Makar Artemev
Berlin’s cultural scene is slowly dying, one stage after another. It has now been confirmed that Das Gift, Neukölln cultural hotspot and meeting place for Berlin’s English-speaking crowd, is being forced to close its doors for the last time at the end of July. They will thus join the growing list of venues to the likes of Zum Starken August and Loophole, who were forced to shut down recently in a disturbing trend of quieting down the city.
“Neukölln’s friendliest bar”, as Das Gift describes itself, has had a feud with their landlord ongoing for years. Due to frequent noise complaints from neighbours, the landlord informed them that their lease will not be renewed. Even though they managed to successfully secure funding for soundproofing, which is a long and grueling task, the landlord deemed this “unnecessary”. Clearly, what was really lacking was not more acoustic insulation, but the lack of will to preserve the community meeting place on the side of the building’s administration.
After fifteen years, the owners of Das Gift are now looking for a successor business in hospitality to take over the location on the corner of Donaustraße and Weichselstraße, believing that it deserves a second life as a restaurant, café or daytime bar. While it’s certainly commendable that they want to give this opportunity to someone who shares their values, Das Gift cannot be replaced. Whether the events the venue hosted (and which we often wrote about) will continue in a different place or cease entirely is still unsure. What’s certain is that another known-and-loved spot is disappearing from the map of Berlin.
Perhaps instead of shutting down renowned cultural venues, it’s high time to start evicting the nachbarns who are a bit too happy filing noise complaints – and who, by doing so, are slowly killing Berlin.