What’s the longest you’ve ever queued to get into a nightclub? Half an hour? An hour? Chancesare, you still have to wait outside the nightclub for more than three hours – without even aguarantee that you will be able to join at the end of the lounge.Yet this is the chance that thousands of club-goers take every week, eagerly waiting outside Berghain Club. Berghain’s intimidating and dark exterior of the former East German power plant is immediately identifiable. Yet, much less is going on inside – maybe this aspect of suspense and mystery continues to attract so many.
History
Berghain began his journey into the history of nightlife books in 1998 as a series of male-only
fetish club nights known as Snax in the now legendary Ostgut nightclub. Ostgut soon became a
favorite in Berlin because of its hardcore techno parties, where club-goers – both straight and gay
– were free to act on their wishes in a private room. The architects Michael Teufele and Norbert
Thormann wished to create a place where tourists had the chance to be themselves, without fear
of judgment. A short distance from Ostgut, they found just what they were searching for, and Berghain Club was born on October 15, 2004.
The Aura
Crowds fill the floor of a large industrial building with its large steel and concrete interior and 20-meter high ceilings. The structure open-plan gets dominated by the heavy bass of their Funktion-One sound system – thought to be one of the best in the world – and creates an aura felt by 1,500 people like the beginning of something extraordinary.
Door and Photograph Policy
The Berghain Club has an unrivaled sense of exclusivity and suspense. One of the many reasons for this is its controversial door policy – the bouncers who stand at Berghain’s entrance are famously difficult to please.
-Whole websites are to educate nightclub guests on how to behave in line and whichbouncers to join.
-Tips vary from knowing what precisely the DJs are playing, looking like you’re ready fora good time, but not allowing yourself to look too drunk, and some classic pieces of advice are contrary to each other.
-Some people say that your entrance into Berghain Clubdoesn’t depend on the clothes you wear at all, but it’s more about how relaxed you look when you wear them.
-While the dress code may or may not be strict, it pales in comparison to a tight ban on taking any photos and videos inside Berghain – if you’re fortunate enough to get past the door policy, you’re subject to a security check.
-Anyone found trying any photograph inside Berghain is immediately thrown out and willnot be allowed to re-enter.
Notorious and Confidential
The parties have been famously long. Journalist Helen Pidd once famously wrote: ‘No onearrives before 4 am, and mostly stays until well past teatime’ – maybe there’s somethingaddictive about Berghain’s open-mindedness that keeps people there at all hours. Many have saidin the past that it feels like joining a whole new universe.
Berghain Club’s reputation is that of hedonism, decadence, and above all, confidentiality – and secrecy is a tough thing to keep back in an era where we can record things more efficiently than ever before. It’s rare for the nightclub even to try to maintain such a policy in the modern age, never mind keeping it successful. It is the reason that has led Berghain to become almost mythological in popular culture today – it’s shocking to us in the 21st century that only those who have visited Berghain with success still see places.
It’s evident that Berghain isn’t just another nightclub, and it’s something much more important tothose who visit. The Berghain Club is a world where you get judged for nothing, and you can enjoy the right to be whoever you want to be as long as the DJ plays.
Reference:
https://www.dontdiewondering.com/germany-most-iconic-nightclub/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/germany/berlin/articles/Berghain-how-to-get-into-Berlins-most-exclusive-nightclub/