While it might be most associated with its cutting-edge electronic scene, Berlin’s musical landscape has blossomed in manifold directions since the fall of the Wall. Aside from world-famous ‘techno temples’ (Berghain, Tresor and Watergate), the German capital today offers everything from avant-garde classical to burgeoning indie-rock and world music scenes.
Because of the city’s history of war and division, much of this music is presented in venues that are architecturally and historically fascinating, from recently-discovered Weimar ballrooms to industrial power stations and refurbished swimming pools. Below are some of the more unusual places to find your sonic kicks.
Radialsystem V
This temple of cutting-edge art and culture occupies a formerly derelict waterworks. Set on the river Spree, it was reconstructed by architect Gerhard Spangenberg in 2006, who added various glass extensions to triple its size. The spacious halls host everything from contemporary dance, yoga and leftfield music shows to avant-garde festivals like ‘Ultraschall’, an annual event dedicated to ‘new music’.
Holzmarktstraße 33, 10243 Berlin; www.radialsystem.de
Radialsystem V
Prince Charles
Located in a former swimming pool, Kreuzberg’s Prince Charles club was given a slick overhaul by local architects Clarke und Kuhn in 2011. Where people once swam laps, bartenders now serve up beers and cocktails from a swish rectangular bar and fashion-savvy punters groove below a star-studded ceiling. Prince Charles’ upbeat soundtrack spans hip hop and house.
Prinzenstrasse 85F, 10969 Berlin; www.princecharlesberlin.com
Delphi
Weissensee’s Delphi theatre opened in 1929 and operated as a silent film venue until WW2 bomb damage eventually forced it to close in 1959. Forgotten for decades, it was reopened by by Per Aspera Productions in 2012 for a site-specific opera. The group has since been campaigning to establish it as a new institution. In the meantime it continues to host one-off classical concerts, sometimes set to classic silent movies such as Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, which was filmed nearby.
Gustav-Adolf-Straße 2, 13086 Berlin; www.ehemaliges-stummfilmkino-delphi.de
Delphi
A historic image of the cinema
Gretchen
Gretchen’s musical mission is to provide the city with a refreshingly ‘non-techno’ electronic soundtrack, which means anything from dubstep and hip hop to grime and trip hop. The interior’s striking cross-vaulted ceiling and attractively slender columns date back to the 19th century, when the place served as stables for a royal regiment.
Obentrautstr. 19-21, 10963 Berlin; www.gretchen-club.de
Kraftwerk
Berlin’s legendary Tresor club is famous all across the globe, but many are unaware of the broader industrial complex that surrounds it. Known as Kraftwerk Berlin, the sprawling power plant was built in the 1960s and its labyrinth of concrete rooms are now used for one-off events and festivals like the experimental Berlin Atonal festival, which was started by Tresor-founder Dimitri Hegemann.
Köpenicker Straße 70 10179 Berlin; www.kraftwerkberlin.de
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Gartenstrasse cabaret theatre
This abandoned cabaret theatre, hidden behind apartment buildings for several decades, was only discovered a couple of years ago by Dirk Moritz of the Moritz Gruppe. In operation since 1905, it became one of the Weimar era’s prominent ballrooms until the Nazis closed it down. Today the 300-square-metre space is being restored – complete with original wall paintings and stuccoed ceilings – by LAVA architects as a space for performances and exhibitions, as well as meetings, conferences and luxury apartments. Work is expected to be complete by 2017.
Gartenstrasse 6, 10115 Berlin
Photography: Moritz Gruppe GmbH / Ronny Goyn
Gartenstrasse cabaret theatre
Photography: Moritz Gruppe GmbH / Ronny GoynPhotography: Moritz Gruppe GmbH / Ronny Goyn
Gartenstrasse cabaret theatre
Photography: Moritz Gruppe GmbH / Ronny Goyn
Gartenstrasse cabaret theatre
A visualisation of the restored space. Photography: Moritz Gruppe GmbH / LAVA
Gartenstrasse cabaret theatre
A visualisation of the restored space. Photography: Moritz Gruppe GmbH / LAVA
The Waldbühne
Built by German architect Werner March for the infamous 1936 Summer Olympics (by orders from Joseph Goebbels), this Greek-style amphitheatre has shaken off its Nazi associations to become one of the city’s premier outdoor concert venues. Set in a natural ravine near the Olympic Stadium, it has space for over 22,000 people and has been used for pop concerts since the 1960s. Rolling Stones fans caused mayhem here in 1965 and the Dalai Lama has even graced its stage.
Glockenturmstraße 1, 14053 Berlin; www.waldbuehne-berlin.de
The Waldbühne
Piano Salon Christophori
Arguably Berlin’s most intimate and idiosyncratic classical music space, Piano Salon Christophori was started by doctor and piano aficionado Christoph Schreiber. Hidden deep within Wedding’s Uferhallen – a large, brick cultural complex once used for repairing vehicles and now used for dance studios, concerts and art exhibitions – the salon doubles as a workshop and hosts classical recitals, as well as jazz and experimental performances.
Uferstraße 8, 13357 Berlin; www.konzertfluegel.com
Photography: Guido Kleinhans
