Berlin techno palace Berghain has long been famous for its exacting door policies, but in recent months it’s been even more impossible to get in than usual – the club has been shut since March. Now the techno mecca has reopened – and it’s easier to get in than ever before.
Why? Because until this Sunday (August 2), the club is hosting a sound art installation called ‘eleven songs – halle am berghain’, by artists Sam Auinger and Hannes Strobl (aka tamtam), in its imposing Kessel Hall space.
Capacity is limited to just 50 at any one time to meet social-distancing requirements, so there may still be a queue – but there’s no need to worry about how you look or what you’re wearing, as the venue’s notoriously discerning bouncer Sven Marquardt is nowhere to be seen.
Photograph: Roman März
The installation, created in partnership with sound art collective Singuhr, is designed to complement the imposing concrete expanse of the hall, often open during club nights as Halle am Berghain.
Speakers have been dotted throughout the cavernous structure, say Singuhr, so ‘the entire space is an instrument’. On their visit to the exhibition, Agence France-Presse described hearing ‘rhythmic throbbing, soft city noises, murmurings and even the whirling of helicopter blades’.
So it sounds a bit intense, but still a heck of a lot chiller than a typical night out in the world’s most famous nightclub.
Photograph: Roman März
Elsewhere in Berlin, major clubs have reopened as summer beer gardens, and the city now wants to turn its parks into massive open-air venues.