Happy (Berlin) Pride to all you out there! The coming months have lots to offer in terms of celebration, so I’ll leave that to you to sort out. This is a time to be proud of Berlin’s sparkling legacy as a queer Mecca. A reputation shaped by the LGBTQ+ spaces we support – and that support us – all year round, not just in July and August.
The past few months have shown just how vulnerable these venues and community hubs really are.
That’s about as bubbly as I’ll get, because unfortunately, the past few months have shown just how vulnerable these venues and community hubs really are. Three pillars, dare I say institutions, of Berlin’s queer social life are in urgent need, each facing serious financial strain.
The biggest one, you may have already heard about: SchwuZ. When I landed in Berlin over 15 years ago, SchwuZ was the place to be – countless sweaty nights were spent dancing, drinking and the like in its basement on Mehringdamm.
Founded in 1977, it’s not just Berlin’s longest-running queer club – it’s Germany’s oldest, surviving decades and moving locations before staking its claim in Neukölln’s massive Rollbergstraße complex. It shook the scene when major Berlin outlets announced that SchwuZ had let go of over 30 employees. The reason? Financial necessity. More on SchwuZ later.
Even more concerning: two smaller but vital queer venues are also feeling the financial squeeze. Both Tipsy Bear in Prenzlauer Berg and Silver Future in Neukölln shared grim updates on Instagram earlier this summer. Both independently run, these small scene spaces are the true heartbeat of Berlin’s LGBTQ+ community. To me, they’re exactly what SchwuZ felt like back in the day: spunky, DIY, progressive and personal.
Why are these queer spaces struggling? Well, everyone is feeling the pinch of inflation and rising costs. Rent, drinks, staff wages – it all adds up. It’s a double whammy: running venues costs more than ever, while people have less money to spend on nights out. Tipsy Bear’s general manager Francis Hanlon explained to me that, while it’s never been easy running a bar in Berlin, it’s gotten drastically harder in the past few months.
The struggle came as a surprise to some queer friends of mine; when I mentioned it, they pointed out that events at Tipsy Bear always seemed full, and every time they passed by Silver Future, it appeared packed. But Hanlon has a response: “People can rock up anywhere on a Friday night and see 300 people, but it still isn’t enough now.” What would Tipsy Bear need to feel secure again? “We think if we had just a 20 percent increase in people, it would help tremendously.”
Each spot is doing its best to either shore up support or cut costs. Tipsy Bear has launched several new nights in an attempt to draw back the crowds, while Silver Future has introduced a non-smoking night on Tuesdays.
Both venues have actively sought support and feedback from their communities. SchwuZ, however, has played it a bit differently. After unexpectedly dismissing a third of its staff, new executive director Katja Jäger launched a media tour, framing the cuts as necessary and hinting that some roles could eventually be filled by AI. Time will tell how that plays out – and which solutions will stick.
Clubsterben (“club death”) is the old Berlinerism that has been floating around for years, and it seems to be hitting the city anew recently. With Watergate closing its doors at the end of 2024, and Wilde Renate set to shut at the end of 2025, the scene faces another major shake-up, leaving many to wonder what the future holds for the city’s nightlife culture.
So far, we’ve been lucky that no major queer institutions have been forced to shut their doors, but the danger is there, according to the spaces themselves. If you really want to celebrate Pride, go out and have a drink or two at Tipsy Bear or Silver Future, or your closest queer locale. Spend your money with pride and support our community.
