Berlin Parties On, Despite the Coronavirus

About 150 people were squeezed into the main space of the famous techno club, which is under a former power station. Few seemed to be heeding the “important tips for the coronavirus” that had been posted next to the stern-looking bouncers at the front door. These included “maintaining distance” in tight spaces and not “passing around drinks.”

Mercedes Sánchez, 22, was at the club celebrating the end of her medical school exams with two friends. “We know it’s maybe not such a good idea, but we thought, ‘Today and then never again,’ ” she said. Her group was taking “appropriate measures,” she added, like “no touching anyone, and no new friends.”

They had originally wanted to go to KitKatClub, Sánchez said, a nearby fetish and dance venue where it is not uncommon for patrons to have sex in the club. “But we thought the danger of infection there was higher,” she added.

On Tuesday, the local authorities in Berlin closed all state-run theaters, opera houses and concert halls; on Wednesday, the city banned public events involving more than 1,000 people.

Berghain, Berlin’s largest and perhaps most famous techno club, announced on its website on Wednesday that it would close until April 20, “in the best health interests of our staff, artists and guests.”

But in a city where clubs are seen as an integral part of the cultural fabric, as well as an important sector of the economy, the idea that they posed a coronavirus threat has met with a mixed response.

According to an email from the Club Commission, a trade body, there are 140 clubs in Berlin. Almost all of them have a capacity of fewer than 1,000 people, and so, on Wednesday night, many remained open for business.

Outside Tresor early Thursday, some clubgoers said that they were aware of the dangers, but were simply trying to make the most of their vacation. Nicholas Wessel, 26, visiting from Seattle on a multicity trip through Europe, said he decided to “risk it” because it was his only opportunity to visit a club here.

“It’s a part of Berlin we came out to enjoy,” he said, adding that it would have been “sad” not to experience the city’s famous techno scene.

Two Berlin nightclubs have already been linked to the spread of coronavirus. Nine people who were at the Reed, a venue in the city center, on Feb. 27 had tested positive for the condition by Tuesday, according to local news reports, as had 17 people who were at Trompete, another club, on Feb. 29.

Jennifer Rohn, an academic from the medical department of University College London, said in an email that nightclubs carried particular risks for the transmission of the virus. “Clubbing involves crowded conditions on the dance floor, and participants inevitably get sweaty, which would help viruses linger on smears left on surfaces,” she said.

People also often have to move close to each other to be heard over loud music, “which is a good opportunity for virus particles to leap onto a new host via moisture from the mouth,” she noted. Closing clubs would not be an overreaction, Rohn added.

Club owners in Berlin have discussed closing, Lutz Leichsenring, a spokesman for the Club Commission, said in a telephone interview. “Our guests are mostly young, healthy people, so the direct risk to them is not high,” he said. The issue is that they may then spread it outside to people who are at risk, he added.

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Clubs in Berlin were already under threat from rising rents caused by gentrification, he said, and many would go bust if they closed, even for a few days.

“We’re having to balance between bankruptcy and disease prevention,” Leichsenring added. On Wednesday, the commission wrote to the Berlin authorities asking for a 10 million euro ($11.3 million) rescue fund to help clubs if they had to close. “It is foreseeable that the spread of the coronavirus will lead to economic ruin for many club operators,” the letter said.

Daniel Bartsch, a spokesman for the culture department in City Hall, said in a telephone interview that the authorities had received the request and were aware that “at the end of this, there will be a cost.” However, he added, “at the moment, public health is the most important consideration.”

In recent years, the local government has made funds available for clubs to improve soundproofing and head off complaints from neighbors. But most venues in Berlin, unlike state-run theaters and concert halls, are run as commercial businesses, with little help from the authorities.

The exception is Berghain, which was officially designated a “cultural institution” by a regional court in 2016, meaning it pays a reduced tax rate.

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Other countries in Europe are taking actions that affect nightclubs, such as restricting the number of people who can gather in one place. On Tuesday, Austria adopted one of the tightest measures, banning all indoor events of more than 100 people. On Wednesday, Denmark announced the same limit.

Britain — where the government has yet to impose a limit on gatherings — is an outlier, with clubs still open without any restrictions. Alex Parsons, a spokesman for Fabric, a well-known London club, said in an email that it did not want to “speculate about ‘what ifs’ until there is some official action from the government.”

Leichsenring said the Club Commission in Berlin was recommending venues operate at 70% capacity, so that people had more space to dance apart, and was asking them to collect emails for all attendees to trace people in case of an outbreak.

But not all club promoters agreed with the Club Commission’s line. “The shutdown of all the clubs should be a common movement,” said Fabio Boxikus, a promoter, in a Facebook message to The New York Times.

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Last week, Boxikus and other promoters he works with decided to cancel Gegen, a popular party they put on at KitKatClub.

“I don’t think reducing the events to max 1,000 guests will help that much,” he added. “That means that with one single infected guest, you will have 1,000 cases in two weeks.” It was impossible to make guests keep a safe distance inside a club, Boxikus added.

Outside Tresor, some said that closing clubs would be an overreaction. Mieke Schiemann, from Berlin, who said she was celebrating her 19th birthday, said she had “absolutely no fear” of the virus. “If it comes now, it comes now; if it comes later, it comes later,” she said.

Her friend Marla Gaudlitz said that while the virus might be unpleasant for older people, “if you’re 19, it’s not so bad.” The women then walked away midconversation, deciding not to go into Tresor after all. Instead, they joined a group of passing Scandinavians, and headed to a different club.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .