Unscene Berlin

 Deutsch I love art and I love parties and when you put the two things together, I'm in seventh heaven. Cassiopeia and Tacheles are well known examples of venues which combine clubbing with culture... and climbing too, if that's your cup of tea, but I find them a bit crowded and impersonal. That's why I am always on the lookout for places which attract the masses without feeling mass-produced. Last weekend I finally checked out Brunnen 70 and what I saw there put it at the top of the list. I went there with a friend on a Saturday night.  After passing the chilled security check, we were ushered into a small room, empty except for an old-fashioned settee against the far wall, and two door staff who were propping up a table with a shoe (labeled 'tips') on it. They smiled at us as a second steel door slid closed behind us, sealing the room shut. My friend and I were slightly freaked out. "Wow, okay... this is a small club..." I began to say, befo...

East of Ostkreuz and south of Frankfurter Allee lies a white-washed shanty-town of factories, cobblestone streets and rubble-strewn sidewalks. It's a blank spot on the map, sandwiched between Friedrichshain, Lichtenberg and Rummelsberg. Lately I’ve been trying to think of a new name to fill in that blank: Ostenberg? Frankenkreuz? The area might not have quite the same exotic catchet as Kreuzkolln (another trendy Berlin borderland) but it does have its own niche to pull in the crowds: after-hours clubs. Frankfurter Allee and Ostkreuz S-bahn stations mark the eastern boundaries of Friedrichshain. They are the last exits to clubland for partiers who simply cannot face going home yet... and if the solid afterhours scene in this area is anything to go by, there are more people who can't face it than there are who can. Salon Zur Wilden Renate (which I have already covered here ) ://about blank, KILI Lounge, K-Pax and a few more ad hoc venues are located a few minutes' ...