Another well-known Berlin club has announced its closure. The Watergate, located directly on the Spree in Kreuzberg, wants to cease operations after 22 years. “It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to end our club operations at the end of the year and not to extend the lease,” the operators wrote on Tuesday on the Internet portal Instagram. The reasons are the rising costs and the changing club culture. There are to be big farewell events up until New Year’s Eve. “The party is over – long live the party,” the post concludes.
Ulrich Wombacher, one of three operators, told the Berliner Zeitung, which had first reported: “For us, the situation in Berlin is crucial, and it has changed significantly. After Covid business simply didn’t pick up speed anymore.” Music is consumed differently today. The long closure of clubs made a big difference, and cheap tourism has declined. “Berlin, with its individual, small and established club culture, has lost international relevance.” DJs can no longer compete with the fees, and at the same time festivals have become more and more important.
Wombacher continued: “If the whole tourism-Glam disappears, what remains is Berlin without makeup.” Kreuzberg in particular has lost much of its charm, there is a drug problem, a lot of homelessness and crime. “Nothing lasts forever. The Berlin corner pubs are no longer there either. (…) But why shouldn’t clubs also be a temporary phenomenon. Club culture is incredibly fragile.” Even more state funding is not a solution, says Wombacher. “Club culture doesn’t work like that. (…) Club culture is fast, individual. You can’t force it into a planned economy, even if we have benefited from the funding.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240917-930-234797/1
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