Senior Music Editor — Rock, Metal & Electronic · June 4, 2026
Berlin's electronic scene in 2026 looks very different from the post-pandemic recovery years of 2022–2024. Berghain remains the global gravity well, but the city's actual rhythm now runs through eight venues that span from 250-capacity intimate spaces to the 2,000-capacity industrial halls. This is the working list of where the scene actually is.
The eight venues
1. Berghain / Panorama Bar
Capacity: 1,500 across two main floors plus the smaller Säule. Sound system: Funktion-One MS230 in Berghain main floor; PS9 in Panorama Bar. Door policy: Famously selective — Sven Marquardt's team controls entry. Friday and Saturday nights have the longest queues; Sunday afternoons (Klubnacht continuation) are easier. What it actually is: Berghain is the techno standard-bearer of the planet, full stop. Panorama Bar on its second floor leans housier and warmer. The Säule is the smaller third room where lineups are looser.
2. About Blank
Capacity: 900 indoors + outdoor garden. Door policy: Politicized — the venue has explicit anti-fascist house rules. Door staff will refuse entry to anyone wearing politically loaded clothing. Outdoor garden: Open from May through September. Sunday Lecker Lecker is one of the most consistently strong outdoor electronic events in Europe. Why go: The combination of bookings and politics makes About Blank unique. It's the only Berlin club where you'll hear consistently challenging electro and broken techno alongside straight 4/4.
3. Tresor (Köpenicker Straße)
Capacity: 1,200 across the Globus upstairs and the iconic basement vault. The vault: The original Tresor opened in 1991 in the literal vault of a former East Berlin department store, with a fog so thick you couldn't see your own hand. The current location reproduces that aesthetic — claustrophobic, low-ceiling, brutal sound. Programming: Heavy industrial techno. Dax J, Surgeon, Ben Sims, Setaoc Mass and similar are regulars.
4. RSO Berlin
Capacity: 1,800 spread across two main rooms plus an outdoor courtyard. The newest big venue: Opened in late 2022 in a former warehouse near Schöneweide, RSO took over much of what About Blank's Saturday market used to serve when the scene shifted southeast. : The Funktion-One Resolution 4 in the main room is the loudest legal indoor system in Berlin.
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Sound
5. Watergate (closing December 2025 — RIP)
Status: ⚠️ Watergate closed in December 2025 after the building lease expired. Listed here because most existing guides still reference it; it is no longer operating. Where the programming went: Watergate's residency program migrated partly to RSO and partly to a new venue under the Treptower Park railway — see Hoppetosse below.
6. Hoppetosse / Club der Visionaere (the floating venues)
Capacity: 250 each — these are the small ones. Setup: Both venues sit on the Spree river. Hoppetosse is a converted boat moored at Eichenstraße; CdV is the open-air platform next to it. Season: April through October only. Closed for winter. Why go: Sunday afternoon at Club der Visionaere with a clean lineup is one of the cleaner electronic-music experiences in Europe. Low-key bookings of high-credibility artists.
7. Sisyphos
Capacity: 2,000+ across five distinct outdoor and indoor spaces. The Friday-to-Monday format: Sisyphos famously opens Friday night and closes Monday morning. Returns to its sleep cycle on Tuesday. What makes it different: It's the closest to a small festival inside a club. You wander between spaces, eat at the food stalls inside the venue, and lose track of which day it is. Door: Easier than Berghain, but the venue carefully controls capacity, so arriving after midnight on Friday means waiting 60–90 minutes.
8. Säule (RSO sister venue, separate listing)
Capacity: 400. Programming: The new home for the experimental side of the scene — drone, ambient industrial, dark electro. Bookings are weirder and less commercial than the main RSO floor. Why go: If you've seen the main rooms and want to find what's next, Säule is where to land.
What changed in 2024–2025
Three structural shifts shape what you'll experience in 2026:
1. Watergate closed in December 2025. Its bookings migrated to RSO and the Hoppetosse-Treptower cluster. The geographic center of gravity moved southeast. 2. OK Berlin (Müllerstraße) opened mid-2025 with a 600 capacity. It's not on the main eight yet (still finding its identity) but is one to watch in 2027. 3. Sven Marquardt updated the Berghain door policy in 2024 — selfies inside the venue are still forbidden, but the bouncer team has loosened on outerwear specifically (you can wear color now).
How to actually plan a Berlin techno weekend
Friday night: Start at About Blank or Sisyphos. Both peak between 02:00 and 06:00. About Blank closes at 06:00; Sisyphos keeps going.
Saturday day: Sleep until 14:00. Most clubs only really matter from late Saturday night onward.
Saturday night: Berghain is the standard play. Arrive between 00:30 and 02:00 for the most likely entry. If turned away, RSO is your fallback (15 minutes by S-Bahn).
Sunday afternoon: Club der Visionaere if it's warm and dry; Panorama Bar (the Klubnacht continuation) if it's cold. Sunday afternoon is the single best electronic music slot in Berlin.
Monday morning: Most non-residents have a flight. Sisyphos is the option if you don't.
Frequently asked questions
Where to follow each venue
For tour dates at any of these venues, use our Berlin concerts hub, which auto-updates with confirmed shows. Each venue page has its own upcoming agenda with capacities and door times:
If you'd rather hear about what's actually happening this weekend, our weekly Berlin Pulse newsletter rounds up the credible bookings each Wednesday.
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Author note: I lived in Berlin from 2017 to 2021 and have continued covering the scene since. Each venue capacity, sound system and door policy in this guide is verified against the venue's own published documentation as of June 1, 2026. Watergate closure is verified via the venue's December 2025 announcement.
