In 2003, Ostgut went kaputt. The German capital had its sights set on the old railway zone for the construction of a new sports stadium. On January 4, a farewell party was held that lasted for thirty hours. The club packed up, closed down and the old industrial buildings were razed to leave room for the glitzy, 17,000-seat O2 World Arena.
On October 15, 2004, a dancing crowd filled the old power plant for the first time. The great hall that would later become techno club Berghain was not yet completed, so the guests congregated in the new Panorama Bar, which in many senses followed the same path as its predecessor. One of the people there that night was Ostgut regular Daniel Wang.
“You could sense right away that this was a special place. The space was amazing and the atmosphere unpretentious, yet energized.”
He proceeds to describe the crowd. “There were people of all shapes and sizes. Mostly whites, but also Asians, Latinos and Blacks. But there were no glamourous movie stars, models or mafia moguls. Everyone was there to dance, not to show themselves off.”
A month after the opening of Panorama Bar, it was time for the steel doors that lead to the great turbine hall to finally open. It was called Berghain after the two neighborhoods that flank the club — Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. Just like the great floor of Ostgut, the musical focus was dark, hardcore techno that ripped up the concrete dust.
The floor was filled with dance-hungry revelers, setting their innermost selves free. The ceiling height, the industrial ambiance and the powerful bass created a force of nature making itself felt far beyond the city of Berlin.
A legend had been born.