How to Get into Berghain, and Why Not To
![By Nicor (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://needleberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/1024px-Berghain.jpg)
I don’t tell them it’s not worth it: because once inside Berlin’s infamous nightclub, it rarely disappoints. It’s not just the experience of being in a former Communist power plant with cathedral ceilings. It’s about watching dawn’s light from the Panorama bar, with those Wolfgang Tillmans photographs looking over. Or it’s about losing yourself on the suspended platform of the turbine room, as one of the world’s most sophisticated sound systems enervates you with high-end electronica. Add to this mix the risqué (the darkroom, and don’t even ask what’s going in the basement) and the surprising (an ice-cream coffee shop––although, plenty of people here think they need something stronger than ice-cream to get through a club night). And did I mention the music? It’s a temple to electronica. I wish I could provide some of my own pictures, but taking them is the surest way to be manhandled by the staff and find yourself eating gravel after you’ve been thrown out. It’s no exaggeration to say Berghain is the world’s ‘most famous club’, according to ‘everyone’ from the New York Times to Rolling Stone.
But while the experience inside doesn’t disappoint, it’s easy to be disappointed at the door. The difficulty of getting into Berghain is almost as legendary as, or more legendary than, the club itself. Plenty of people feel they’ve had the ‘Berghain experience’ simply by lining up for hours to be rejected. Having been to the club a couple dozen times, and having spent my time while waiting observing the crowd, and who gets in, I actually don’t think the door policy is as mysterious as all that. I have a little run-down of criteria:
–Go early. The line is at its peak on a Saturday night after 1am, so go right when the door opens at 12 midnight, or else late on Sunday morning (the club continues from Saturday night until Sunday evening).
–Don’t be fancy. We aren’t in Paris, we are in Berlin. No labels, no high fashion. Dressing casually in black and looking industrial helps.
–Don’t speak. And if you must, speak in German. The club is reacting against the hordes of tourists who come to pay pilgrimage.
–Be serious. No joking, no laughing, show you respect and take the place seriously. You can have all the fun you want once you’re inside. This is probably the number 1 rule: silence and cool eyes as you approach the door.
–Don’t go in a big group: if you’re a guy stand close to your guy friends to show that you’re together (it’s supposed to be a gay club after all, though it’s very mixed inside).
–Don’t be too young. Unlike most of the club world, it actually helps to be older to get into Berghain and other Berlin clubs, which is maybe why students would actually ask someone as old as their professor about clubbing. 35, I’d guess, is an optimal Berghain age for entry.
Case in point: I was once in line with four Italian guys, all about 25 years old, standing behind me. They’d arrived at 2am (like I had, in my folly), and we’d all waited until 4am––pretty short for a Berghain wait, I’d say. They were wearing Milan high fashion, and convinced they were the shit, gesticulating loudly in their Lombard accents. We were still far enough away from the door to permit a little chit chat, and when they found out it was a gay club, and only ‘straight-friendly’, they reacted with parochial shock. For me the conversation was over, and I let them go ahead, so as not to be implicated in their macho cavorting. We get closer to the door, and the boys are squealing and pinching each other’s bums. After the two hour wait, it took only a two-second ‘no’ from Sven when they finally reached the door to eject them. If they’d gone in twos, been quiet, put their arms around each other, been hairy and unkept, in black tank tops, torn skinny jeans, tatooed and pierced, but all in a studied-casual way, they would, just maybe, have passed the test. Sprezzatura is an Italian word after all.
I bounced my criteria off someone I know who works at Berghain (I need to keep him anonymous of course) and he replied: ‘That sounds about right. Sven looks for people who will fit the vibe of the club, and he tries to keep out people who will cause trouble––usually if they are too young, in big groups. But it’s no science: by a certain point in the evening it’s a crap shoot, the guys at the door get tired, and you might be turned away for, really, no reason’.
I think plenty of people who have lined up, crushed for four hours in the freezing cold, in a line that might stretch hundreds of meters, only to be turned away, might take some comfort that there’s a level of capriciousness in getting into Berghain. It’s precisely the expectation that there are fixed criteria for entry, with the hidden reality that they are not rigorously enforced, that keeps alive the urban legends around Berghain’s mysterious ‘rules for entry’.
Sven Marquardt is, of course, the ruggedly tatooed pierced doorman, the terrifying Cerberus to Berghain’s netherworld, that my friend calls the ‘Karl Lagerfeld’ of Berlin. ‘He looks really scary, but he’s actually a sweetheart’, he tells me, but I’m honestly shit-scared of him. Perhaps a lot of Berghain can be reduced to the principle of Berliner Schnauze: a tough approach, and then some kindness and friendliness once you’ve proven yourself. Perhaps, psychologically, people have such a good time at the club because they’ve invested so much simply to getting inside. It has to be as amazing as all that when you’ve waited for three hours, faced Sven, and it’s paid off. Off come the coats, you cruise up the stairs to the platform of the main hall, and the bass beat rips through you. Isn’t it amazing?
As I continue the conversation with my friend, he finally implores me: ‘Please, please, do us all a favour and don’t write yet ANOTHER article about how to get into Berghain. Enough is enough’.
Well, I’m writing the post (sorry), but it’s worth exploring why this article maybe shouldn’t have been written after all:
-Because there’s already too much hype, and the club doesn’t need any more tourists. I remember going to Berghain’s predecessor Ostgut in the 90s: it was rough and local, a place on the edge, something of a secret. Berghain is starting to feel like a place pointed out from the window of a tour bus. Locals still go here, but long gone are the times when I run into a lot of people I know. Now, it’s a place I take people who are visiting from out of town, as I would take them to the Brandenburg Gate. Only the sleeziest of nights get my local friends excited––like Snax––the kind of night that keep most tourists frightened and far away.
-Because the press often jumps to the presumption that since Berghain has been discovered Berlin is over. This is dumb. As if the fate of this nightclub could be an appropriate metaphor for the state of the city. Berlin might be its nightlife for the weekenders who jet here to lose themselves, but it’s a lot more than that for the people who have made it their home. There’s resistance to write more about Berghain, because we’ve heard too much from those New York publications that always conclude with some glib statement about Berlin no longer being ‘cool’, whatever that means.
So where does that leave us?
I disagree that one shouldn’t write any more about Berghain, because the secret has been out for a very long time now and the place hardly risks being any more inundated by tourists than it already is. Berghain is a Berlin institution, and therefore deserves comment. Now that it is over-exposed, the question is will become simply a tourist attraction like the erstwhile (now defunct) Tacheles–– a place that so defined Berlin that it eventually became the cliché itself?
The door policy might well be one way to keep Berghain’s identity: but it could just as likely defeat the club.
Door policies are inherently discriminatory and unsavoury, and plenty of Berliners think so too. I was recently at Chalet Club with a group of friends––we were a motley group, young, old, gay, straight, dressed up, messy… we fit no particular profile––and were swiftly rejected. I asked the doorman, telling him I was a blogger, to explain the criteria. He ably dodged my subtle efforts to expose ageism, sexism, racism, etc., and he simply said, ‘We are looking for a certain style for our club, and not all of you have it’.
At this point you ask yourself why anyone would go to the trouble to be subjected to this kind of aesthetic conformity? I think a lot of Berliners feel the same way, and would rather go hang out in Schwuz or a place with a more inclusive vibe like Homopatik than play the ‘am I worthy?’ game with a bunch of self-important middle men doorkeepers. The same holds for the door at Berghain, where a much longer line, with masses of tourists, makes the ordeal even more undignified.
And why would you deal with the frustration of Berghain’s line, when Berlin is not short on alternative converted industrial spaces? You simply need to move farther down the Spree, towards Ostkreuz, far far away from tourist land, to more innovative clubs that are breaking from the Berghain model of hard-nosed selection. Since locals have already seen the inside of Berghain, why would they choose it when, more often, they get a smile instead of a growl at the super sexy about blank?
Because the reality is not that Berghain is over, or that Berlin is over, but rather that most Berliners have moved on from Berghain.
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as always, love the article 🙂
my 2 cents on two points you mentioned:
– i got turned down at homopatik more often than at berghain for what it’s worth, but that’s mostly (i hope?) because it was too full or they didnt need more girls :/
– you’re right: there are definitely more parties in berlin than those at berghain, and they’re probably all worth checking out. but when it comes to line-ups, soundsystem, a consistently interested crowd and okay (!) prices, it’s still the best, and it’s still worth waiting for. although i admit that door policies can be harmful, i must say that at berghain, they know how to mix it up. and it wouldn’t be fun for tourists to get into a club that only has tourists visiting (ie people who dont get the music, who dont take their shirts off while dancing, who aren’t into raunchy things, who know the etiquette of a certain place).
many people, usually visiting, went into berghain and hated it for an obvious reason: they don’t like techno, or they don’t like “serious” partys like they’re represented at berghain, where people have fun in a certain way that might be a little too “cool” compared to a party at Schwuz.
Dear Sara,
Many thanks. And I’ve since talked to plenty of people who have confirmed that Homopatik is much harder to get into than I assumed. I haven’t been since last summer, and it was a beautiful morning in the garden. Perhaps even the door policy was brightened by the summer sun, in my memory too. Best wishes, Joseph
Great article!
I’m spending most of May in Berlin (was there for 2 weeks last May) and for some reason I’ve decided I want to go to Berghain.
I used to be a cool postpunk in Washington, DC/NYC in the 80s, but now I’m a 58-year-old bald guy with glasses.
Think I have a chance?
At least I’m gay. 🙂
Me and my girlfriend have been to Berlin 3 times and have successfully entered Berghain 4 times, we have never been turned away…A 58 year old guy, who’s gay will have no problem entering Berghain, in fact I’d say you’d be welcomed with open arms.
I’ve been there a few times, as a tourist I guess since I don’t live in Berlin. The last time, the cigarette smoke really bothered me, though I guess this isn’t something particular to Berghain.
Helpful tip du jour: KNOW what dj’s are performing the night you are going – the ‘bouncer’ aka magical gatekeeper might ask WHY you are there – just another ‘how to get into Berghain’ piece of the puzzle.
Everybody who seriously go out in Berlin can’t afford to ignore Berghain. This is the fact. They offer excellent sound, very good line up and you can stay inside two days long for modest 15 EUR. The door is still better than in other pseudo clubs where they meanwhile just look for a mainstream.
i’d say take a long turn to go around this based on nothing kind of arrogant club door policy, it’s kinda sad and depressing this whole cultivated door stuff. this is in no way what is house music about. serously the famous bouncer would be the last guy i’d let into my club…i like happy people who vibe love, he’s just a sad guy, so distanced from waht house music is all about…
it’s techno 😉
I work in the music industry and I can confidently say that I am quite knowledgable regarding club scene, techno, artists, underground culture as a whole, etc. After living in Amsterdam for 4 years and having the excellent opportunity to be going to a club way better than Berghain – TROUW with I’d say also quite strict door policy, I can say Berghain’s door is insanely bullshit.
I have tried 7 times in a row to get into that place. Followed all advice online, tried different times of the day and never have I ever been asked a question before brutally being turned away. I understand why it is a place that one cannot avoid in Berlin, but I also understand that to be judged so hard for a second and downgraded to this level is highly discouraging. Also, they cannot expect people not wanting to go if their media presence and image is booming as the “techno temple” first, and second by inviting international artists there must be the expectation of international people/fans who would like to see them.
As far as I remember Berlin and Berghain’s philosophy in particular, is all about unity, 0 discrimination and self-expression as the most integral part of it. Well, guess what people, if you are being who you are at Berghain’s door you are not good enough. Worst part is that if you try to get closer to what they seem to approve as good enough it does not work either. In the end it was all about the music right? It’s just sad how even in clubbing we are getting somebody to evaluate whether we deserve it or not.
I hope one day justice will be served.
P.s. I am a girl and not gay. I guess I am already very wrong by only being that…
I agree wholeheartedly that Trouw felt much more inclusive and warm. Berghain is a cathedral, socially colder; but the garden in summer can be glorious.
You see how complicated you are. 🙂 I guess the doormans of Berghain watching our personality, not our dress. If they see that person might be a complicated one, who has arrived rather to complain and make problems than partying, than this person likely will not go inside.
Heyho,
I enjoyed your article, was a good read.
Just yesterday I noticed why these kind of “Do’s & Dont’s” about gettin into Berghain are kinda bad though. If you take a look at the crowd these days, the door definitely changed or has no chance to really see who is dressing up and who doesn’t.
Very young girls, all dressed the same and mostly probably just there for the prestige.
I only notice that when I wait for the toilets so thats fine, but yeah its something I noticed.
Best thing about Berghain still is though that you can also not look and act like the “black ripped fashion” crowd and still get in. I dont dress up for it, i laugh in the line and i always great with a friendly “Guten Morgen!”.
I think as soon as the bouncers feel that you’re that just loves the music and is there to have a good time and see friends then you’ll have no problem.
And if you desperately wanna dance that day just always make a plan B in case you won’t get in.
Cheers,
B
The best advice friends gave me was to feel that you were gonna make it. And indeed, all the times I went and felt calm yet excited for what was waiting me inside but also embrassing the fact that if a “No” would wait me at the door I’ll walk to my plan B party or simply go to bed, it worked. That’s not an easy state of mind though, it took me time not to stress like hell when I was in the last meters of the queue.
I’ve visited all main clubs in Berlin and I was rejected at all locations. I’m ugly. Beat this.
Jeeeeeesus… Why on earth anybody would go to such lengths to gain entry to a club is beyond comprehension. Are people really so shallow these days that they need to validate their existence by proving to some dude named Sven that they are hip and homo enough to be admitted to a party? Pathetic.
I’d honestly rather stay at home, invite some friends round and allow everyone to party free of judgement. At least that way we can all just be ourselves and not have to worry about fitting in with the ‘cool’ kids.
Here’s an idea: go hang out with some people who aren’t douchebags, which you will find none of at Berghain.
maybe you mean SPAZZATURA
Haha. I don’t expect Castiglione was thinking of spazzatura instead of sprezzatura. But in this context, spazzatura makes sense too.
Sadly, despite Berlin’s mantra of tolerance, equality and freedom, it fails on a great many counts. Berghain’s admission policy merits very close scrutiny.
I don’t know what it is about this place, but I can’t get it out of my head. I’ve tried twice to get in, both times unsuccessful. I hope one day to be allowed in to experience what I believe is the best clubbing experience in the world.
Well, “N”, actually i think you pretty much summarize why you didnt get in.
You end up saying “if you are being who you are at Berghain’s door you are not good enough” but you just in the beggining stated “followed all advice online”…
I mean, I totally understand the policies. Most of the people saying that want to go there, say its because they heard its “the best club” or “it famous” or something like that, not because they really like techno music. And dont forget techno is not for all, some people love it and some people hate it, and some cant understand it or like it only on drugs, but if you dont love it youre not gonna have a nice time inside Berhain, so just go anywhere else and enjoy yourself.
I’m not sure about the advice you can find online on “how to enter Berghain”. I’ve been to the club, doormen were very nice and polite, spoke to me in English… and on the way out even thanked me for coming and wished me a nice day (it was already 9am when I left the club). The fact is, I am a gay male, 45 y/o, tall and with a long beard… kind of handsome I guess (others say)… from eastern Europe. That night I was wearing all blue and gray, simply because I don’t own anything black (seriously) which may explain my attitude as well. Other people inside were also dressed in various colours… even shiny clothes… although, true, black (or almost naked) was predominant… And all the people in the club were from all over the globe. The least you could hear German language… maybe it’s time for Berliners to face it, Berghain has evoluted from “local Berlin club” to “global, located in Berlin”. That’s the price of glory I guess. Times, people and places are changing… music as well… There were a lot of people in the club from Asia, Middle East, Africa, all over Europe and America… very mixed crowd, straight, gay, old, young, black, white, yellow, brown, fat, skinny, beautiful, not so beautiful… but one thing was in common for all, there were all 100% QUEER. So, I guess that’s the rule, if you are not queer enough (or gay and horny), don’t bother trying. Those super hot and handsome guys at the door are trained to filter ordinary from QUEER (queer-in, ordinary-not in)… and thank God for that! They also don’t allow very young boys and girls, which is reasonable considering the obscene things you could see in the corners throughout the club.
So, I’ve done my pilgrimage… and my piece of advice to all global queer boys, girls and others – be yourself, and be prod of and comfortable with it. If you have a chance to visit Berlin, make sure to experience Berghain… it is a place for all who feel/are different from mainstream. <3
Oh, I forgot, in case it’s important to anyone, I got there around 3:30am, and the que was not so long.
I tried to get in 5 Times and i got in once. The occasions i didn’t make it where before as well after that one time i did. The first 2 times were years ago as i just arrived in Berlin (i’m not german yet i live here for 3.5 years now and i really got the vibes of this city and the local’s mentality, which i partly overtook to myself with great love and appreciation). I love Berlin, i always miss it when i have to leave it for even short times, thinking about my return all the time. There is something different here that tourists or also germans from other places barely understand, and even if i tried to explain it, it wouldn’t convice them, because they’ve never lived here for years, experiencing the mentality/state of mind that makes this city what it is.
I think that Berghain – being called the temple of Techno, sundays Church or the best club in the world, isn’t but just a certain reflection of a certain mentality or a state of mind that either you’re a part of or you’re not. The night i was inside was the best night i had since i moved here. My failed attempts to return, alone as well as with others, might be caused by the facts that it’s always been on sundays eves (00:00-01:00, just when the last night begins), as the club was full, and probably because I look pretty young (though i’m 25 and always see/hear from younger people who go there frequently and always get in, and then there’s also the fact that i was still 24 in the night i got inside). I definitely find that some of the tips make sense but i also witness them not working in reality time after time, which made me realize that it is a whole cultural vibe i needed to understand in order to be accepted there, whereas these somewhat solid tips can’t help you if the doormen think that you are not a person who knows where they are going. But, every time i somehow feel closer to finally be welcomed by the bouncers like this one lucky time, because i’d already been inside and am maybe supposed to still know better than the tourists or the people who never got in, only to get rejected again. I shall also state that i always dress casually in black, i have tattoos, piercings, a respectfull expression and i speak very good german with no accent. I understand the club’s history and cultural background and it is, indeed, it really is, ALL about the music and the amazing dance experience i’ve once had inside, for me. I just don’t care about the superficial gloriousness of “i was in Berghain”. Well, still having been rejected so often didn’t let me down so that i wouldn’t try it again… (again i almost always tried very late on sundays when the last night begins) Maybe i should try shortly after the open… which was the case when i first and last got inside.
So here is my take on Berghain:
Me and the lady came on a Sunday night to Berghain (visiting from London). The queue was not so long. Out of 10 people in front of us, 8 were turned away. We got in with no problem. In terms of dress style, I probably looked more punk / post punk than anything (yes I’m heavily into punk and post punk). Regardless, the only comment one bouncer made to me was, “Your shoes are nice. It’s really dirty in there.” I told him, “Then that’s my kind of place.” He gave me a fist bump.
In terms of the club itself, it is definitely massive in size and the sound system is great. You will find countless of people dancing to techno, sitting around high as a kite or every now and again making out beyond just kissing in one of the boxed cubbies. Was there this rampant amount of sex happening? The short answer is no. You find girls walking around topless but that’s about it. Yes the floors were dirty from the continuous partying that began on a Friday (remember it was now Sunday). Panorama Bar was closed so I didn’t get the opportunity of go there. A part of Berghain feels like a 90s rave that never ended. That can be a good thing, but at the same time, there was a predictability to it. If you are an old school raver from back in the days, then Berghain will either make you feel an air of nostalgia in a good way or you will quickly realise that you have “been there done that”. I personally felt the latter. In terms of the social aspect, many people kept to their groups. But again, there are loads of people on drugs so quite a bit of them appeared to be in another world. Overall, I think Berghain is a club that you should definitely visit at least once (considering that you actually make it in).
Does Berghain live up to the hype? Well that all depends on your level of raving. I would personally say that it didn’t blow me away, but I did love the club space itself. Maybe it’s the mystery of actually getting in that keeps people standing in the queue for hours. But whatever the case, you have to give the club owners credit for actually keeping people continuously wanting to come back (even they have been rejected multiple times), regardless of how much you may hate the door policy.