When it comes to the party scene I feel like I have seen quite a bit in my time here since 2000. I’ve known a time before Berghain. There were definitely more underground places, big factory raves, illegal parties in Treptower Park. Everything was a bit more secretive, word-of-mouth was the number one way to communicate places, and these were also changing locations quite a bit, always moving out of the radar of authorities. But there is one big thing that I totally missed out on: The infamous 90s. I came to Berlin in the 90s only once and I was so disoriented and had really limited ways to inform myself that I ended up in all the wrong places. It was still fun and exciting – of course a 17-year-old was easy to impress at the time. But there are some club names that keep popping up even 20 years later that I never stepped foot in and I wish I had.
This short documentary segment from the TV show arte TRACKS from 1997 gives us a little glimpse into the early days of iconic clubs like Tresor and Matrix, but also less known underground places that maybe only existed for a short amount of time – may they rest in peace in club heaven. Have a look for yourself in the video below and be inspired by Berlin’s 90s club scene.
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by Frank | Videos
Ruins of Maria am Ufer, photo: Michael
With events scattered around the city and free of charge the festival FUTUR25 celebrates the German reunion this upcoming weekend. Some may ask: Didn’t we celebrate the same thing last year? But no. Last year we celebrated the anniversary of the fallen wall with illuminated balloons along the way of the wall. What had become reality for the people only became politically official with the signing of the German reunion contracts, which happened a year later.
FUTUR25 now celebrates the 25th anniversary of this political milestone with great installations, exhibitions and concerts. Radialsystem V serve as the centre of the festival, but is certainly not the only venue! The section Trümmern und Träumen (“ruins and dreaming”) is for us the most exciting one as it focuses on the developments of the Berlin Club scene, brings important figures back on stage, and takes you around on rickshaws to the locations of previously legendary clubs and those that still exist after a wild history of over two decades.
Read more about a couple of the program highlights and see some archive photographs of long forgotten clubs and parties after the jump…
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by Lia | Clubs, Events, Music
No city has a deeper connection to electronic music than Berlin. To describe it in the words of Techno legend Dimitri Hegeman, founder and owner of Tresor: “East and West celebrated the new freedom to the sound of electronic music. Berlin became the place for uncompromised youth culture and Tresor was the centre of this movement.”
Right next to Tresor electronic music will discover its avant-garde spirit this week with the Berlin Atonal Festival. The permanent home of this event which had its debut back in 1982, is an abandoned power plant called Kraftwerk Mitte. With several artistic installations it has been turned into a darkly majestic industrial complex for the duration of the festival.
We heartly recommend to check out the line up of this unique celebration of contemporary music and maybe discover one pearl or another between the several highlights. Also we think that the location and its audio-visual installations are an incredible source of inspiration for the music and light artists presenting their work there. After the jump we show you some of the most impressive pictures of the location.
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by Claudio | Music, Party
