Lockdown: "Should one of these aids be omitted, everything collapses"

display

Perhaps one can compare the lockdown for club operators in Berlin, which has been going on for almost a year, with a tough and painful hangover: the morning after a long weekend, with a leaden headache - but without the longed-for relief occurring.

“We are the only industry in permanent lockdown,” says Pamela Schobeß, operator of “Gretchen” and spokeswoman for the Federal Association of Music Venues LiveKomm.

“The fear that the financial aid will not be enough and that we will lose our places is huge.

That is frustrating and emotionally stressful, especially since we have no opening perspectives ”.

"We are all very emaciated - if one of these aids is omitted, everything collapses," says Pamela Schobeß

Source: Paola Vertemati

Because when clubs can halfway back to normal is completely unclear.

The fear of sources of infection as a result of far-reaching loosening is great - even among the operators themselves. Narrow spaces, sweating bodies and an exuberant atmosphere offer an ideal breeding ground for the coronavirus.

display

And while theaters or operas can adapt their concepts to hygienic requirements, this is more difficult for clubs. Many tried open-air events or briefly reoriented themselves: The otherwise exclusive Berghain opened its doors to an art exhibition, the Kitkat even became a corona test center.

But all of these are only temporary solutions.

"Our main problem is that the hygiene ordinance forbids clubs with a disco license to hold events indoors," explains Lutz Leichsenring, spokesman for the Berlin Club Commission, which with its 350 members represents around 90 percent of the industry.

“That applies even if there is a ventilation concept and events with seats are involved.

In contrast to theaters or concert halls, clubs have a disadvantage here ”.

"It must be ensured that the result can be verified," says Leichsenring about privately performed rapid tests

Source: Pavol Putnoki

display

The industry therefore has great hopes for vaccinations and rapid tests.

Leichsenring calls her the "light at the end of the tunnel".

They are currently working on how the rapid tests could be integrated into the club's operations.

He considers areas in which tests can be carried out under supervision to be realistic.

Afterwards, guests should be able to use the app to prove that they have tested negative.

Leichsenring, on the other hand, is cautious about the lay tests that are expected to be available from March.

“Quick tests carried out privately would of course be an enormous logistical relief and are also much cheaper.

But it has to be ensured that the result can be verified, ”says Leichsenring.

One thing should be prevented at all costs: That the clubs are in the end again in the pillory as irresponsible drivers of the pandemic.

Parties were eyed suspiciously

How quickly this can be seen last summer.

In the public debate, the line between illegal raves in parks and open-air club events was sometimes blurred: parties were viewed suspiciously and were considered to be possible super-spreader events.

This also discredited the club scene.

display

Leichsenring speaks of a "loss of trust" during this time.

Time and again, events in the open air and with safe hygiene concepts have been unfounded by the police and the public order office, he criticizes.

Georg Kössler, club political spokesman for the Green parliamentary group in the Berlin House of Representatives - calls this "populism against club culture".

In response to a request from the MP, the Berlin Senate for Health announced that before the introduction of the first contact restrictions in March 2020, three outbreaks had been registered in clubs.

After easing in July, there was an outbreak with eight cases.

In comparison, the number of infections at illegal parties in the private sector is much higher.

Kössler is convinced that "clubs have not caused pandemics".

However, the industry cannot afford to fall out of favor again, as it will be kept alive primarily through government grants and private donations.

According to the Berlin Senate Department for Culture, 46 of the 140 or so clubs in Berlin were on average by July

81,000 euros approved for Corona aid.

In the second and third rounds of Emergency Aid IV, 62 clubs received grants averaging 40,000 euros each.

In addition, clubs can apply for funds from the one billion euro program “Neustart Kultur”, which was launched by Minister of State for Culture Monika Grütters (CDU) in June.

There is support for pandemic-related modifications, for example.

They are also entitled to the bridging aid and the November or December aid from the federal government.

However, the payout is slow, which, according to the “Gretchen” operator Schobeß, “puts many of us in great distress”.

The support is just enough to cover the running costs, says Schobess, who is also a member of the board of the Berlin Club Commission.

"We are all emaciated - if one of these aids is omitted, everything collapses." Because although they have been closed for months, the clubs still have to pay contributions for the employees who are mostly registered on short-time and transfer the rent every month.

This is where you will find third-party content

In order to interact with or display content from third parties, we need your consent.

Activate external content

I consent to content from third parties being displayed to me.

This allows personal data to be transmitted to third-party providers.

This may require the storage of cookies on your device.

More information can be found here.

Many Berlin clubs are in excellent inner-city locations and pay high rents of tens of thousands of euros a month.

Anyone who has taken out a loan independently of the emergency aid is entitled to bridging aid from the federal government, but not to further liquidity subsidies.

This applies to the traditional Club Schwuz, for example.

And because the revenue has been missing for months, some clubs are now heavily in debt, so Schobeß.

A ray of hope for many operators was the decision of the red-red-green government coalition in Berlin in November to recognize clubs as cultural sites and thus to equate them with opera houses or theaters.

This makes it easier for clubs to seek cultural funding programs.

Many took this as a signal that the Senate was aware of the great cultural and economic importance of the clubs for the capital.

In other cities such as Cologne, Hamburg or Munich, special support programs for club culture were set up during the crisis.

display

Corresponding initiatives to recognize clubs as cultural sites at the federal level have so far failed.

Georg Kössler of the Greens is nevertheless convinced: "No club in Berlin will have to close due to a lack of public aid." The emergency aid will be extended until the end of the pandemic.

Leichsenring from the Berlin Club Commission doesn't go that far: “Some clubs won't make it.

Even if the restrictions no longer apply, you cannot start from zero to 100.

Bands and DJs have to be booked in advance, you need hotel capacity and freedom of travel. ”Leichsenring believes that other clubs will assert themselves through their booking and quality.

They will make people rediscover their desire to go out after the pandemic.

"Clubs are very adaptable, we've seen that over the past few decades."

However, it is possible that not only the clubs but also the public will adapt.

"I am very afraid that people will continue to be anxious and that they will not trust tests or vaccinations", fears Pamela Schobeß, the operator of the "Gretchen".

The high dependency on international guests and thus on free travel should not be underestimated.

It is also questionable how loose the money will be after the crisis.

In addition, thousands of jobs depend on the club scene in the capital.

The fate of many DJs is inextricably linked with the clubs - the crisis is increasingly causing them to be disturbed.

The Marseille-born DJ Sébastien Michel has lived in Berlin since 2013.

“My biggest enemy is boredom,” says Michel

Source: via Sébastien Michel

Before the pandemic, he made several appearances a month all over the world, in Berlin he played in fixed sizes such as Berghain, Griessmühle or Tresor.

For him, the lockdown actually means a professional ban.

“My biggest enemy is boredom,” says Michel.

Without the small, seemingly insignificant impressions in everyday life, it is difficult to find inspiration and be creative.

He also lacks the dynamism, the pressure, the deadlines.

"It's like journalists writing without their articles ever being published," says Michel.

He hopes the scene will quickly recover from the pandemic.

“How do the clubs need.

They represent social spaces in which people from different backgrounds come together and exchange ideas. "

Third wave concern - "The virus has received a boost"

Despite the lockdown, the corona numbers have been stagnating in Germany for days.

At the same time, mutations increase the fear of a new wave.

See a press conference with RKI President Wieler and Health Minister Spahn here.

Source: WORLD

But how close the celebrants will come in the future is uncertain.

Many people should have internalized the contact restrictions and hygiene rules by now - and it is still completely uncertain how quickly the switch can be flipped again.

According to Leichsenring, it was already clear before the pandemic that the excess became less frequent.

"Even before the Corona, there was a trend towards people living more consciously, drinking less alcohol and being less excessive," he says.

Perhaps this group is using clubs more as a venue for debates, performances and political exchanges after the pandemic.

“Or we experience our roaring twenties and people spin completely free.

Even if it sounds paradoxical - I think it will go both ways. "