1. Bar 25
2. Club der Visionaire
3. The Badeschiff
4. Space Beach
5. Golden Gate
6. Weekend Club
June 29, 2010
Holly Shackleton’s Top Berlin Summer Party Spots
Text: Holly Shackleton
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Bar 25
Persevere outside the bashed-up wooden door on this graffited stretch of Berlin Wall and you will be rewarded with a hedonist’s dream. This open-air cowboy ranch on the River Spree is only open during the summer months when it plays host to techno and electro’s biggest DJs. There’s a swing over the river, a mechanical rocking horse, black and white photo booth and enough spine-tingling tunes to keep you dancing all-day. Fighting against the constant threat of closure (the Berlin government want to reclaim the land for riverside office blocks) Bar 25 still holds the title of Berlin’s ultimate rave, often starting on a Thursday morning and finally shutting doors on a Tuesday night.
Club der Visionaire
Located in Kreuzberg, Club der Visionaire is one of the best places in Berlin to chill out with an ice-cold beer after a long party weekend. A hot spot in summer due to its canal-side location, Visonaire is famous for its Sunday afternoon parties where you can kick back and relax on the decking area listening to the latest electronica, minimal and tech-house beats by DJs like Matthew Dear, Ritchie Hawtin and Ricardo Villalobos.
The Badeschiff
Designed by AMP Architects and German artist Susanne Loren, the Badeschiff is one of the coolest places in Berlin. This open-air swimming pool (heated to a heavenly 24 degrees celsius) was created from a recycled river cargo container sunk into the River Spree. With panoramic views, a decking area for sunbathing and a white sandy beach complete with barbecue, DJ, covered dancefloor, hammocks and four poster beds scattered across the sand, this is the perfect spot for a sexy summer rendez-vous. Open 8am till midnight.
Space Beach
If you happen to stumble across Space Beach, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were hallucinating. But no, behind another stretch of crumbling, graffited Berlin wall there really is a huge white sandy beach with a colossal metal space rocket plonked right in the middle of it. Amongst the deckchairs and potted plants, you’ll find a DJ spinning minimal tunes from a derelict double-decker bus to a host of Berlin party animals.
Golden Gate
Like all the best clubs should be, Golden Gate is impossible to find. But once you do track it down (underneath the tracks near the Jannowitzbrücke train station, should you ask) you will be heartily rewarded. This dark, dirty, graffiti scrawled bunker hosts a non-pretentious, anything goes rave up from Thursday onwards, where you can catch Berlin’s coolest guys and gals and local DJs.
Weekend Club
For the best views in Berlin, head to the three-tiered Weekend Club in Alexanderplatz. Peak party time is from 2am to sunrise when celebrity DJ’s like Tiefschwarz and Miss Kitten spin house and techno to a stylish crowd of party-goers on a roof terrace looking out over 360-degree views of Berlin (pictured here).