Just a moment ago you heard this sentence over and over again when you were interested in clubs and going out: Kyiv is the new Berlin. The capital of Ukraine was considered the new stronghold of electronic music. A place to which people now also travel to go partying or to DJ.
The new Berlin was connected to the old, the club scenes of both cities, the war didn’t change anything about that. On the contrary. Many Berlin clubs, which are allowed to reopen on Friday after another long pandemic break, will dedicate the first weekend to solidarity with Ukraine. They will donate all or part of their earnings – and call on their guests to donate.
The club commission launched a call, “Stand up for Ukraine”, by Thursday 30 clubs had declared that they were taking part or had started their own campaigns, including Gretchen, Klunkerkranich, Schwuz and Watergate. Berghain has announced that it will donate the proceeds from its first night after reopening to organizations that work with queer people in Ukraine, among other things. More clubs could get involved, said Daniel Jakobson of the Club Commission. Celebration and solidarity are not mutually exclusive. “Going to a club doesn’t mean that people don’t care about the world around them.” Clubs are places of inspiration, exchange – and also mobilization.
People who were still working in Kiev clubs two weeks ago and who have just come to Berlin from the war are also taking part in the Club Commission’s campaign. Together we think about further actions.
The return of club nights seems almost irrelevant, but the shops that open again have succeeded in doing a tour de force after two years of restrictions and major loss of income. Just a week and a half ago, the Senate decided that things could start again on Friday. Even the club commission is surprised at how many actually open this weekend, says Daniel Jakobson. There was a lack of staff everywhere, whole teams were wanted, from the manager to the runners who support the bar staff. By the way, the following applies to the doors: You have to be vaccinated, recovered or boosted – and also have proof of a negative rapid test with you, not older than 24 hours.