Berghain | Panorama Bar — Attraction in Berlin

It was my first holiday in Berlin and come here to explore places related to WW2/Cold War but also experience the techno clubs. I love and listen techno since early 90s, so the Berlin clubs were an important part of my trip. I did my research before I came here and knew that sometimes can be very difficult to get in to the clubs here. I was able to get in to the Tresor, OST and Lokschuppen and the next was Berghain and I was rejected twice. First time the famous doorman Sven Marquardt just pointed me to my right, which means 'Good bye' and the second time the lady said to me famous "it's not today" which also means 'Good bye'. I was wearing exactly the same black clothes which I had in other clubs and I was alone. I didn't say anything except German 'Hallo' (Btw German is not my first language, but I thought it will be nice and respectful to say 'Hi' in German). Obviously I have no idea why I was rejected and probably most of the people don't know either why they been rejected. I wasn't drunk and I just simply waited in the queue, so there was no specific reason for rejection. In this review I just want to make one important point – despite the fact that Berghain is considered as one of the best or the best techno club in the world the people who own the club and bouncers don't care about your passion about the music. This is in fact the least of what they are interested in. I know that this is very contradictory because many people (included myself) come to the club for the love of music, but they don't care about it at all. Bouncers in Berghain are extremely judgemental, narrow-minded, rude and can be racists too. They will make you feel really, really awkward when you stand on the front of them and wait like for "Judgment Day". They will scan you from top to bottom and will announce their decision. Most likely you will be rejected but they may let you in, and if this happen they will act like they make you the biggest favour which you didn't deserve. I'm really really surprised why things like this still happen in such a liberal and open minded city like Berlin. I do understand if let say drunk or aggressive people will be rejected from the club, but in Berghain you can be rejected for literally any reason and in most cases they will not tell you why. I know that many people who gets inside still leave the positive reviews about this club, but the reality is that such a door selection is completely against of what the music should be, I mean the music should unite the people, music breaks the boundaries and doesn't matter of what your background is, what your gender, religion or language is. This is the true spirit of music and this is why myself and other people come to the clubs - for the love of music. It's doesn't matter that Berghain may have unique indoor decor or sound system if fans are rejected from it based on archaic and discriminative set of unknow rules. This is for me a very toxic environment which unfortunately is still present in many Berlin clubs and I just don't want to be part of it. I prefer to go somewhere where people will truly understand of what the passion for the music means, like Rave the Planet parade (former Love Parade) or the clubs where owners/bouncers are open minded and tolerant. I'm also surprised why actually DJs want to play in places like Berghain. I mean, fans want to come to see a specific DJ just to be rejected. If I will be a DJ I will not play in place like this any more for the respect to my fans. If the Djs will be more thoughtful about where they playing, the clubs like Berghain will disappear very quickly. Not so long ago Berlin's techno music scene has been recognized as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage. Sometimes I have a mixture a feelings about this, because Berlin clubs are obvious places to go to listen techno music, but in the same time it is still very common to be rejected for no reason and this for me doesn't represents Unesco values. But I'm still positive that one day Berlin Techno scene will become free, open minded and tolerant place for all...

Berghain has become the perfect symbol of Berlin's cultural low empire — mythologized by those who’ve never been, idolized by those who’ve only been once. I never experienced the club in its so-called golden days, when it might have truly been an underground gem — raw, alive, and untamed. But I came with a genuine curiosity, wanting to feel a part of something. What I found was a dead shrine, coasting on reputation, hollow to the core.

🧱 The Entrance: A Grotesque Performance Hours in line to be stared down by a bouncer who plays oracle. No words, no explanation, no logic. Just an arbitrary judgment dressed up as mystery. It’s all for show — designed to make you believe there’s something sacred inside. But the truth is: getting in isn’t a privilege, it’s just the start of the disappointment.

🏚️ Inside: Smoke, Concrete, and Nothing Where’s the soul? Where’s the aesthetic? Berghain today is a soulless bunker, a maze of lifeless corridors and pitch-black spaces. There are no corners to explore, nothing visually or emotionally compelling. Just industrial emptiness wrapped in smoke and strobes. It feels like a place that used to mean something, but now clings to its past like a washed-up star.

🔊 The Sound Is There — But It's Wasted Yes, the sound system is powerful. Technically flawless. But who cares, when no one is actually present? The crowd is a drooping, drugged-out, disconnected mass — bodies swaying in slow motion, eyes lost in the void. No one is listening. No one is alive. It’s a zombie rave. Period.

🍸 Pretentious Drinks, Hostile Staff The cocktails? Overcomplicated and forgettable. I was also verbally attacked — aggressively and without hesitation — by one of the bartenders after I accidentally dropped a coin into one of the cocktail ingredient glasses while paying. Without thinking, I instinctively and politely reached down — not even halfway — to retrieve it, without touching anything. Before I could get close, he swatted my hand away and told me that what I was “about to do” was tremendously irreversible. I told him I was sorry, sincerely. But he kept going, ranting, and then — dramatically — took his “precious” ingredient glass and dumped it into the sink like he was performing some holy act of purification.

I calmly picked up the money, gathered it back up, and handed it to him again — this time, without much grace. That pushed him over the edge. He snapped and said I was worthless and that he’d have me kicked out of the club. My wife stepped in, tried to de-escalate, and only then did he calm down. I didn’t give him another second of my attention.

“Dear” bartender, accidents happen. The coin was already in your glass — nothing would have changed if my two fingers had picked it up. The ingredient was already contaminated. Logically thinking of course! Assuming anyone expects hygiene in a club where people walk around naked and do whatever the hell they want is laughable anyway. There's no warmth. No vibe. No hospitality. Just ego.

💬 And Yet, Berghain Is Exactly What Berlin Has Become

Berlin today is split in two. On one side, smart, educated, efficient young people building something real — often driven by green ideas and a strong sense of environmental responsibility.

On the other, a lost generation stuck in a nostalgic ‘80s revival loop, clinging to aesthetic excess in the absence of purpose, vision, or culture. They’re not entirely to blame — the world is a mess — but it’s clear they’ve chosen style over substance, performance over meaning and pretending over being.

And Berghain is the perfect reflection of that. It’s no longer a club. It’s a fossilized brand. A sacred cow worshipped by people who don’t realize the soul left a long time ago.

The myth is dead. The sound is good. The...

I never write reviews but visiting was such an experience I want to put my thoughts down. Firstly it’s important to say me and my girlfriend came here on a January Sunday, from mid-day until the evening, and only to the Panorama Bar so not the full Berghain experience.. There was no queue getting in for the whole day, the club was busy though so not sure if they were turning people away. The doormen were dry, humourless but behind their stony-faces I didn’t get any threatening vibes. They seemed like good people although each of them revelling in their own monumental power trip. Staring you down with a testing glare, making you wait for a minute here and a minute there seemingly for no reason. They maintained their reputation perfectly. They had the same character as that common type of self absorbed policeman, egotistical, callous and bored. Inside, a thorough search and the eye watering €23 entry. A sign also stating €5 re-entry, rich seeing as the ATM was just outside (I wasn’t charged the fiver later in the evening though). Upstairs the energy was high, genuinely electrifying. Good sound. The dance floor was full of half naked sweaty people, lots of smiles. The feeling of being somewhere special, that energy diffused through the whole venue. Then to the bar where you are reminded this isn’t an underground shangri-la but a polished well oiled business. €14 for an espresso martini, literally twice as much as other bars in Berlin, although I must say cocktails were very good. As with the bouncers and cloakroom staff, the barmen were polite but devoid of any enthusiasm or graciousness. Whilst sat at the bar I came to realise this was one of the best people-watching spots I had ever been to, but also that other people felt the same. Away from the dance floor everyone seemed hyper aware, preoccupied with who was around them, what they were wearing, outwardly looking. Not helped by the small group sizes. I’m used to underground alternative scenes and this place felt different. A sense that acceptance was only earned through wearing the uniform. Inside those walls was a hierarchy and to be anyone you had to be local and look the part. Foreigners were an irritation. I’ve heard racism is an issue here, I wouldn’t have thought this was the case, more that there are few black people who identify with the very select techno-loving subsection who frequent Berghain. But that’s just my guess. So my reflections are- there is an odd, sort of masochistic dynamic between the club and its patrons. A sense of entitlement to treat outsiders with disrespect. The complete opposite of the ‘customer comes first’ mantra. It works though, what a genius USP. It might be due to the time we turned up but the place felt worn out, like management stumbled across a golden cow and for decades have been milking it for all it has. They must be making an obscene fortune, rinse and repeat. That weekend was one of the best of my life and Berghain was a part of that, but mostly down to who I was with and the company I made. I’ve seen it now, know what it’s about and wouldn’t return unless I was with a group of mates, the judgmental atmosphere was just too distracting. But go and see it,...