Clubs are places where people come together to experiment, connect, and create. They are spaces of democracy and unlikely encounters. Spaces where people can be seen, take up space, and move freely. Where communities form, differences are negotiated, and new ways of living together can emerge. They are where first ideas become reality, where new artists find their audience, where collectives take shape, and where unforgettable nights begin. These spaces are part of what makes Berlin Berlin. Club culture is woven into the city’s identity.
Keeping it alive takes everyone: the artists behind the decks, the people on the dancefloor, and those working behind the scenes to keep the lights on and the doors open. Support Your Local Club is an invitation to be part of that collective effort.
Keep Berlin’s spark alive. Club Culture in Transition.
This map tells the story of a city that found its own rhythm. It shows places where freedom was a way of life, where generations were shaped and Berlin became what defines it today. Some of these places no longer exist, but their stories live on and remind us how much this culture is worth.
Rising rents and displacement are putting clubs under growing pressure, while at the same time new places are emerging, from Tegel to the AVUS grandstand. That is exactly where this city’s strength lies: it never stops reinventing itself.
Club culture doesn’t run on its own. It lives through the people who stand up for it, celebrate it and protect it. For this transformation to succeed, it needs the next generation, claiming new spaces and carrying the culture forward. Let’s keep the flame alive together.
25 years of the Club Commission. 25 years of dedication to Berlin’s club culture.
What began in 2001 as an alliance against displacement is today the world’s largest advocacy group for club culture. We continue to champion free spaces, diversity, and cultural venues in this city.
Founded Out of Necessity
Berlin after reunification: techno takes over the vacant spaces along the Wall, clubs emerge across the city, and a scene grows, driven by optimism and experimentation. But in the early 2000s, pressure mounts: weekly police raids, the first waves of displacement, and a city government that barely acknowledges club culture. On May 8, 2001, a group of club culture stakeholders founds Clubcommission, the first organization of its kind anywhere in the world. No budget, no office, only the conviction that club culture needs a voice.
Finding a Voice, Building Structures
Berlin becomes the global capital of club culture. The hype is real, but so are the challenges. Gentrification spreads through the neighborhoods, while the Mediaspree development threatens clubs along the River Spree. Clubcommission learns to speak the language of politics and co-founds LiveKomm, the German Association of Club and Festival Culture. In 2011, Musicboard Berlin is established, today a key funding institution for the city’s music scene. In 2012, GEMA’s proposed tariff reform threatens hundreds of clubs. Clubcommission mobilizes the scene, and in 2013 a compromise is reached. Clubcommission proves that it can drive change.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Building Infrastructure, Shaping Urban Policy
Clubcommission grows alongside the city. In 2015, the Clubkataster is launched as an early warning system for endangered clubs, later becoming a model for Berlin’s broader Cultural Register. Another issue rises to the top of the agenda and continues to shape the organization today: awareness. The first training programs on door policies, discrimination, and safer spaces are developed. Then, in 2019, one major milestone was reached: the first Club Study demonstrates that club tourism generates €1.5 billion in revenue.
Pandemic, Solidarity, Recognition
On March 13, 2020, Berlin’s clubs close their doors. Within hours, United We Stream is launched, eventually reaching 40 million viewers worldwide. Clubcommission fights for emergency funding, enables safe open-air events, and establishes the Awareness Academy as a permanent institution. Out of the crisis comes the first DAY OF CLUB CULTURE, supported by €500,000 in funding from the State of Berlin. Since then, more than €2 million has been invested in the scene. And something historic happens: in 2021, the Berlin House of Representatives officially recognizes club culture as an integral part of the city. In 2022, the German Bundestag follows suit. What once seemed unimaginable becomes political consensus.
To be continued
The clubs have survived the pandemic, but they are not yet safe. The A100 motorway extension, club closures, and rising rents continue to threaten the scene. In 2023, the Parliamentary Forum for Club Culture is established within the Berlin House of Representatives. Clubcommission now holds a permanent place in political discourse. Today, Clubcommission represents more than 250 members, serves as an international model. Club culture contributes €4.5 billion annually to Berlin’s economy. In 2026, it celebrates its 25th anniversary, a milestone that celebrates the past, reflects on the present, and looks toward the future.
Keep the night alight!
Club culture thrives on what comes next. Young artists, new collectives and ideas that don’t have a stage yet. They are the future of Berlin’s club scene and they need spaces to grow.
That’s why Clubcommission and BIC are joining forces to support exactly this rising club culture: with a fund for the next generation, offering 4 dates for events at the Feuerwache at Tempelhof Airport, together with Torhaus Berlin e.V. A jury selects the most convincing concepts and gives new talents the chance to turn their vision into reality.
The winning projects each get their own stage, a party, a statement. Nights that show where Berlin’s club culture is heading next.
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