In a city widely regarded as the world capital of techno Berlin's Berghain nightclub might be seen as the seat of parliament.

Situated in the Friedrichshain neighbourhood of East Berlin, Berghain/Panorama bar, is seen by many as the most important venue in house and techno today. Named after the two areas keuzBERG and friedrichsHAIN, Berghain is a desendant of the legendary Ostgut club which grew out of the snax gay fetish club. As Ostgut found a regular venue in 1998 and became less exclusively a gay club, it became the focal point of the German capital’s underground techno scene. After Ostgut closed its doors in 2003 the club moved to it’s current location in a former power station behind Ostbahnhof.

On approaching Berghain one is at first struck by the sheer size of the venue, it is located in a kind of wasteland and is a massive, intimidating grey concrete structure which can accommodate 1,500 people. After queueing for what can sometimes be up to two hours (this is especially grim in Berlin wintertime) and hopefully getting passed the infamously picky doorstaff, one is at first struck by the minimalist industrial design and the foreboding sub-bass of the music from upstairs. As you mount the stairs to the main dancefloor the music gets louder and the excitement mounts. What greets you at the top of the stairs is quite unlike anything many first time berghain party goers are likely to have experienced before. The dancefloor, which lies eighteen metres below the ceiling, is a writhing mass of bodies, most of which are male, musclebound and clad in leather. This, along with the pretty full-on techno which soundtracks Berghain can be threatening to some but the atmosphere is actually very relaxed. Upstairs in Panorama bar the crowd is less gay and the music is in more of a house/minimal direction. The atmosphere here is lighthearted and when they open the shutters on a Sunday morning, the bass drops and the sun streams in after hours of dancing in the dark there are few places I would rather be.

Talent: if you happen to be a gay man into muscles, this is probably one of the easiest places to get laid in the world. With open sex on the dancefloor and darkrooms in the basement, the club has a famously uninhibited sexual atmosphere. For straight people Friday is probably a better bet with just Panorama bar being open and a much higher straight to gay ratio. Good looking fashionable girls and boys are the order of the day.

Toilets: there are many and are usually relatively clean. Queues for the cubicles can be predictably long. What is striking about the toilets is the absence of mirrors to scare people into going home on Sunday morning/afternoon.

Sounds: Berghain – predominantly straight techno from residents such as Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann, Len Faki, Marcel Fenglar et al. also recent irregular dubstep nights to put the mammoth funktion 1 soundsystem though its bass paces.

Panorama – a mix of techno and house from residents Cassy, Prosumer etc. regular label nights from labels such as Rekids, Perlon, Mood Music, Playhouse, Traum etc Panorama bar has possibly the best soundsystem I have ever heard. Some of my favorite sets here have been on Sunday afternoons, vocal house and spacey stuff to lighten the mood after hours of techno.

Goodies: a little bit of forward planning goes a long way.

Icebreaker: mochtest du etwas zu trinken?

Jawbreaker: is it just me or is this place is full of gays?

From Mano Le Tough