Because of the corona virus, the dance floors of the Berlin clubs were empty. An end to the pandemic is still not in sight. A pilot project should now show ways through the night.
Berlin – After a long break, the Berlin clubs are slowly feeling their way back to their internationally celebrated nightlife.
From the point of view of the Berlin Club Commission, the pilot project for the first club nights under Corona conditions went well. “After surviving the very complex registration and testing, it was actually a club night for the participants like before the pandemic,” said Lutz Leichsenring, board member and spokesman for the association.
“We have all missed this feeling of physical closeness, vibrating bass and uninhibitedness for a year and a half.” This may create a perspective for autumn.
Only with PCR test
A total of 2000 tickets were sold for the nights from Friday to Sunday in six Berlin clubs. Together with those involved, 2,110 people had to do a PCR test beforehand. Seven Covid cases were identified, contacted and reported to the health authorities.
Next Friday there will be a retest of all participants as well as an online survey of the Charité involved. Only then can a balance be drawn, it said. “All security mechanisms have taken effect,” said Leichsenring.
New perspectives
It all started with excitement and anticipation in front of the “Metropol” club in Berlin’s trendy district of Schöneberg on Friday evening. Party-goers such as politicians and club owners looked forward to the weekend. With the three-day pilot project “Reboot Clubculture”, the scene should be shown new perspectives after 18 months in the Corona-Aus.
At the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020, clubs were among the places to which larger corona outbreaks could be attributed – the so-called superspreading events. One of them happened at the end of February 2020 not far from the “Metropolis”, in the “Trumpet”.
During the club life of that time, a number of factors could come together that are likely to be considered ideal conditions for a virus that spreads via the finest droplets that float in the air for a long time. For example: A large number of partiers who mingle for hours. Plus dancing close together, sometimes with stuffy air. Because of the music you have to speak loudly or yell at yourself, sometimes you sing along loudly – this releases more aerosols than silent activities.
The pilot project is to find out how and whether it is safe to dance indoors in a pandemic – dancing outside has been allowed again since the end of June, provided that hygiene rules are observed. In addition to the “Metropol”, five other clubs such as “Kitkat”, “SO36” or “Festsaal Kreuzberg” are participating in the project. During the two nights they offered events with around 40 artists from the scene. The 25 euro tickets were sold out in a few minutes.
Clear rules
There were clear rules for the 2,000 clubbers: everyone had to do a PCR test a few hours before entry in three specially set up test centers. There was only admission with a negative result. No distinction was made between whether people had already been vaccinated. But it didn’t need a mask or space.
At the “Metropol” entrance, party-goers took off their masks with relief. One man hugged his companion, another danced into the club. “I feel like I’m having the first party today,” said organizer Bork Melms.
Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer (left) was optimistic: “I believe that we have pulled in all the safety lines that could be pulled in here.” Leichsenring said: “The next few days will be very decisive for the club scene.”
At “Kitkat”, where one of the three PCR test centers set up especially for the project is located, a long queue formed in the early evening. There were many happy faces in the club itself. “So long ago”, “it’s like before” and “finally a real party again”, said the predominantly young people, many of them speaking English.
The number of infections is increasing again in Germany and also in Berlin, the values are highest among adolescents and young adults. These are age groups in which the proportion of people who have been vaccinated is lower compared to the elderly, but they also have a lower risk of becoming seriously ill.
So will PCR tests soon be a requirement for clubbing in addition to the right outfit? “We hope that it is not the future,” said Pamela Schobeß from the club committee with a view to the complex procedure. “But it would be a possibility for autumn.” Dpa
