By Azzam Bilal 
HangupsMusic.com – Berlin, a city synonymous with the endurance of electronic music and the preservation of counter-cultural spaces, is preparing for a milestone event as one of its most storied institutions, Salon Zur Wilden Renate, marks nearly two decades of operation. To celebrate its 19th anniversary, the Friedrichshain-based venue has announced a staggering 66-hour non-stop marathon, scheduled to run from Friday, September 11th, through Monday, September 14th. This event serves not only as a birthday celebration but as a defiant statement of survival following a period of intense uncertainty regarding the club’s future.
The upcoming festivities are designed to encapsulate the idiosyncratic spirit that has defined Renate since its inception in 2007. Known for its labyrinthine layout—a former apartment building transformed into a multi-room sensory experience—the club has long eschewed the clinical, "black box" aesthetic of modern techno warehouses in favor of a "playful, weird, and community-driven" atmosphere. The anniversary programming reflects this ethos, blending a high-caliber musical roster with performance art, workshops, and immersive curiosities.
Leading the musical charge is a diverse array of international heavyweights and local stalwarts. Daniel Avery, a producer and DJ known for his ability to bridge the gap between ethereal ambient textures and driving, industrial techno, headlines the bill. Avery’s presence underscores the club’s commitment to booking artists who challenge the boundaries of electronic music. He is joined by Angel D’lite and Mary Lake, two selectors who have gained international acclaim for their high-energy, genre-fluid sets that often incorporate elements of breakbeat, jungle, and rave nostalgia.
The local lineup is equally formidable, featuring artists who have become synonymous with the Berlin sound. Handmade, a long-time resident of the city’s circuit, brings a seasoned perspective to the booth, while the likes of Camilla Rae, Organza, and Madalba represent the evolving sounds of the Friedrichshain underground. These artists are deeply woven into the fabric of Renate’s identity, having helped cultivate its reputation as a space where the music is as unpredictable as the venue’s winding corridors.
However, Renate has never been solely about the DJs. The 19th-anniversary celebration will prominently feature live music and interdisciplinary performances. Bands and live acts such as Schatz, Das Beat, Fritz Ernst, and Dornika are set to take the stage, offering a sonic alternative to the four-to-the-floor kick drums of the main dancefloors. These performances are complemented by a curated selection of "activations," including waacking dance workshops—a nod to the club’s deep roots in queer and expressive dance cultures. The program also promises a heavy dose of drag and burlesque, further cementing the venue’s role as a sanctuary for marginalized artistic expressions.
The club’s management emphasized the importance of this multidisciplinary approach in a recent statement, noting that the anniversary is a tribute to the elements that have made the venue a cornerstone of Berlin nightlife. By incorporating "games, walking acts, and curiosities," the organizers aim to recreate the sense of wonder and lawlessness that characterized the city’s club scene in the mid-2000s, providing a contrast to the increasingly commercialized landscape of global dance music.
While the 66-hour party is a cause for celebration, it takes place against a backdrop of significant institutional challenges. For much of the past year, the future of Salon Zur Wilden Renate hung in the balance. The venue had previously announced that it would be forced to close its doors permanently in 2025 due to the expiration of its lease. This news sent shockwaves through the global electronic music community, as Renate is often cited alongside Berghain and Watergate as one of the essential pillars of the Berlin experience. The threat of closure was seen by many as a symptom of the broader gentrification and urban development pressures facing the city’s cultural sector.
In a surprising and welcome turn of events, the club revealed in December that it had successfully negotiated a lease extension. This agreement ensures that Renate will remain operational through at least 2026, providing a crucial reprieve for the staff, resident artists, and the wider community that relies on the space. The 19th-anniversary event is, therefore, as much a celebration of this hard-won resilience as it is a birthday party. It marks the transition from a period of existential dread to a renewed focus on the future.
The club’s physical resilience was also tested recently by a more literal threat. In early 2025, a fire broke out on the premises, causing significant damage to the venue’s garden entrance. The blaze destroyed several key features of the outdoor area, including the ticket booth, a photo booth, and parts of the perimeter fencing and landscaping. While the main building and its interior dancefloors were fortunately spared, the incident served as a sobering reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by independent venues. The quick recovery from the fire and the subsequent reopening of the affected areas have been integrated into the narrative of the club’s "ninth life," reinforcing the image of Renate as a venue that refuses to be extinguished.
The 66-hour format of the upcoming event is a quintessential Berlin tradition. In a city where "the weekend" often stretches well into Tuesday morning, the marathon party is a test of endurance for both the patrons and the organizers. It requires a specific kind of logistical precision to maintain the energy and safety of a space over nearly three full days of continuous operation. For Renate, this format allows for a slow-burning narrative, where the atmosphere shifts from the peak-time intensity of Friday night to the more experimental and communal vibes of Sunday afternoon and Monday morning.
Tickets for the event have already seen high demand on platforms like Resident Advisor, as local clubgoers and international travelers alike prepare to descend on the Alt-Stralau district. The anniversary comes at a time when the Berlin Senate is under increasing pressure to protect the city’s club culture, which was officially recognized as a form of "intangible cultural heritage" by UNESCO earlier this year. Spaces like Renate are at the heart of this designation, representing the organic, bottom-up cultural movements that have defined Berlin’s post-reunification identity.
As the club enters its 19th year, the landscape around it continues to shift. Friedrichshain, once a bastion of affordable living and radical artistic spaces, has seen rapid development. The proximity of the A100 motorway extension and the rise of high-end corporate offices have put immense pressure on the industrial pockets where clubs like Renate reside. Despite these external forces, the venue remains a holdout—a place where the "Berlin we love," as the founders put it, still exists in its rawest form.
The 19th-anniversary marathon is more than just a sequence of DJ sets; it is a manifestation of a specific philosophy of nightlife. It is a philosophy that prioritizes the "playful and weird" over the predictable and polished. As the first records are cued up on Friday, September 11th, the 66-hour countdown will begin, marking nearly two decades of a venue that has survived fires, lease terminations, and the relentless march of time. For the artists on the bill and the dancers on the floor, the weekend will be a testament to the fact that, in Berlin, the party is never just a party—it is an act of communal endurance.
