Berghain Declared High Culture Venue by Berlin Court

A Berlin fiscal court has ruled that the Berghain nightclub is a venue for “high culture” and not just “entertainment events,” Der Spiegel and The Guardian report. Berghain will now occupy the same tax bracket (seven percent on earnings) as theaters, concert halls, and museums. Since 2009, the club had been subjected to a 19 percent tax because German financial officials declared that nightclubs were places of pure entertainment. Among Berghain’s arguments for re-classification was that “concertgoers may achieve a similar intoxicating effect” from classical performances and DJ sets, according to The Guardian. Der Spiegel’s Tobias Rapp, who advocated for Berghain in a report, also said that DJs are comparably to conductors.

Over the years, Berghain has hosted events beyond club nights. Turner Prize-winning photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, for instance, has had exhibitions at the venue. Tillmans has also said that he took Frank Ocean to Berghain. (Tillmans’ “Device Control” is included on Ocean’s Endless.)

Recently, Conan O’Brien shot a segment outside of Berghain. DJ/producer the Black Madonna called O’Brien out for “turning a space like this into a comedy spectacle.” In August, lightning struck Berghain, deactivating the air conditioning but not dissuading revelers from dancing.

A similar tax exemption exists in Chicago: Read “Music Is Art, OK: Why Chicago’s Absurd Nightclub Shakedown Matters” on the Pitch.

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