Berlin Techno Clubs: Tresor and Berghain – history, spaces, and sound of two legendary venues for hard techno.
On March 13, 1991, a basement door opened at Leipziger Strasse 126 – the beginning of Tresor. If you're looking for techno clubs in Berlin with a hard, machine-like sound today, you'll find venues with similarly long histories: Tresor and Berghain. Here are the facts, not the myths.
At a glance
- Tresor opened in March 1991 and has been located in the Berlin-Mitte heating plant on Köpenicker Straße since May 25, 2007.
- Berghain opened on December 18, 2004, in the former Friedrichshain heating plant and can accommodate 1500 guests.
Tresor: Steel Doors, Strobe Lights, and Detroit
The first Tresor was located in the 1926-built vault of the former Wertheim department store, which had been empty for decades during the GDR era. Hundreds of broken-open lockers, no decor, hard, machine-like music – that's all it took. In the vault itself, there were only strobe lights, an orange warning light, and fog.
The sound was shaped by DJs and live acts from Detroit: Jeff Mills, Juan Atkins, Blake Baxter, Robert Hood, Kevin Saunderson. In September 1991, Dimitri Hegemann founded the Tresor Records label. The club describes its beginnings to this day:
“At midnight, on March 13th 1991, a basement door opened at Leipziger Strasse 126, Berlin. Through this door, many passed, on their way to defining new terrains in electronic music.”
— Tresor Berlin, tresorberlin.com
On April 16, 2005, the last party took place at the old location, after which the building was demolished. Since May 25, 2007, Tresor has been running in the disused Berlin-Mitte heating plant – the operators even brought some of the original lockers with them. Since 2017, the queer collective Herrensauna has been regularly celebrating there.
Berghain: 18-Meter Ceilings in the Old Power Plant
Berghain grew out of Ostgut, which opened in 1998 in a warehouse on Mühlenstraße and celebrated its last big club night in January 2003. On December 18, 2004, the club opened in the engine hall of the Friedrichshain heating plant, built in 1953 and 1954 in the style of Socialist Classicism and now a listed building.
The main floor is 18 meters high and designed for around 500 people, with four Funktion-One dance stacks surrounding the dance floor. During club nights, mainly techno is played, while house and deep house are played upstairs in the Panorama Bar. Residents include Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Tama Sumo, Nick Höppner, and Virginia; the in-house label Ostgut Ton was discontinued in 2021.
The Clubs at a Glance
| Tresor – Opening | March 1991, Leipziger Straße 126 |
|---|---|
| Tresor – Current Location | Köpenicker Straße 70, since May 25, 2007 |
| Tresor – Label | Tresor Records, founded September 1991 |
| Berghain – Opening | December 18, 2004 |
| Berghain – Capacity | 1500 guests |
| Berghain – Main Floor | 18 meters high, four Funktion-One dance stacks |
If you're in the mood for open-air after the club night, you can find the dates in Techno Festivals in Autumn 2026: The Highlights.
FAQ
When did Tresor open?
In March 1991, in the vault of the former Wertheim department store on Leipziger Straße.
When is Berghain club night?
The club opens on Fridays at 10 PM. The club night with Berghain floor and Panorama Bar begins on Saturday night and usually runs non-stop until Monday morning.
Source: Tresor Berlin – About, Tresor Berlin – Location, Wikipedia: Tresor (Club), Wikipedia: Berghain
