CLUBSTERBEN

2020

Berlin's night life is celebrated around the world. Most appealing is the techno scene with its many clubs and ravers, where freedom is celebrated and hedonism is preached. All those places are now closed due to COVID-19.

This crisis adds misery to a scene that was already under threat because of gentrification and Berlin’s soaring real estate prices. Countless clubs closed down in the last decade and many are currently under threat. They have even een new name for this development, called ‘clubsterben’, translated in club dying.

The forced closure due to COVID-19 will lead most of them to bankruptcy said union spokesman Lutz Leichsenring. There are now some initiatives taking place to help out during quarantine time like https://unitedwestream.berlin where you can donate money and get to see a DJ playing live in return.

I choose to visit Berlin's clubs at the exact moment when you would normally see an excited crowd queueing in front of the door. Now the doors are closed, the crowd is at home and the streets completely silent. While taking the pictures I couldn’t help but wonder if they will ever open their doors again.

Under: the entrance of Club der Visionaere in Friedrichshain.