Germany’s embattled nightlife scene welcomes plan to reclassify clubs

Watergate in Berlin closed down after 22 years. Photograph: travelstock44/Alamy View image in fullscreen Watergate in Berlin closed down after 22 years. Photograph: travelstock44/Alamy Germany’s embattled nightlife scene welcomes plan to reclassify clubs There is hope that a change to building regulations could resurrect music clubs, which have been hit by rising rents, social shifts and noise disputes A move by the German government to reclassify nightclubs to distinguish them from amusement and adult entertainment facilities could give a much-needed boost to the country’s struggling nightlife, industry advocates say. Under a fundamental change to building regulations approved by Friedrich Merz’s cabinet last week, nightclubs will be formally recognised as providing cultural and artistic value, making it more difficult for developers to evict venue operators in favour of new construction. The law still requires approval from the Bundestag and the upper house, the Bundesrat, but cross-party support makes its passage likely. Clubs are classified alongside brothels, strip bars and betting shops – though often face stricter scrutiny due to noise regulations. The new rules will allow clubs to operate in certain residential areas. View image in fullscreen Closing night at the SchwuZ club in November 2025. SchwuZ, founded in 1977, was Germany’s oldest queer club. Photograph: Omer Messinger/Getty Images Marc Wohlrabe, a night-time industry lobbyist for 30 years, called the change a “historic moment” for German club culture. “The existing entertainment venue regulations date back to the last century when legislature and the authorities decided to lump together as shady everything that happened in the evenings, from red-light districts, to strip bars, game halls, and music clubs, considering this incompatible with residential areas and families,” said Wohlrabe, a board member of the federal association of music venues in Germany , which has been advocating for change for more than a decade. “We’ve long maintained that curated music clubs have absolutely nothing to do with red-light district table dance bars. The club owners we represent operate more like a theatre – curating artists … nurture emerging talent, and deserve instead to be designated as cultural centres alongside opera, theatre, and high culture,” he added. It is hoped the changes may help to slow down the Clubsterben (death of clubs) phenomenon, which has grown across Germany in recent years and been particularly acute in Berlin, where a large number of alternative spaces sprang up on wasteland and abandoned industrial sites after the fall of communism. Rising real estate costs, post-pandemic social shifts, and noise disputes have led to the threat of closure of many clubs in recent years. Legendary venues such as SchwuZ, Watergate and Mensch Meier are the most prominent recent shutdowns. The Clubcommission , an association representing clubs, festivals and cultural events which lobbies for t