Germany’s embattled nightlife scene welcomes plan to reclassify clubs | Germany

The German government’s move to reclassify nightclubs to separate them from entertainment and adult entertainment establishments could provide a much-needed boost to the country’s struggling nightlife, industry advocates say.

Under a sweeping change to building regulations approved by Friedrich Merz’s cabinet last week, nightclubs will be officially recognized as providing cultural and artistic value, making it harder for developers to evict venue operators in favor of new construction.

The law still needs approval from the Bundestag and the upper house, the Bundesrat, but cross-party support makes its passage likely. Clubs are classed alongside brothels, strip bars and betting shops but often face tighter scrutiny due to noise regulations. The new rules will allow clubs to operate in certain residential areas.

Marc Wohlrabe, who has been a lobbyist in the night industry for 30 years, described the change as a “historic moment” for German club culture.

“Current entertainment venue regulations date back to the last century, when the legislature and authorities decided to lump together everything that happens in the evening, from red-light districts to strip bars, arcades and music clubs, in shade, which was considered incompatible with residential areas and families,” said Wohlrabe, a board member of Germany’s federal association of music venues, which has been advocating for the change for more than a decade.

“We have long argued that curated music clubs have absolutely nothing to do with red-light district table dancing bars. The club owners we represent operate more like a theater – curating artists… nurturing emerging talent and deserve instead to be described as cultural centres, alongside opera, theater and high culture,” he added.

It is hoped that the changes may help slow down the process. clubsterben The phenomenon (death of clubs) has grown in Germany in recent years and is especially acute in Berlin, where after the fall of communism a large number of alternative spaces have appeared on wastelands and abandoned industrial sites.

Rising real estate costs, post-pandemic social changes and noise disputes have led to many clubs threatening closure in recent years.

Legendary venues such as SchwuZ, Watergate and Mensch Meier are the most prominent of the recent closures.

club commissionThe association, which represents clubs, festivals and cultural events and lobbies for the protection of nightlife, estimates that almost half of Berlin’s clubs are considering closing.

Federal culture minister Wolfram Weimer, whose support for the change came as a surprise to some due to disagreements with representatives of non-mainstream culture, said he believed it was only right to distinguish music clubs from pure entertainment venues.

“This is an important step towards preserving and expanding the live music scene in Germany and sends a strong signal to the cultural and creative industries,” he said.

This week’s decision follows the then government’s 2021 “declaration of political intent” to classify clubs as “organisations for cultural purposes”; This was celebrated at the time but had no legal basis.

Under the new legislation, clubs will be permitted in mixed-use areas in general and exceptionally in private residential areas, in recognition of their role in attracting international audiences and supporting the economy, including by attracting a younger workforce to Germany.

Jakob Turtur, who runs the popular collaborative cultural space and nightclub collective Jonny KnüppelHe said he welcomed the changes to the building code but feared it was too late for both his club and the city’s embattled club culture more generally, which needed much more widespread help.

Turtur is looking for a new permanent location after being moved from its facilities on a former industrial site by an international sports conglomerate. Jonny Knüppel is biding his time at a disused railway yard, but Turtur said he was skeptical about finding a suitable new position.

“This could have come much sooner,” he said. “Not only would this save us an enormous amount of work, money and effort, but above all it would give us the feeling that Berlin is still hungry for grassroots socio-culture and cultural diversity – the kind of culture that made Berlin so exciting after the fall of the wall.

“Instead, we are often forced to feel guilty.”

He said he regretted that the new legislation was insufficient to put music clubs on a legal footing with theatres, operas and museums.

“A cultural classification like this would help give urban planners more tools to argue that clubs are essential to a vibrant and diverse city and more important than profit-driven developments like an office complex, which no one needs these days anyway.”