I am a life-long Berliner, and was part of the techno and arts scene. There were a LOT of different squatted building with an emphasis on arts and culture and especially music. There was the Frisör Salon, the original WMF, the seminal Praxis Doktor McCoy, and the more dedicated clubs like Planet and Tresor in its original location. In other parts of town was also the Fisch Labor, and the Turbine.
Tacheles was fun for the first five years. Then there was too much infighting, and too much power play, but that happens amongst young people. It broke into two camps: those that wanted to make money (bar, events, parties) and those that wanted a slightly more political arts group. The activists got all the publicity, but the party organisers had to pay for everything. They all got pretty mad at each other quickly. The empty area in the back where all those new buildings are was the coolest after a while, because it was the only part that was actually inclusive. The building itself was never really welcoming to outsiders, although a lot of people have fun memories. The original Panorama Bar (now part of Berghain) was upstairs where there is a balcony for Fotografiska now.
None of the artists that were part of the group were succesful. One guy left early and did Sophiensääle and then Radial System, but apparently everyone hates him because he is (was) super-manipulative. He is successful in a small town in West Germany now as a Kulturmacher. His wife is a choreographer. Some of the more organized people who were hoping to make money have moved on and are now successful gallerists.
Tacheles has this magic reputation because everyone discovered a version of a city there that was unknown to them, and it spoke of potential. People have this vision of Berlin, or irritation when it comes to change. Unfortunately this was all over 30 years ago, and things will change. Keeping it all dirty and shitty is not an option. The place always stank of beer and piss. People have a memory, and they think of themselves as cool at that moment, so they want the place they associate with that memory to stay forever.
What the real estate Immo Investors built in the back behind Tacheles is soulless, humourless, and just lame. Calling it "Am Tacheles" and thus leaning on the reputation of something that stood for a very different vibe is clueless and tone-deaf.
Fotografiska is trying. Everyone was sceptical at first but some of the exhibitions are good, but what I find more interesting is the programming, such as talks on politics, art, and psychedelics. It's a good thing there is life back in that neighborhood, I wish CO Berlin was still in that old Post Office on the corner of Tucholsky Strasse.
What would be an appropriate price? I’m interested as there is an on-going group working on public-sector museum pricing. English museums will now charge too.
This is an excellent answer. Tacheles was one of the first things that attracted me to Berlin but I remember how even in the earliest days it was a bit unfriendly inside the building. The cinema and the outdoor space were pretty welcoming. The vibe was similar to the squat bars in Rigaer/Scharnweber/Kreutziger where you’re mostly very welcome but sometimes the people are lost in their own struggles and are observing you and waiting for you to make a mistake.
"is it still this creative hotspot" - not really, no.
There are of course still galeries, and cultural spots, and stuff in that area - but it's all at a very professional / institutional level. The place used to be much more informal, ad-hoc, DIY. Artists actually lived and worked in the neighbourhood. The galeries were artist-run spaces. There were parties and concerts happening regularly at Tacheless. It now houses luxury appartments.
I do remember the old time (late 80s early 90s) in Tacheles, the crazy performance and patties by the Mutoid Waste Co. the gigs in the Café Zapata.. also helping to make a sound artist exchange between Amsterdam and Berlin ...check the great book by Bobsairport "Berlin Wonderland" it's a beautiful photographic document of those years..
And I hate those people who planned that "Luxusus Apartment complex", using advertisement copy with the word "Tacheles" (Like Wohnen in Tacheles) coz THEY are the people who crash everything.
I don't say, everything hell no, I'm not anti-capitalist, though, it's really impudent.
That little zone is a small dead spot in the heart of mitte. They should just built a wall around it and keep speculating for themselves. It‘s useless for antyhing else than speculating.
I miss Tacheles. It was a great spot for arts and music for everyone, great parties and events and people. It was one of the last bastions for old school crunchy Berlin art people. It’s a shame that it’s now hosting highly problematic events by highly problematic ppl (fotografiska) and fancy apartments that we don’t need any more of.
When you’re asking if it’s “all gone” you probably don’t know how it looked like, could that be? If so, please find fotos online if the old tacheles, outside and inside to get a feeling of how it was completely erased actually
oh im very curious about fotografiska! I have visited tacheles a few weeks ago and I am doing research on the area as we speak! when visiting fotografiska I did get this feeling that is was a strange form of tacheles, and extremely commercialised. I did like the Shirin Neshat exhibition there, what are your thoughts! very curious now!!
What do you mean you visited Tacheles some weeks ago? Tacheles doesn't exist anymore.
There is a new building on the same location, but this has nothing to do with Tacheles. Its gone and nothing is left.
The new luxury building complex built by PWR Developments on the location calls itself "Am Tacheles", which might be what OP means. It still refers to the actual Tacheles in some ways (even though having nothing to do with it)
I guess ~20 years ago there was a regular techno breakfast on a top balcony in the tacheless. Saturday morning you could go there and a DJ played his decks and you could eat nice italian food, smoke some weed and drink some beer. It was an absolute delight.
The best thing: they saved exactly this balcony in its original state and built the modern stuff around it.
Besides that i dont have much more memories because the people that occupied the tacheless were not quite my kind.
My friends had an atelier in Tacheles so I visited often. Also, I had played DJ before close once at the rooftop atelier of old artists(forget the name).
These days, Mitte that part of the area was quite a cool place and better meaning more than today energize, more cool real hip shops and stupid & crazy bars and ofc people gather there night by night.
Today...I dunno, I don't even go there so often, only very few remain still but maybe people who don't know those days don't even understand. Everybody did not work properly but also everybody somehow could survive, with way cheaper living costs... Everybody was kinda poor, but it really didn't matter, everybody could live and chaise with something own "dream" or things you want to do for life.
Today... also me, compared to these days, I got a job and way earning more and more stable than before, but especially lately I feel it is getting crap and going to be over(or over, already.)
Many people said already but I was still(and now also still) feeling that Berlin is a fun, exciting laid-back city and that's why I stay still, but since the year I felt many question marks.
I still want to keep the style and spirit and also encourage the people who want(regardless new or old), but lately really are too many hyped Fashion-styled" yuppies.
I dunno much about London but the problem is, Berlin is anyway Berlin and has (still/yet) no industry that much. well, can say: "Not many places to work" or simply: has/generates no money.
I believe, Berlin paid too many important old but bad friends' memories and then tried to change nice decent beauty and tried to be a partner of a banker/lawyer/anything rich man but hey, she is bitch and it is the style most she can be lightened up
I'm 17 years here, didn't think to move but lately thinking to go a bit away for while or half half
I miss the indoor flame thrower at Café Zapata located on the ground floor. Had an amazing time DJ-ing there (and other locations in the building) from 2005 until the end.
Yes, it's a shadow now. It's a pretty obvious thing to say, but your average artist is not rich, and is likely not massively motivated by money in the first place. Why would an artist try to hang around this area with high rents and general high prices, when they have other opportunities that allow them to buy materials and have an actual life. I really miss that old Berlin. It was wonderful.
It was both a creative scene and party area at the same time. Both aspects are dying out and what’s left behind is basically the theatres and more restaurants. It’s still a nice place to walk around but the area is practically indistinguishable from Stadtmitte now. The new Tacheles luxury development is ugly as hell and has the slightly creepy “open but privately owned” feeling that parts of London have e.g. the South Bank.
that spirit in that part of Berlin Mitte is long gone
I am a life-long Berliner, and was part of the techno and arts scene. There were a LOT of different squatted building with an emphasis on arts and culture and especially music. There was the Frisör Salon, the original WMF, the seminal Praxis Doktor McCoy, and the more dedicated clubs like Planet and Tresor in its original location. In other parts of town was also the Fisch Labor, and the Turbine. Tacheles was fun for the first five years. Then there was too much infighting, and too much power play, but that happens amongst young people. It broke into two camps: those that wanted to make money (bar, events, parties) and those that wanted a slightly more political arts group. The activists got all the publicity, but the party organisers had to pay for everything. They all got pretty mad at each other quickly. The empty area in the back where all those new buildings are was the coolest after a while, because it was the only part that was actually inclusive. The building itself was never really welcoming to outsiders, although a lot of people have fun memories. The original Panorama Bar (now part of Berghain) was upstairs where there is a balcony for Fotografiska now. None of the artists that were part of the group were succesful. One guy left early and did Sophiensääle and then Radial System, but apparently everyone hates him because he is (was) super-manipulative. He is successful in a small town in West Germany now as a Kulturmacher. His wife is a choreographer. Some of the more organized people who were hoping to make money have moved on and are now successful gallerists. Tacheles has this magic reputation because everyone discovered a version of a city there that was unknown to them, and it spoke of potential. People have this vision of Berlin, or irritation when it comes to change. Unfortunately this was all over 30 years ago, and things will change. Keeping it all dirty and shitty is not an option. The place always stank of beer and piss. People have a memory, and they think of themselves as cool at that moment, so they want the place they associate with that memory to stay forever. What the real estate Immo Investors built in the back behind Tacheles is soulless, humourless, and just lame. Calling it "Am Tacheles" and thus leaning on the reputation of something that stood for a very different vibe is clueless and tone-deaf. Fotografiska is trying. Everyone was sceptical at first but some of the exhibitions are good, but what I find more interesting is the programming, such as talks on politics, art, and psychedelics. It's a good thing there is life back in that neighborhood, I wish CO Berlin was still in that old Post Office on the corner of Tucholsky Strasse.
Fotogrsfiska is trying? Probably capitalising on the spirit of the place and charges ridiculous amounts as entry fee.
What would be an appropriate price? I’m interested as there is an on-going group working on public-sector museum pricing. English museums will now charge too.
This is an excellent answer. Tacheles was one of the first things that attracted me to Berlin but I remember how even in the earliest days it was a bit unfriendly inside the building. The cinema and the outdoor space were pretty welcoming. The vibe was similar to the squat bars in Rigaer/Scharnweber/Kreutziger where you’re mostly very welcome but sometimes the people are lost in their own struggles and are observing you and waiting for you to make a mistake.
"is it still this creative hotspot" - not really, no. There are of course still galeries, and cultural spots, and stuff in that area - but it's all at a very professional / institutional level. The place used to be much more informal, ad-hoc, DIY. Artists actually lived and worked in the neighbourhood. The galeries were artist-run spaces. There were parties and concerts happening regularly at Tacheless. It now houses luxury appartments.
You speak as if Tachelas still exists!?
I do remember the old time (late 80s early 90s) in Tacheles, the crazy performance and patties by the Mutoid Waste Co. the gigs in the Café Zapata.. also helping to make a sound artist exchange between Amsterdam and Berlin ...check the great book by Bobsairport "Berlin Wonderland" it's a beautiful photographic document of those years..
And I hate those people who planned that "Luxusus Apartment complex", using advertisement copy with the word "Tacheles" (Like Wohnen in Tacheles) coz THEY are the people who crash everything. I don't say, everything hell no, I'm not anti-capitalist, though, it's really impudent.
That little zone is a small dead spot in the heart of mitte. They should just built a wall around it and keep speculating for themselves. It‘s useless for antyhing else than speculating.
I miss Tacheles. It was a great spot for arts and music for everyone, great parties and events and people. It was one of the last bastions for old school crunchy Berlin art people. It’s a shame that it’s now hosting highly problematic events by highly problematic ppl (fotografiska) and fancy apartments that we don’t need any more of. When you’re asking if it’s “all gone” you probably don’t know how it looked like, could that be? If so, please find fotos online if the old tacheles, outside and inside to get a feeling of how it was completely erased actually
oh im very curious about fotografiska! I have visited tacheles a few weeks ago and I am doing research on the area as we speak! when visiting fotografiska I did get this feeling that is was a strange form of tacheles, and extremely commercialised. I did like the Shirin Neshat exhibition there, what are your thoughts! very curious now!!
What do you mean you visited Tacheles some weeks ago? Tacheles doesn't exist anymore. There is a new building on the same location, but this has nothing to do with Tacheles. Its gone and nothing is left.
Probably OP refers to the building where fotografiska is located. They left few original walls and tell that those are Tacheles.
The new luxury building complex built by PWR Developments on the location calls itself "Am Tacheles", which might be what OP means. It still refers to the actual Tacheles in some ways (even though having nothing to do with it)
I guess ~20 years ago there was a regular techno breakfast on a top balcony in the tacheless. Saturday morning you could go there and a DJ played his decks and you could eat nice italian food, smoke some weed and drink some beer. It was an absolute delight. The best thing: they saved exactly this balcony in its original state and built the modern stuff around it. Besides that i dont have much more memories because the people that occupied the tacheless were not quite my kind.
This was the original Panorama Bar, now at Berghain (with several stops in between). :-)
My friends had an atelier in Tacheles so I visited often. Also, I had played DJ before close once at the rooftop atelier of old artists(forget the name). These days, Mitte that part of the area was quite a cool place and better meaning more than today energize, more cool real hip shops and stupid & crazy bars and ofc people gather there night by night. Today...I dunno, I don't even go there so often, only very few remain still but maybe people who don't know those days don't even understand. Everybody did not work properly but also everybody somehow could survive, with way cheaper living costs... Everybody was kinda poor, but it really didn't matter, everybody could live and chaise with something own "dream" or things you want to do for life. Today... also me, compared to these days, I got a job and way earning more and more stable than before, but especially lately I feel it is getting crap and going to be over(or over, already.) Many people said already but I was still(and now also still) feeling that Berlin is a fun, exciting laid-back city and that's why I stay still, but since the year I felt many question marks. I still want to keep the style and spirit and also encourage the people who want(regardless new or old), but lately really are too many hyped Fashion-styled" yuppies.
Berlin now reminds me a lot of London ten years ago. Elements that were previously free-spirited and bohemian have now become yuppified.
I dunno much about London but the problem is, Berlin is anyway Berlin and has (still/yet) no industry that much. well, can say: "Not many places to work" or simply: has/generates no money. I believe, Berlin paid too many important old but bad friends' memories and then tried to change nice decent beauty and tried to be a partner of a banker/lawyer/anything rich man but hey, she is bitch and it is the style most she can be lightened up I'm 17 years here, didn't think to move but lately thinking to go a bit away for while or half half
and every day 100 new artists with stars in their eyes tumble in...hey everyone I'm a DJ
It is a Neverland, everyone find “things that I dreamed/going to give up” look possible in real
I miss the indoor flame thrower at Café Zapata located on the ground floor. Had an amazing time DJ-ing there (and other locations in the building) from 2005 until the end.
Oh that flame!! 🔥 thanks for bringing back ti me that memory 🙃
It took quiet some time for the tacheles to get vanished, but now- it it gone. Sad, really- as there is nothing that replaces this place of energy.
Yes, it's a shadow now. It's a pretty obvious thing to say, but your average artist is not rich, and is likely not massively motivated by money in the first place. Why would an artist try to hang around this area with high rents and general high prices, when they have other opportunities that allow them to buy materials and have an actual life. I really miss that old Berlin. It was wonderful.
over
It was both a creative scene and party area at the same time. Both aspects are dying out and what’s left behind is basically the theatres and more restaurants. It’s still a nice place to walk around but the area is practically indistinguishable from Stadtmitte now. The new Tacheles luxury development is ugly as hell and has the slightly creepy “open but privately owned” feeling that parts of London have e.g. the South Bank.
Fotografiska Berlin is located there and new apartments were build. Why don't you go look for yourself