Ritterstraße 24

…that was all there was in the text. Had a look at the map, it was in Kreuzberg. We could have stayed in the bar that we were, which was nice and chilled, but the unknown seduced us. It was easy to get to, we just needed to change at Alexanderplatz to the U8. Didn’t have to wait of course; all transport runs frequently all night during the weekend. Was a bit gutted that we got to our station so quickly because the atmosphere in the U-Bahn was great. There was this very happy vibe like you almost forgot that weren’t in a bar. People were laughing, drinking. Behind those doors was a house party were you strait away start talking with the person next to you. It was half 4.

The street didn’t look that interesting, but when we got closer we got in this sea of locked bikes against anything and everything. Reminded me of some ace night in Tivoli –a club in Utrecht- were it was almost a sport to find a fens, lamppost, or anything else that meant having some kind of reference point so you didn’t take hours to find your precious bike back again. Been there.

More and more people appeared. We tried to count the houses and stopped when we got to 24, turned around and saw this massif old factory. We walked up the road that led into this courtyard were we saw the entrance. You could feel the music through the ground. Got there.

Getting in was like putting that extra cookie in your mouth when you already have crap in your jaws and starting to see black spots dancing in your vision, but we just drifted along with the stream. There were hundreds of people.

It wasn’t a Club but at the same time it was. There were loads of different rooms with little bars, stages and of course a DJ and dance floor. The way every room was decorated was well thought about but it wasn’t over done. You could sit in little corners on a comfy sofa, play table football, have something to eat or just wonder around in the maze of little allies that led to yet another change of scene. The music was a mix between Electronic, Techno, Hip Hop with a live stage with experimental music and performances, people could just join in with instruments or acts. There was this one mime player that I just absolutely loved. Watching a mime player at dawn is quite magical.

The stage was in a garden attached to the building with a fire in the middle and cocktail bar in the back. Spend a lot of time here, sitting on a little bench chatting away and listening to the birds singing.

It wasn’t really a club because it was organized by this Art community called: Die Kreuzberger Musikalische Aktion, basically a non profit organization that organizes different events and projects against racism and xenophobia –intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries. There was no feel of insecurity but instead an amazing vibe of beautiful people having a great time. Left at half 9.