Berlin's Stattbad closes

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  • An anonymous complaint has triggered a response from local authorities, leaving the Wedding venue shut until further notice.
  • Berlin's Stattbad closes image
  • Berlin club Stattbad is closed for the foreseeable future. Trouble became known when the location of two parties—Grounded Theory on Friday, May 15th and Stattnacht on Saturday, May 16th—was changed at late notice. Both were successfully moved to a Kreuzberg venue, but there's no word about if or when the club will resume hosting events. Organisers have provided the following statement:
    "Due to an order from the building authorities, based on an anonymous report attacking the whole project, STATTBAD had to shut down late Friday afternoon. We're in talks with the responsible authorities to meet the conditions. The temporary closing affects the complete independent and self-financed cultural project including the events, the gallery, the café as well as the working artists and their studios until further notice. Our goal to create a cultural event space remains. We have some leads on potential locations to host the upcoming events and will update as soon as we have confirmations."
    Information online suggests that there are serious issues at play. Stattbad's Facebook profile image has been changed to one displaying the quote: "All palaces are temporary palaces." A local government notice suggests the enforced shutdown is related to a lack of fire safety measures, including alarm systems, sprinklers and emergency lighting. Stattbad has been operating as a visual arts centre for much of the past decade, but in the past three years has also become one of Berlin's most visible clubs. The longtime home of Boiler Room Berlin, it now hosts top-tier international house and techno on a weekly basis, with Grounded Theory, Odd Fantastic, Hessle Audio and Delsin all hosting events in recent months.
RA