The Ramones Museum is a bit of an institution. One of only two music museums in Berlin, it also happens to be the only Ramones museum in the world, so when it disappeared from the streets of Kreuzberg three years ago, things started to look a little bleak for the rock community. Not only was the Ramones Museum a sterling collection of antiquities once belonging to one of the world’s most iconic bands, it also served as an intimate music venue, hang-out space and cafe. Those lucky enough to have experienced it will also tell you it had the best New York cheesecake in the city.
The Ramones’ connection to Berlin runs deep. Dee Dee Ramone, the band’s original bass player, spent his childhood in Berlin, when his father, an American GI, was stationed in the city after World War II. His time here would go on to inspire several songs about the capital, including ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ and ‘Born to Die in Berlin’. The Ramones themselves would often play up to the cultural zeitgeist through their music, singing about the Cold War and international politics. Dee Dee’s successor in the band, C. J. Ramone, performed at the Ramones Museum in 2019 to honour the original bass player’s legacy.
The museum was brought into existence in 2005, when local Ramones fan and music journalist Flo Hayler was given an ultimatum by his girlfriend to either throw out his collection of band memorabilia or move out. Hayler took the third choice and founded a small space to showcase his collection. After being forced to move several times, often due to rising rents, Hayler finally settled on a spot on Oberbaumstraße, next to the river, in 2017.
Over the course of almost 20 years, Hayler managed to amass over 1,000 Ramones-related items, including old jeans, concert tickets, videos, photographs and used guitars. Many items were signed by the band’s members, some of whom he came to know personally. The museum is an astounding feat for what began as just a personal collection, one that has attracted local and international punks alike.
The location on Oberbaumstraße was sadly forced to close due to a lack of footfall during the pandemic. Earlier this year, however, not ready to let the dream die, Hayler opened 19:77 bar on Neukölln’s Weserstraße with an integrated Ramones museum. Named after the year that punk exploded onto the scenes and with an interior designed by Muff Potter bassist Shredder, the new space – a sort of punk rock café – serves as a bar, restaurant, gallery and event location.
19:77 is everything the original location was and more. It’s rough-and-ready and completely punk-rock, as it should be. Here, you can get sedated and Rockaway Beach all night, safe in the knowledge that the Ramones’ legacy lived to see another day on the streets of Berlin. It just goes to show that they’re still Too Tough to Die. The best part? The cheesecake is back, too!
- Ramones Museum Berlin, Weserstr. 159, Neukölln, follow the museum on IG @ramonesmuseum
