SO36 — Attraction in Berlin

Maybe this is a good venue for concerts, but we went to a roller disco event and it was an awful experience on every front. We had to pay 7€ at the entrance, which is totally fine, but considering the fact that it is winter and people wanted to leave their coats and jackets at the wardrobe, to be able to skate comfortably, we had to pay for it as well! This is nonsense- a place that provides some kind of activity should have free access to wardrobe by default.

Next point: since I didn’t have any roller skates I decided as many other people to get a pair from them for a couple of hours. Narrow corridor, 100+ people waiting in line and crazy traffic: those who already got their roller skates are squeezing between people in line to get to the skating room. People who are sitting on the benches in the same corridor and putting their skates on are constantly getting hit on the head by people passing by, because there’s just no space for everyone. The cherry on top would be the beer showers you get once in a while because of the people who are not comfortable skating, but trying to squeeze in this narrow space.

There’s just one tiny toilet in the same corridor, unpleasantly dirty, what, hey, can happen. But having all gender toilet with giant urinal right in front of the sinks? This is delusional at the very best. The guards at the entrance were rude and made a weird joke about me being together with my partner.

And the skating room itself- well it’s small for that amount of people, so the majority was just sitting and watching the rest of the crowd move in circles…

Not to sound unreasonable or snobby: we were really excited about this event and got really disappointed. Bad service, milking customers, a small venue for so many people. The only good this was that we were able to get our entrance money back when we decided to leave after 30 minutes of us being there. One...

Absolutely low quality of management and inhumane treatment. I will write it as short as possible.

They make an event called "Rollerdisco" where you are told that you get a roller skate for a deposit and attend a workshop before the disco. It is 3 euros deposit for the first hour and +2 every half an hour. They just canceled the workshop without giving any reason and packed people inside giving no space to skate or dance really. No requirement for safety whatsoever... My friend fell very harshly in the massive crowd and hit her back head without being able to protect herself because she did not know basic things which this "business" was supposed to teach.

After that is more embarrasing. She had a shock and could not move. We were scared that she had a brain bleeding. The staff who lacks any kind of compassion tried only to keep everything "in Ordnung" and although I asked them to call the emergency, they just did not manage the situation and did not call the ambulance for 5-10 minutes, and they said they are handling it and making us wait for them. Although my friend needed a space, the only thing they cared was that she needs to go away from the dance floor. Without any sense of empathy, they disturbed her saying "she needs to go", and I kept telling them "she cant talk, she is trying but she cant move. She needs time." At the end, they finally understood we needed the ambulance!

Also, they charged us for another half an hour for...

I lived around the corner from the club for three years (2017-2020). They had a history of hiring racist and skinhead bouncers. (Such as the notorious night they'd advertised an "Iggy Pop" show only to find out it was just a book signing for an Iggy Pop comic book.)

Another time I stood in line for an hour on a cold February night. My friend really wanted to go. It was an 80s night. The line was around the corner. We finally get to the front and the bouncer waved my friend in but opened the rope for me to go out. His excuse? "You caused trouble last time."

I'd never been there before. I never forgave them for this. I wrote to the management about the incident but received no answer.

But I had to walk past the club every single day because I lived so close to it. So I was aware of what went on. I was far from the last person to be mistreated.

This part of Kreuzberg, in general, is both defiantly and historically anti-racist. So I don't know what SO36's problem is... but they don't deserve all the support they get from the community.

They've been coasting too-long off a reputation...