Berlin Techno Clubs Under Threat From Motorway Expansion

The Autopista may be loved by the band Kraftwerk, but Berlin's techno scene has taken a toll as an expansion of the motorway threatens to close several clubs in the German capital.

The A100 expansion plan has united club members and environmental campaigners, who say it will help with the climate crisis.

The highway, which runs through a part of central Berlin, will be extended in the coming years to the Friedrichshain nightlife area, north of the Treptower Park, above the Spree River.

According to the Berlin Club Commission, the city's network of clubs and cultural promoters, the expansion would threaten five of the region's most popular nightclubs.

These include About Blank, an industrial-style techno club near Ostkreuz train station, and Renate, an LGBTQ community center housed in a renovated building.

"Those are the clubs that have existed here for 20 or 30 years... that's what makes Berlin famous and why people love it," club board spokesman Lutz told AFP Leichsenring.

The club helped organize a protest march in early September to try to oppose the proposed commission.

Techno blared during the interim stretch of the A100's planned route as thousands of people waved signs and danced in hot pants and leopard prints.

-Club Culture-

"The clubs in this neighborhood ... are really important to the culture of Berlin," said Adrian Schmidt, a 25-year-old student wearing a black top and pearl necklace.

"All these clubs create spaces to express themselves freely," he said.

Carole Cannel (25), a marketing manager from Paris, had her first German club experience at About Blanc and is a regular visitor to the five threatened clubs.

"It's a place where people have a lot of memories ... and it would be very sad if it all closed," he said.

Berlin's club scene flourished after the fall of the wall, giving a new use to the city's many derelict buildings and derelict industrial areas.

But the city's nightclubs have struggled in recent years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as complaints about noise, rising rents, red tape and rising costs.

Ellie Steffen, 37, a member of ownership group About Blank, described the A100 extension project as "that gray motorway nonsense".

Do you really think the protesters against Germany's powerful auto industry and the pro-business FDP-led transport ministry stand a chance?

"No one can say right now," he said.

But "we are very keen to fight back and believe that a transit-friendly, climate-friendly, colorful and diverse city is still worth fighting for."

The German branch of the Fridays for Future movement also joined the protest to raise environmental concerns.

"The construction of the A100 must be completely stopped, not only for obvious social reasons, but also because motorways are a major factor in the climate crisis," said Clara Duvigneau (21), the group's spokeswoman.

- 'Increase traffic flow' -

But outside the cultural bubble of central Berlin, not everyone is so determined to stop the traffic.

According to a recent poll by the newspaper Die Welt, 62% of Germans are in favor of renewing and expanding the national road network.

Only 33% believe that the expansion of highways should be stopped in favor of climate protection.

Decisions about highway infrastructure are made by the central government. This special extension of the A100 was first approved in 2016 under former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The current coalition led by Olaf Scholz is committed to carrying out these plans, although it has also pledged to review some major infrastructure projects based on their environmental impact.

As Bastian Pauli, the spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, said in the last press conference of the Government, "the expansion of the highway is necessary to be able to manage and adapt the increasing traffic flow in the future".

The project is also unlikely to face political opposition in Berlin, which earlier this year elected a conservative mayor for the first time in 20 years.

Kai Wegner, a 50-year-old former insurance agent, said he strongly supports the extension.

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