Berlin techno club Watergate latest to announce closure

The well-known Berlin techno club Watergate announced on Tuesday that it would close in December after 22 years, the latest in a slew of closures that have hit Berlin's world-famous club scene.

Watergate, located directly on the River Spree in Kreuzberg, cited rising costs and a shift in clubbing culture, including the rising popularity of big festivals, for the closure.

"It is with a heavy heart that we have decided to end our club operations at the end of the year and not to extend the lease," Watergate's operators wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. "The party is over - long live the party."

The club said a number of big farewell events would be held until New Year's Eve.

Ulrich Wombacher, one of three club operators, told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper: "The situation in Berlin is crucial for us, and it has changed a lot. After Covid, business simply didn't really pick up again."

Techno fans are also consuming music differently today, Wombacher said. The long closure of the clubs during the pandemic made a big difference, while tourism by budget-travelling young people has declined.

"Berlin, with its individual, small and established club culture, has lost international relevance," he said, adding that it's became impossible to keep up with high fees for DJs.

"If all the tourist glamour falls away, what remains is Berlin with its make-up removed," he added.

Wombacher complained that the Berlin district of Kreuzberg, home to Watergate as well as many other popular clubs, in particular has lost much of its charm, and also now faces issues with drug users, homeless people and crime.

"Nothing is forever. Berlin's corner pubs no longer exist either," he said. "So why shouldn't clubs also be a temporary phenomenon? Club culture is incredibly fragile."

He also rejected suggestions that more state funding for clubs could be an answer to the growing number of closures: "Club culture doesn't work like that ... Club culture is fast, individual. You can't force it into a planned economy, even if we have benefited from the funding."