DJ and producer team Channel X stands for the unexpected and the endless possibilities that come with the production of electronic music. One of these possibilities is a perfect party – and Channel X certainly knows how to do that. More information and an interview with Channel X after the jump.
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by Jens | People
