My 10 favorite Techno Clubs in Berlin

This post has been written before the Corona pandemic. If you look up Berlin on Resident Advisor, you’ll find over a thousand venues you could visit. I put together this list of my personal favorites. These are just my thoughts and as I didn’t visit some of the clubs more than once, your experience might be very different from mine.

 

 

#10 Suicide Circus

Can be good on special nights but if you aren’t totally into whatever is happening on stage you’re kinda screwed because Suicide Circus has barely any spaces to escape and hang out.

Layout: 1 big room
Cover charge: 15 euros
Cleanliness: OK

#9 Watergate

As the name says, Watergate lies beautifully on the riverside, close to Warschauer Straße. What makes it special is the view of the Universal logo you get from the inside. In contrast to Berlin’s underground techno scene, this club seems more posh and fancy. What stood out negatively was the layout of the club; I don’t know who thought of placing big columns on the dancefloor and the bathrooms behind the DJ area.

Layout: 2 medium-sized rooms, horrible layout
Cover charge: 15 euros
Cleanliness: Good

#8 Tresor

Tresor is probably the first of the clubs on this list I’d consider a typical Berlin techno club. Tresor is open every night of the week, sometimes two floors are open, on others, just one is open. I enjoyed going to Tresor in the past but when I visited this year, I realized there are many better places to go to.

Layout: 2 rooms separated by long paths; wandering around in the dark felt dangerous
Cover charge: 15 euros
Cleanliness: Quite dirty but at least they have soap

#7 ://about blank

About Blank surely has a lot of potential and a decent layout. When I went recently, however, the people were very young and the music felt very repetitive. I guess if someone’s not into techno, it will always sound repetitive. I usually like it but here I didn’t wanna be on the same dance floor for more than 20 minutes. I believe it can be quite amazing when they book better DJs.

Layout: 2 smaller rooms on the inside, one party tent outside
Cover charge: 14 euros
Cleanliness: OK

#6 Ritter Butzke

Ritter Butzke has a lot of gay events, but keep in mind that the whole party scene of Berlin is pretty gay anyways. The layout could be better as you have to go outside to visit one separate area of the club. I would visit Ritter Butke again, but only if the event is right.

Layout: 2 medium-sized floors and a couple of smaller areas
Cover charge: 16 euros
Cleanliness: Not pretty

#5 Mensch Meier

Mensch Meier is a big club which features large outdoor areas and different rooms with different (electronic) music. Although other clubs stood out more positively to me, I think that Mensch Meier can be a great place to forget your everyday life. Besides everything, Mensch Meier has a lot of different events with different music if you’re not into Techno.

Layout: 3 differently sized rooms, large outdoor area
Cover charge: 15 euros.
Cleanliness: Bad

#4 Beate Uwe (on Sundays)

Beate Uwe is a small club that basically lets everyone in who wants to come in – no matter how you look, how you’re dressed or how old you are. I visited Beate Uwe on a Sunday when they lay out comfy carpets and ask visitors to take off their shoes. I loved this unique experience and can only advise on visiting this club (on a Sunday).

Layout: 1 medium-sized room and spaces to sit and relax
Cover charge: 7 euros
Cleanliness: Good (carpets seemed quite clean too)

#3 Salon der Wilden Renate

When I visited the ‘Saloon’ for the first time, I wasn’t really into it because the masses of people on the inside led to a lot of pushing and shoving. When I visited it again, however, I loved it. There were fewer people inside, the music was on point (and very different from room to room), the decorations were great. There’s a reason the wild Renata is as popular as it is and has been for many years.

Layout: 3 rooms inside a large house, semi-hidden chillout areas and large outdoor area
Cover charge: 15 euros
Cleanliness: Good

#2 Sisyphos

Sisyphos has it all: Many floors, a concert area, lounges, perfect visuals including a fire show, a great outdoor area. And the best thing: if you don’t arrive too too late, chances are there won’t be a long line. The only thing missing is decently clean bathrooms.

Layout: 3 differently sized rooms, concert room and large chillout areas.
Cover charge: 15 euros
Cleanliness: Really, really bad

#1 Berghain

I’ve wanted to visit Berghain for about ten years now and this year, I finally made it happen. I was done with Berghain after not letting me in earlier and I asked myself if it is even worth the hype. When I finally got in, however, I saw how well deserved the hype was. Berghain is an institution in Berlin and there’s a reason for that. The smart layout of the club practically has no dead ends, meaning you can wander around endlessly, the music is absolute perfection and there’s a lot to explore. I just wish the line in front of Berghain would move faster. Guess you can’t have it all.

Layout: 2 large rooms with music and a lot of space to get lost in
Cover charge: 18 euros
Cleanliness: OK

Have you been to Berlin and visited any of these places? What did you think of them?

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to visit the clubs Kater Blau and KitKat which is why I couldn’t include them on this list.

BenLeander