Berghain and Ostgut Ton: the world's most famous club

Before Berghain

The story starts with Snax, gay fetish parties that Norbert Thormann and Michael Teufele ran from the 1990s. In 1998 they found a permanent home at a club called Ostgut, in a former railway warehouse by the Ostbahnhof station. Ostgut closed in 2003 when the site was earmarked for redevelopment.

A power station between two districts

In 2004 the same people opened Berghain in a huge, abandoned power station. The name joins the two districts the building sits between: Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Downstairs, in a concrete hall with a very high ceiling, techno plays. One floor up is Panorama Bar, where house rules. The party starts on Saturday night and can last until Monday.

The door and the photo ban

Berghain is just as famous for who it turns away. The door policy is unpredictable, and there is no simple recipe for the "right" outfit. Its best-known bouncer is Sven Marquardt, a photographer by trade. Inside, photos are banned and phone cameras are covered with stickers. The point is that people can feel free without worrying that their behaviour will end up online. This matters especially to the queer community the club grew out of.

Ostgut Ton and the sound of the 2010s

In 2005 the club launched the Ostgut Ton label, which mostly released its residents. Len Faki, Shed, Ben Klock and Marcel Dettmann created a sound the world started calling "Berghain techno": heavy but not aggressive, dark, with a strong, spacious bass. Ben Klock's "Subzero" from 2009 is one of the most recognisable tracks of that decade.

Culture, not just entertainment

In 2016 the Berlin-Brandenburg finance court ruled that Berghain is a cultural institution, comparable to a concert hall. As a result, its tickets qualify for a lower VAT rate. For the scene this was a symbol: techno in Berlin was no longer just a party, it had become part of the city's culture.