from Hacker News

Berlin's techno scene added to Unesco intangible cultural heritage list

by kasperni on 3/15/24, 8:29 AM with 287 comments

  • by helloplanets on 3/15/24, 2:18 PM

    "Der Klang der Familie: Berlin, Techno and the Fall of the Wall" [0] is a good book on the origins of the Berlin Techno scene. It's based on interviews and discussions by the people originally setting up the whole thing, making it a pretty breezy read that you don't necessarily have to go through chronologically.

    No city can really replicate the absurd situation Berlin was in after the second world war. The absolute oppressive atmosphere, with one day the whole city getting flipped upside down. Anyone being able to take over a building on the East side and throw a party there. When before you could end up in a cell overnight for playing a boombox too loud on the street. The original location for Tresor (club) was the literal translation of the German word: A big old safe in a bank. That you had to climb down a ladder to get to.

    An unexpected connection of cities is between Berlin and Detroit: Underground Resistance (a group of Detroit born Techno producers) among many others playing gigs in Tresor going back to the early nineties.

    [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Klang-Familie-Felix-Denk/dp/373860429...

  • by larodi on 3/15/24, 9:50 AM

    According to many people, including record shop owners I’ve talked to, Berlin’s scene is actually not so underground and not so cool anymore as a result of tourism and immigration. Rich people nowadays buy property in Potsdam, and the scene is moving towards Leipzig.

    In a more general sense the old rave cities are making way, and have been making way, to other cities. A movement spanning more than 20 years now, thanks to very active promoter teams, leads to Lyon, Prague, Zagreb, Thessaloniki and even Sofia.

  • by jamil7 on 3/15/24, 11:13 AM

    How exactly does the city and federal Government square this with their plan to build a huge (unwanted) freeway through the city and bulldoze multiple clubs and music venues?

  • by t_mann on 3/15/24, 4:44 PM

    The museum-ification of Europe continues unabated. I can't get into the mind of the people who thought that this award was a good idea, much less anyone who'd feel happy about receiving it (it's usually not the 'real' locals anyway, but people who are close enough to feel some connection but far enough to not be exposed to the reality; or people with financial interests).

  • by ChrisArchitect on 3/15/24, 1:56 PM

    Another recent addition from 2021 close to HN's heart:

    Demoscene

    https://www.unesco.de/en/culture-and-nature/intangible-cultu...

  • by mahmoudhossam on 3/15/24, 9:52 AM

    Disclaimer: I live in Berlin currently but I've never been a techno person.

    From what I hear from people who are, the clubs have become basically tourist traps that are unaffordable to locals and some have even been priced out of their original locations so not sure if this decision will help much.

  • by technotarek on 3/15/24, 1:33 PM

    We need an acknowledgment of the past, the origins, which may no longer be present. Detroit starting in the ‘80s and into the 90s would be the prime example. I wrote a short essay about the latter :

    https://technotarek.com/shows/richie-hawtin

  • by te_chris on 3/15/24, 10:36 AM

    This is great, though it's hard to ignore that there's a bit of techno-industrial-complex going on there. Still, there's a proper industry for electronic music, nice people, good clubs, good music, good record stores and that sense of freedom that comes with long opening hours - not just in the clubs.

    One of my favourite things about Berlin is just sitting in a bar with friends till you're done for the night, no pressure to move on - often this can drag till 4 in the morning, but it doesn't feel laboured.

  • by bowsamic on 3/15/24, 2:11 PM

    Not enough mention of LGBT, especially gay male, scenes, which are the foundation of German techno. Until very recently, Berghain was a gay club that plays techno, not a techno club that supports gay people. Many Berlin clubs are still gay orgies, including the ocassional basement show in Berghain, but more famously kitkat club.

    I agree the scene is "dying" though, simply because Berlin is very different than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Robert Henke (Monolake) talks about this: after the wall collapsed, the factories in east Berlin were abandoned, and west Berlin were happily giving permission and even some money to any student who wanted to open an "artistic space" in one of the old factories. So it was easy, you had a very industrial space, you brought some speakers and some beer along, and suddenly you had a club.

    This is basically a very rare cultural moment: large amounts of unused industrial space being given away to anyone who wants to party. Berlin is, of course, nothing like this now.

  • by treprinum on 3/15/24, 10:12 AM

    OK, how are they going to preserve it? Where can I visit 1999 Berlin techno scene and experience the rave?

  • by morkalork on 3/15/24, 12:49 PM

    Every DJ and producer that goes to Berlin to do a "residency" comes back sounding the same and I hate it.

  • by nemo44x on 3/15/24, 10:59 AM

    It’s like they’re going out of their way to make it uncool.

  • by dopamean on 3/15/24, 1:04 PM

    I wish Detroit had the marketing that Berlin does.

  • by rightbyte on 3/15/24, 4:47 PM

    It must feel really lame for those active in a subculture to be put on some Unesco heritage list. Like, really really lame.

  • by LAC-Tech on 3/15/24, 7:12 PM

    I'm somewhat into techno, and I cannot name a single artist from Berlin.

    If I zoom out further into EDM in general, I think of Paul van Dyk, but that's literally it.

    My knowledge is dated, but it does fall in the realm of "post cold war", so I'm wondering why I can't think of more if this scene was so important.

  • by ChrisArchitect on 3/15/24, 1:59 PM

  • by world2vec on 3/15/24, 9:43 AM

    Going on a cultural trip to Berlin this next May, with some of my best friends.

    What are your most favourite underrated techno clubs in Berlin? I've been to the big ones already, keen to explore the fringe places.

  • by low_tech_love on 3/15/24, 10:16 AM

    The scene has thrived greatly under the watchful eye of the Techno Viking.

  • by jen729w on 3/15/24, 10:12 AM

    Any Australians here who were there for Melbourne’s ‘dirty electro’ scene through the 00s-10s?

    I feel very privileged to have lived my 30s through that time. Public Office in West Melbourne. The Lounge! Oh my god the Lounge on Swanston. E55 at the bottom end of Elizabeth. And let’s never forget Revolver, not that it needs forgetting as it’s still going.

    Everyone in that scene was there for the music. We all danced, we all enjoyed each other, we went home together, we bonded over ciggies on the balcony, we stayed up all night, we shared everything. It was epic.

    I’m 47 now. I have no mid-life crisis, and I put it down to living in Melbourne through my 30s. A spectacular little bubble in human history. x

  • by samstave on 3/15/24, 6:00 PM

    The moment I saw this title, Immediately checked to see where Techno Viking is from!

    This is wonderful.

  • by smudgy on 3/15/24, 10:18 AM

    Not gonna lie, this is awesome.

    Cybergoth Dance Party and Techno Viking are now even more important parts of our collective human heritage.

    Edit: It seems Cybergoth Dance Party was shot in Dusseldorf, my life is now even more full of lies.