Documentary - Berlin 1990 Techno Sound of Transition - review

https://youtu.be/Vv3a6G4ypoA

Just finished watching a fantastic ZDF documentary on the Berlin techno music scene that flourished after 'the wall' came down in the summer of 1990.

Particiants describe the open feel of Berlin at that time, the unlimited possibilities in the vacuum left by the downfall of the DDR. The city was almost without rules. There were no noise restrictions, government intervention, OHS regulations, wet-blanket police or anything else to stifle partying and carousing. Creativity was everywhere and found form in the street art, pop-up galleries, spontaneous happenings and most of all - the burgeoning techno music scene.

I first visited Berlin in 2000 and found a city (particularly in the east) that was still 'open' and full of possibilities. You could walk down almost any street and find houses that were art galleries/cafes/pubs rolled into one. I remember attending several parties in such places where rooms would feature a DJ, experimental films projected on a big screen, a poetry reading and a make shift bar where a couple of Deutschmarks would secure you beer. One entire floor upstairs featured crowds of people dancing to techno and heavy dub - off their faces on substances legal and otherwise. It was an international crowd, multi-linguall, multi-cultural, gay and straight all mixing together. Paradise.

That Berlin...post 1989 Berlin has disappeared, replaced by a commercialised city indistinguishable from numerous others around the world. Bomb sites and squats have been turned into luxury apartments, former DDR buildings demolished and rebuilt as cathedrals of capitalism. Real estate is becoming more expensive. Rents have increased beyond the means of the average person. Many life-long residents can't afford to live in the suburbs where their families have been for generations. Squatters are coming under increased pressure to leave houses which they've inhabited for decades. Everything is becoming more regulated with increasing restrictions on personal freedom. As a consequence art galleries, pop-up culture, spontaneous techno events and like are all on the decline. I miss the old Berlin.

See link for more from Guardian article:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/20/germany-europe-news