“The construction is similar to that of a cathedral of the Middle Ages,” says Thomas Karsten, one of the two architects responsible for the 2004 renovations of the building, which was originally constructed in 1953 as part of East Germany’s postwar reconstruction process and abandoned in the late 1980s. The main Berghain dance floor, which focuses on hard techno, has 60-foot ceilings supported by massive pillars made of unpainted concrete. Religious imagery is nothing new to the electronic music scene - Frankie Knuckles compared the Warehouse, the Chicago club which gave birth to house music, to a “church for people who have fallen from grace” - but in the case of Berghain, the sacred comparison is especially apt.įirst of all, the building is enormous. On Facebook, Sunday trips to the club are referred to as “Sunday Mass,” and techno blogs are littered with references to the “church” of Berghain. To enter Berghain is, as many people have described it, a religious experience. Now the venue stands at the intersection of the bigger trends facing the city, namely gentrification, a rise in low-fare tourism and a flood of international hype, and faces an awkward question: What does it mean for a club to be underground when the entire world wants to dance there? The famously secretive Berghain - which attracts many of the world’s most respected DJs and has been described as the “best club in the world” by everyone from the New York Times to DJ Mag - has gone from being a local phenomenon, infamous for its sex parties and drugs, to one of the city’s most high-profile tourist attractions. Listen to the essential Berghain playlist Many of these American tourists were drawn to the city’s music scene by the popularity of EDM back home. A record 5.3 million tourists visited Berlin in the first half of 2013, including 150,000 Americans - an increase of nearly eight percent over the first half of 2012. According to a study by Berlin tourism organization visitBerlin, one-third of visitors to Berlin are drawn by the city’s nightlife. Over the past decade, Berlin has transformed into Europe’s unofficial party capital, and Berghain has developed a reputation as the Mecca of clubbing. This is her last day in Berlin, and her friends recommended she come here, the city’s most famously hardcore and important club for electronic dance music, as a final blow-out: “Everybody was telling me you need to go to Berghain,” she says. Sofia is at the tail end of a three-week visit to the city with her husband, a Brooklyn bar-owner, and has been a fan of EDM since she was 19. “I’ve seen two men making out, but that’s about it,” complains Sofia, a thin, hoodie-wearing 24 year old with long hair visiting from New York, while surveying the general crowd. Singer Paulette McWilliams on Her Years With Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, and Steely Dan The air smells of weed, sweat and urine, and next to the bar, a couple of glassy-eyed men in leather harnesses are leaning against each other, absentmindedly putting their hands down each others’ pants as strobe lights flash.Ĭhasteness, Soda Pop, and Show Tunes: The Lost Story of the Young Americans and the Choircore Movement
Near the club’s main staircase, an overly energetic young man in knee socks and short shorts is dangerously close to falling from a platform on to a trio of skinny brunettes below. On the dark, cavernous dance floor - which is located in the imposing turbine hall of a defunct East German heating and power station - the strain of endless partying is starting to become evident. The club has been open since Friday night and will remain open until some time Monday morning. Many of these revelers have been in the club for more than 24 hours, a feat of stamina likely attributable to some combination of MDMA, speed and ketamine.ĭon’t miss our list of the greatest EDM albums of all time Dino Sabatini, an Italian DJ with short dark hair, is playing hard, hypnotic techno to a crowd of shirtless gay men, disheveled dudes in sneakers and tiny women with tiny backpacks. on a Sunday in January, the massive main dance floor at Berlin’s Berghain is full.