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Any die-hard techno-head will tell you that Berghain isn’t so much a club as it is a cultural institution, a mecca for electronic music. Set in the thick concrete of one of Berlin’s towering 1950s power plants, Berghain is one of the most famous clubs in the world. It’s so celebrated that even the act of standing, waiting and (probably) getting rejected in the queue is itself a must-do for music-loving tourists.
On October 2, for the first time since March 2020, Berghain will fully open again. Since July, the club has been hosting both midweek events and weekend garden parties – all restricted to its outside areas. From next week, the interior dance floors, Panorama bar and darkrooms will all be ready for the party-going public.
The reopening follows a decision from the Berlin administrative court that clubs should be able to open indoors – albeit only for the fully-vaccinated and those who’ve recently recovered from the virus. Official EU digital Covid passes will count as proof of vaccination or recovery, while Berghain will also have its own contact tracing system in place.
To raise funds during the pandemic, Berghain temporarily reopened as an art gallery, displaying the works of 85 Berlin-based artists. The exhibition, titled ‘Studio Berlin’, featured sound installations and multidisciplinary pieces, with many being created during lockdown.
Proof of vaccination and/or recovery from Covid is, for Berghain, an unusually clear entry requirement. But, inevitably, proof won’t ensure entry: the club is notorious for its bouncers’ unpredictable, unexplained pickiness. There’s even a WikiHow page dedicated to getting in – though we won’t vouch for whether any of those methods actually work.
Berghain’s first ‘Klubnacht’ features a suitably big-name line-up, including the likes of Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann, Tama Sumo, Lakuti and DJ Stingray. ‘Let the bass kick, see you on the dancefloor!’, reads a message on the club’s website. We sure will – if we can get in, that is.
And if you don’t actually get in, here are 19 great clubs in Berlin that aren’t Berghain.