My clubbing experience in Berghain (part 1)

I had planned my trip to Berlin only for one reason, going to Berghain. I had heard about that club for quite a while now, but I never had the opportunity to go thus far. Before showing up to the doors I had read all about it, especially the door policy which is very strict with a lot of people getting turned away each week. That's the thing I dreaded most, getting rejected. I knew the club usually runs very late in the day even down again into the next morning so I wanted to be well rested, but I had spent the last night in Tresor and woke up very hungover after a 6-hour sleep. By the time it was midnight I was ready to sleep and really wanted to, or at least my body really did but my mind was all about Berghain. The day was hard, didn't eat much, just some fruit, then with my friend we went downtown to find the club Watergate just in case we could get turned away at Berghain's entrance. It's worth mentionning that I woke up at 4pm and my friend at 7pm which was already late. By the time we got to Watergate club it was 10.30pm and we met a very interesting person there. A passer-by who was very nice, she seemed to know a lot about Berlin's nightlife. She gave a lot of useful information, though she really put a lot more pressure on me with Berghain door policy and basically told me that I was very unlikely to get in and gave me list of other clubs to go to in case I'd be turned away. I learned that the former Bar 25 reopened under the name of Kater Holzig and that it stays open from thurday to tuesday which means that it runs for some 120 hours straight! I knew that in Berlin clubs closed late, but I didn't expect that. Anyway, she suggested I go to Kater Holzig before midnight, appenrently it's easier to get int before midnight, to get a stamp and then try Berghain. My friend though wasn't wearing proper clothes for Berghain. We had an argument about it, because I didn't pay much attention to what he was wearing, but really there was no way he would get in dressed like some kind of rapper. The time was ticking and there was no way we would get back the hotel for him to change and head to Kater Holzig before midnight. We argued a lot on that and it got to the point where he didn't want to go to Berghain anymore, because of the door policy, the fact that there's usually a two-hour queue and because of the fact that he heard there were lots of gay people in there. I wouldn't hear it, there was no way I wasn't going to forfeit before even trying. I had not come all the way to Berlin to not give it a try. We decided to split up, he went back to the hotel to change, and we'd meet in OstBahnhof station later on. I wanted to try Berghain as close to midnight as possible, I had read that it was easier to get in around that time.

So I took a Taxi to Kater Holzig and I arrived at midnight sharp. There was a very small queue which I followed and asked someone wether it was really the right club. It turned out to be the right place. It was realy weird, cause there was no signs whatsoever, lost in some kind of squat for junkies close to the Spree. I wasn't too confident but I didn't care much, it was just my backup plan. Almost everyone seemed to get in. They would let them in by group of ten people. When my group was up, all the people ahead of me got in, I followed them closely but unfortunately I got intercepted but some screaming german woman. I didn't understand a word of what she said, but I knew it couldn't be good. Finally she told me in English something like "you're not welcome here, get out". Believe it or not, that was the first time I was getting turned away from a nightclub in my entire life and it didn't feel too good. Well I actually was completely discouraged after that, because I was thinking, "crap, if in that club, behaving that way and wearing those clothes, I can't get in, there's no way I'm going pass the door at Berghain too". But still, I needed to try. I even came up with another plan. Given that I was so tired, I just thought I should try, get turned away get some sleep and try again in the morning. The german girl told me that they change their doormen at 7 am. And if it didn't work out again I would tried again at 2pm. I was there for Berghain, I was not about to give.

By the way, it was saturday night, I wanted to go there especially on a saturday night because both clubs Panorama Bar and Berghain are open. Usually the rest of the time, just Panaroma Bar is open.

So I went to OstBahnhof station to meet my friend. I called him, on his cell phone from a phone booth, and he was still at the hotel. He told me that he would hurry and meet me as soon as possible. I knew it was gonna at least 30 minutes if not an hour. So I decided to look for Berghain in the meantime. Given the size of the building I was expecting to see it very easily, but I didn't. I ask around and they pointed me to the right direction. Left and left, quite easy. Seing the building in real life was amazing, it was a great joy. For people who don't really appreciate techno music it might seem ridiculous, but it was really great. I was able to see the spotlights through the windows and hear the bass. Lots of people say that it's the temple of techno, and it sure seemed like one from where I was standing. I didn't want to approach too much, even though I wanted to, but I was scared that the bouncers would spot me, I read too many things. So I just decided to back off for now. I went back to the station and waited for a while there. At some point, two german guys, wearing white clothes with their torso half naked, asked me where Berghain was. I told them where, and offered to take them since I had nothing else to do anyway. We talked a while actually, they were from Berlin and didn't know where Berghain was! They had turned 18 not long ago, which explains it. So just like me it was their first time. I can't help but feel some jealousy. I mean living in Berlin and having that amazing club so close, it must be great. I gave some advice, things I had heard and read, to facilitate their entry, and brought them to the club. I told them goodbye at the corner of the street, wished them good luck and if things were going good for everyone we would meet again inside. And I went back to the station. I'm not sure how long I waited, I called my friend quite a few time from the phone booth, and at some point he told me he'd met some german people who were bringing him to the club and that I should meet him there. I immediately headed towards the club and saw him ahead of me just right before the street of Berghain. There were lots of people with him. The thing that was sure is that there was no way we could queue with them, or if we did we would have had to act like we didn't know them, because everyone agrees on that, big group never get in. I talked with a german guy from another city, he told me that it was the third time he was going to try, but was expecting much, he never got in. Apparently he just followed his friends who really wanted to try, but he was against; He was very nice actually. We were queuing, and after a few minutes, he and his friends just decided it wasn't worth it and left. My friend wanted to follow them and go to some other club with them. I told him again, there's no way I'm going somewhere else, the whole purpose of my coming to Berlin is Berghain, don't care about the wall, don't care about sightseeing, don't care about eating, don't care about sleeping, all I care about is Berghain. And he stayed. It was 2 am when we started queuing. I took my phone and put on airplane mode. I didn't want to get turned away because of phone. You never know. I was really stressed out. I was speaking really quitely with my friend, I was not moving too much, I was watching too much the bouncers, I was just queuing quitely and telling my friend what to do and especially what to avoid doing. There three asian people ahead of us, singing songs and all. I was thinking to my head, those people don't appreciate where they are, they didn't even bother to inquire about the place, otherwise they wouldn't be singing right in the queue with such a strict door policy. Anyway, as we got closer and closer to the door I just became quieter and quieter, until I reached a point where I wouldn't even utter a word. I didn't want to let out that I wasn't german, because apparently lots of people speaking foreign languages got turned away. So many people were getting turned away, it was crazy. And everytime someone would be let in, I was thinking, "there are so lucky". I spotted Sven Marquardt, the guy has become famous being a bouncer of club. He was more impressive in reality than in the pictures. Tattooes all over his face with piercing. It was the turn three asian persons right ahead of us, they got in. Fortunately for them they were quite far when they sang, so the bouncers didn't see them. It was then our turn. He asked us how many I think. I said "zwei" and I also used my two fingers to make things clearer. He told us to stop. And we waited. It took an aweful lot of time. I think it took at least 3 to 5 minutes. But in my head it was lasting a year. I didn't know what to do, I really didn't expect to be face to face with them, for that long. I tried not to look at them while not looking down as a sign of weakness, I tried not to talk with my friend, just a few words very quietly. My heart was pounding so hard, I didn't see the end of it. It was the scariest moment of the year 2011, I felt like if I didn't get in then my trip would have failed completely. At some point, things looked like to move a little bit, a bouncer came back from the inside looked at us, talked with Sven who looked at us as well, got back inside and out again, came to me and told me "do you know that it is a gay club?". I wasn't expecting that question, I also didn't get how he found out I we weren't german, but I felt like he was trying to warn me about what was inside, I knew that Ostgut was a gay club but Berghain is not officially one, though a big part of the crowd is gay. In fact what I really heard was "Do you want to get in?". I didn't hesitate and replied a confident "yes". He then said, "get in" in a welcome mannor. It was hard to believe, because coming to Berlin I was 70% confident in the fact that I would get turned away but I didn't. I just would like to set something straight for people who say that the bouncers are very discriminatory and probably racist. The friend I was with is black, and we didn't not get turned away. I got inside, I was still on my guard since I had read comments about people getting kicked out at that point still, on left a black guy searched me. He didn't look to nice at first, but turned out to very nice. After searching he asked to see what was so big in both my pockets. Inside one pocket I had earplugs, and in the other glowsticks. When I showed him the glowsticks he loughed and told me "okey okey" in such a kind mannor, it was great. I paid, and got a stamp on my right hand. I then went into the club.