West Berlin Short Walking Tour on Electronic Dance Music History and Culture

Curious about what connects Cafe Del Mar, Moby and Britney Spears with Derrick May, Love Parade… and the humble environs of west Berlin? Or if you just love discovering hidden parts of the city’s history, I’d love to welcome you on this tour.

The route will trace the sites of former and influential electronic dance music venues in the west of Berlin during the 80s and 90s, illustrating how electronic dance music has reflected and influenced the city’s identity since the late twentieth century. Though today it is the east of Berlin that is more closely associated with its clubbing culture, this was not always the case, especially when the city was divided by the Berlin wall. In the late 1980s and even the early to mid 1990s, there were many venues in the western districts of Schöneberg, Tiergarten and Kreuzberg that held early acid house and techno parties, or even acted as after-hours venues for people to continue dancing as the sun came up. These include the historic locations of:

• UFO Dance Club
• Turbine Rosenheim
• Fischlabor
• METROPOL
• Quartier Latin
• 90 Grad

This journey through Schöneberg and Tiergarten will give participants a detailed overview and description of what the early electronic dance music scene in west Berlin would have looked like during the genre's earliest, most formative years. 

Flyer Image Credits:

UFO 1989 © Space Agency

Cyberspace 1990 © Tanith
UFO 1990 © Mike Riemel

Tekknozid Rave 1991 © Wolle XDP

NB: The tour is available for those with limited mobility. The relevant U-Bahn stations (Kleistpark, Eisenacher Straße, Nollendorfplatz and Kurfürstenstraße/Bülowstraße) all have lifts.

A VALID 24HR AB PUBLIC TRANSPORT TICKET (€11.20) OR 2 SHORT TRIP TICKETS (€2.80 EACH) ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Some locations are easier to reach taking the U-Bahn 1 or 2 stops.