Berlin - This year marks not only the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall it also marks the beginning of the city's unique club scene. Right now Berliners are celebrating two peaceful revolutions; that of the wall and the second one that happened at night in the city's cellars, bars and unoccupiedbuildings in the twilight days of the East German state. Berlin's nightlife profited from the dereliction, ill defined property ownership and anarchic circumstances that followed the Fall of the Wall. "In those days we would break into cellars and then invite the local GDR policeman in for a beer," recalls Tanith, a techno DJ. The Fall of the Wall and the beginning of Berlin's techno scene "worked together in perfect harmony."
German reunification was completed not just on Berlin's streets but also in nightclubs such as Tresor and E-Werk. The city's "Be Berlin" promotion office and the Club Commission have launched a campaign under the slogan "20 Yeas of Change - The Place to be for Music" with plenty of parties.
Berlin's development into a nightclub metropolis would never have happened without the Fall of the Wall, believes Tobias Rapp, an editor with the German current affairs magazine Spiegel and author of the book "Lost and Sound - Berlin, Techno and the Easy Jet Set."
Rapp points out that Berlin's inner city had a high level of derelict and empty real estate in the post-Wall era. "Without East Berlin it would never have gotten off the ground." Rapp, a scene insider, explains why a night on the town in Berlin these days is so different to the way it was 10 years ago. "In the 1990s you would stand with Germans in line outside a club." Today, at least 50 per cent of guests are from abroad.
Berlin has long been a city that has profited from a "better informed clientele," says Rapp. "A mix of ravers from the suburbs, the gay community, fashion victims and techno tourists." In his oft quoted book Rapp invented the term "Easy Jetsetters" to denote the last type.
Every day hundreds of nightclubbers land in Berlin on discount airlines from Rome, Paris and Barcelona. It's not only the nightclub owners who are happy to see them. Burkhard Kieker, the head of Berlin's tourist marketing office, says, "the Easy Jet Set come mainly from southern European countries and they have plenty of money. They book rooms in very good hotels and eat well."
Fifty per cent of foreign visitors try out Berlin's nightlife, according to Kieker. "In the past people used to go to a rock concert in a VW camper van but today they take the plane."
Global clubbers have made Berghain in the district of Friedrichshain one of their pilgrimage spots. Berghain is located in a former power station and a British music magazine has declared it to be the best nightclub in the world. The "Techno black holes" of the past have turned into "Techno cathedrals," according to DJ Tanith.
Close cooperation was also another by-word of Berlin's nightlife scene. "In the 1990s if vodka ran out in E-Werk a person would go across the road and get some in Tresor," recalls Tanith.
As a mark of respect to the legendary club, E-Werk recently re-opened its doors for one night, 12 years after the dance temple stopped regular operations.
Berlin's nightclubs once had the reputation for being drug-saturated but they have now become an important part of the city's economy. Nadja Clarus, a music business consultant in Berlin's city administration, points out that there are 300 nightclubs in the city which had 170 million euros (253 million dollars) of business in 2005. "The nightclubs can help Berlin grow."
However, there is no institutional aid provided to the nightclubs even though they provide plenty of jobs.
But Berlin's underground scene does not want too much help from Berlin's authorities or its "Be Berlin" campaign, which is promoting club life. Steffen Hack, the manager of Watergate club in Kreuzberg says "I don't know why the city suddenly thinks everything we do is so fantastic."
There is also the threat of a "New Yorkisation" if more empty real estate gets into the hands of investors. Hack does not believe it should be assumed that Berlin's Mayor Klaus Wowereit is a friend of the club scene. Hack is also worried that one day the clubs will be forced out. "The circle of clubs is always getting smaller. One day they will say we no longer fit in."
But until that day there will be a lot more Easy Jetsetters taking Berlin's reputation as a great nightspot back home with them.
