Berghain: The Best Club In The World
AND WHY YOU’LL PROBABLY NEVER GET INSIDE
Nestled between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain, hidden inside a disused power station, lies one of the most exclusive party havens Berlin and indeed the world, has ever known. Founded by Norbert Thormann and Michael Teufele in 2004, the super club is now officially recognised as a cultural institution of Germany and remains top of the bucket list for party-goers on their pilgrimage of clubbing adventures. Shrouded in myth and legend; stories from the exclusive Berlin club tell of non-stop raves lasting several days, hedonistic sex parties and marathon sets from the best techno and house DJs the world has ever known.
“I walked past the night before and the line was so long, maybe three hours long. You could faintly hear the music from the street but you knew something really cool was going on inside”.
— Elliot, a party goer at Berghain.
We spoke to one individual fortunate enough to be granted entry to Berghain, to give us a first-hand account of what went down inside. While holidaying in Berlin, Elliot, a twenty-nine-year-old techno lover made it his mission to get inside the super club and take part in the festivities.
The first and most obvious step was getting inside, but as Elliot will explain:
The exclusivity of Berghain is part of what makes it so damn enticing! There is a strict no-photo policy within the club and just getting in the door has become the talking point of countless blogs, with people offering online coaching and even dedicating mobile apps to give you the best chance of slipping into the techno haven.
Sven Marquardt, local behemoth and head of security at Berghain says that only he and “a few of my guys are allowed to select guests at the door. They have to understand what Berghain is all about first, and I try to give them that foundation. Beyond that, there are no set rules.”
Essentially, they’re looking for participators, not bystanders who are there to gawk at the elicit partying taking place. If you’re there to be a tourist, you’ll stick out to security like a sore thumb and be turned away.
Outside in huge graffiti across the walls reads, “Don’t Forget To Go Home”
“We made plans to get into Berghain on a Sunday because we’d heard that was the best time to get in”, Elliot shares. “We were told you had to wear black and not look like we’d dressed up too much. I wanted to wear some new shoes I’d bought specially for the occasion but a local told me not to — that might make me stand out”.
Don’t look at your phone and don’t look happy while you’re in the line, that was the most common advice I got from locals
“We arrived at about 12 pm on Sunday. Ahead of us, three guys were turned away by the bouncer so we weren’t confident. One of the bouncers eyed us up and down and we didn’t move a muscle. He came up and asked “just the two of you?” We nodded and he ushered us in. Once we were inside we were patted down and security took our phones, putting stickers over the cameras- front and back. Then we paid the eighteen Euros to get in.”
The whole building is designed so there are no dead ends, and there’s no mirrors or reflective surfaces anywhere. It’s about being in the moment and enjoying yourself.
For many people, this first step is too big a hurdle to overcome. Many revellers wear their excitement too boldly across their faces and are turned away. Others might just not have gotten the ‘wear black’ memo that Elliot did. As Elliot tells us, once you’re in, the clothing is optional.
“There were naked people everywhere and it was so loud; you can feel the bass coming through the floor. You’re so nervous at first — you feel like you could slip up or look like a tourist and they’ll chuck you out.”
They stamped our hands and the host looked up at us and said
“Once you get the stamp you’re family for the weekend”.
We decided to soak it all in and explore, walking up a huge metal staircase that wraps around the inside of the building. Then to a bar to get a beer that cost two Euros. It was hot inside, really hot. The bathrooms are packed. And all the metal walkways overhead let you see what’s happening below”.
Berghain takes the ‘industrial aesthetic’ to the highest degree. Steel walkways intertwine overhead and chains swing from the ceilings, eighteen metres high.
“We must have been there for about four or five hours, and when we came outside we just looked at each other and burst out laughing. We walked back to our hotel and were just dumbfounded, we couldn’t even speak. We missed our flights home but absolutely didn’t care.”
Berghain has been nominated as the best club in the world each year for the past decade and continues to attract ravers from all over the globe. A recent study found that a third of Berlin’s tourists are there specifically for the nightlife, and nothing says nightlife like a three-day rave at Berghain.
Unfortunately, many of Elliot’s recollections were either too risqué to be included in the paragraphs above or have become lost in a blur of hedonistic revelry.
Special thanks to Elliot for sharing his story, maybe now you’ll be lucky enough to get inside and see it for yourself.
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