Maria am Ostbahnhof

Maria am Ostbahnhof. A friend said it this way: “The last of the true Berlin clubs” Get there while it lasts.

Maria: a hard place to leave
In 2004 I started working with T.Raumschmiere. My first gig with them was at the Werchter festival for a crowd of 10,000. Couple of months later, after doing a gig with Dutch heavy metal band Orphanage at the Wacken festival I took a train ride from there to Berlin. First time I would do a gig with them there, in their home venue. I already heard a lot about it.
Classic Berlin venue as I came to understand later. Take an empty warehouse, slam a stage, bar and a PA in it and hey presto. You’re in business. Of all the clubs I’ve been to in Berlin it’s the one with the most relaxed atmosphere. Door and bar staff are all right, the technical staff (Pete, Miele, Tom, Felix, Rico) have become mates over time and Ben, the owner, is fun and quirky. I call it my living room in Berlin. The place has three rooms: The big one, that you enter after the entrance, the main stage, Josef, a smaller, lounge like area and Chez Jacqui behind that, another small room.

Music styles are mostly techno although there are other nigths as well. They have bands on regularly as well.
Watch the program carefully for things going on, not all nights will be killer but lots of them are. It’s of course also the home venue for Shitkatapult, Meteosound et al. The Shitparade in summer has already seen it’s last episode in this venue because:

Maria is calling it quits. The lease is over, project developers are moving in to build more offices for hip media firms who now will miss one of the important breeding grounds that are the reason all those hip media firms want to be in Berlin.

So check it out. As soon as possible. The last weekend will be 20-21 of May. On the bill ao Modeselektor, Apparat and of course T.Raumschmiere.

Maria am Ostbahnhof, An der Schillingbrücke, Berlin Friedrichshain. Across the street from the Ibis hotel.