One of Europe’s ‘biggest and oldest’ gay clubs ‘on the brink’ after filing for insolvency
One of Europe’s oldest and biggest queer clubs, SchwuZ, is facing potential closure. (Canva)
One of Europe's oldest and biggest queer clubs, SchwuZ, is facing potential closure. (Canva)
SchwuZ, the “oldest and biggest” queer night club in Germany and one of the largest queer venues in Europe, has vowed not to “give up” after being forced to file for insolvency.
The queer venue, which has been situated in Berlin for almost half a century, shared on Instagram last Thursday (31 July) that it had filed for insolvency due to “severe” financial difficulties.
The club’s management shared in a post on Instagram that the club “had to file for insolvency, not because we’re already unable to pay, but because we soon would be”.
Management troubles and the rise of dating apps were put forward as some of the reasons for the club’s financial struggles last year.
The club’s managing director Katja Jäger told The Guardian that an “ailing economy, an ageing core clientele and the creeping crisis in the Berlin club scene” had also impacted its financial stability.
The club’s management said it had tried to counteract financial strain by “changing structures and programming”, including shortening its opening hours, and letting go of staff, but it was not enough to plug the financial gap.
“This is getting serious. Really serious,” the post reads.
“One of the biggest queer clubs in Berlin, Germany — maybe even Europe — is on the brink. But! We don’t want to give up! For nearly 50 years, SchwuZ has been more than just a club.
“It’s a second living room. A place for queer art, community, family, resistance. Many of us have found what we were looking for here: a home, our chosen family, and freedom. And this home should remain — for us and for everyone still to come.”
In a second post, shared yesterday (4 August), management shared its gratitude for its revellers’ “stories, empathy and energy” in response to it filing for insolvency.
“We know this has to go on. We need safe places to meet, exchange and celebrate wildly,” they continued, adding a number of ways to support the club, including attending the club physically or joining its “SchwuZ unlimited” subscription programme.
SchwuZ hopes to stay open until the beginning of the insolvency hearings in October, according to RBB.
SchwuZ began as a nightclub in Kreuzberg back in 1977, before moving to Neukölln. The venue holds space for up to 1,000 partgoers.
While rising rents, changing lifestyle habits and a post-pandemic economy have led to a shift in clubbing culture across Europe, Berlin has been particularly affected.
Busche Club, also a Berlin-based venue for LGBTQ+ people, closed its doors in July after four decades, while two other major clubs – Watergate and Renate – announced closure last year.
All three venues cited financial pressures as one of the major reasons behind their closures.
The closure of such venues has become so pronounced in the city that it has been given its own term, Clubsterben, which translates to the death of clubs.
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