Ever wondered what a Friday night in Berlin feels like for a bi femme? This was my experience in a city that redefines desire.
Not only has Berlin‘s techno culture been added to Germany’s UNESCO cultural heritage list, but the city’s nightclubs have also been recognized as spaces that challenge and reimagine traditional ideas of sex. This is a Bi Femme’s Friday in Berlin.
In the nearly pitch black vault, the only illumination from the soft glow of ruby red flood lights and bright bursts from the strobes, I find myself enthralled in my first proper Berlin club experience at the iconic Tresor.
“Are we in the upside down?”, a friend asked – referencing the world that exists beneath our own in the popular netflix show Stranger Things – another replied “Maybe, but I’m feeling right side up for the first time in my life”.
My friends and I wove through the contours of black-clothing-clad sweaty bodies filling the vault dance floor. Traversing the idiosyncratic mix of nationalities, races, gender identities, and sexualities that filled the dance floor was an adventure in and of itself. We were a mostly queer group, almost all bi or pansexual femmes, so naturally we were on high alert to find a section of the crowd with the fruitiest vibes.
Close to the front of the iconically barred DJ booth, we wiggle into a small sliver of space next to a group ecstatically dancing to the heavy, analgesic beat. Pretty punk girls with choppy haircuts and smudged makeup dressed in mesh with chain necklaces were accompanied by their bear friends in leather harnesses and glitter. Then she catches my eye.
At a red-drenched bar, pre-club. Photo by Winifred Hewitt-Wright.
Techno as a living piece of German culture
In 2022 Berlin techno culture was added to Germany’s national intangible cultural heritage list provided for Unesco, exalting techno as a living piece of culture and emphasizing its connection to Berliners who continuously and actively evolve it (1).
This essentially places the techno scene under Unesco’s protection and serves to not only give techno the recognition it deserves but also as a means of creating critical new avenues of funding and providing grants for people to engage in this practice (2).
Tresor, in particular, has always been a leader in Berlin’s techno landscape. Originally located just inside the former boundaries of East Berlin, Tresor was born inside the derelict structure of an abandoned department store, which was mostly destroyed in WWII, and acquired its namesake from the only space that was perfectly preserved – the vault (3).
Founder Dimitri Hegemann recognized the potential and illegally opened the club in 1991, creating one of the first spaces for reunification between the East and West (3). At present, the club relocated in the 2000’s to a power plant in Berlin-Mitte yet still retained many original elements featured in its famous and beloved vault (4).
Tresor. Photo from The Wire, shot by Camille Blake.
3AM kiss
In the nearly non-existent light of the basement space I could see the outline of her silhouette, her finer features only visible when the blinding lights flashed. She was average height and slender, wearing low-rise baggy black cargo pants and a leather corset that showed off the perfect slope from her waist to her hips.
Her hair was just below her shoulders and a curly bouncy mess (in the best way possible). It was too dark to see what color her eyes were but I imagine they were a light brown, maybe with some flecks of gold that looked like honey. I immediately position myself in order to be dancing near her. She is moving her hips on beat and shaking her curly locks, I spin around to face my friends and the next thing I know I feel her head collide with mine.
I turn and suddenly my face is inches away from her beautiful face. We both laugh and apologize, then she takes my hand, pulls me and grabs my hips.
We start shouting in each others ears trying to get the basics down, her name was Marta and she was Spanish, we dance and talk, she spins me around then runs her hands up and down my body, I can feel her hot breath on the back of my neck and from behind she whispers in my ear “guapa”.
I turn my head over my shoulder and kiss her softly then more urgently, running my tongue over her soft, warm bottom lip, dipping inside her mouth to be greeted with her own. She turns me forward and puts her finger through the loop of my jeans and draws me into her as she nibbles on my lip.
We stay lip locked while moving to the music, only to be interrupted by a tap on the shoulder. My friends want to go upstairs and explore the other dance floor – I look at her, mildly curse them in my head, and tell her that I have to go but that I will be back in less than a half hour. My biggest regret of the evening was not getting her number.
Techno’s roots & origins of queer spaces
One cannot speak about Berlin’s tolerant hedonistic techno culture without proper reverence for the groups that catalyzed the movement and created an environment where this unique subculture could flourish. People of color and queer people have always been cultural pioneers and regrettably the contributions of these groups have been continually whitewashed.
The first recognized wave of techno has roots in Detroit, USA, and is credited to the Belleville 3, three Black men who sought to blend European synth-pop, funk, and house with Afrofuturist sentiment (5).
Era of queer freedom
Post WWI, in the golden days of the progressive Weimar Republic (1918-1933) there was a cultural renaissance of arts and sexual liberation that was fueled by queer people and women (6).
Even before the roaring 20’s began there was a large and growing network of not only queer cultural spaces but also activist associations and health centers, such as Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science – one of the original sites of LGBTQIA+ research, that all rallied around homosexual emancipation (6).
As the decade progressed those numbers increased and led to fantastical spaces like the Eldorado cabaret, where queer icons such as Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker charmed scores of adoring fans, and became the blueprint for our current idea of a ‘safe space’.
The dark days that followed did not crush the spirit that was cultivated through this period, and all modern club goers should hold space for our predecessors, particularly the people of color and queer individuals, who shaped Berlin’s nightlife into the inclusive oasis it is today.
Electro play in the club
As we wander up from the ‘upside down’ of the vault and up through a maze of seemingly identical looking metal staircases until we come upon a blue lit dance floor with sonic orbs full of electricity and a softer beat. We flock to one of the orbs and another beautiful woman shows us how the electric current is passed through touch.
We stand there conducting the electricity into our skin and lightly touching each other, making one another’s hair stand on end and giggling with pleasure from each light shock. I then understand the appeal of electroplay, as even my [mostly] straight friend became aroused through the playful caresses and sharp yet gentle shocks.
The iconic plasma ball which can be stumbled upon within the darkness of Tresor, Berlin. Photo by Chris Glen.
The subjectivity of sexuality in Berlin
What is less shocking, is the ability of these spaces to transform fixed ideas of one’s own sexuality. While clubs as safe spaces are entrenched in queer culture, many of these clubs are mixed, sex-positive safe spaces – making them ideal for individuals who are questioning or curious.
A recent study entitled Berghain: Space, Affect, and Sexual Disorientation, by Johan Andersson, assessed how Berlin clubs, not only isolated to Berghain, can allow individuals to reimagine the ideas of sex (7)(8).
Referencing the ‘mythology’ of the club, Andersson states that there are several contributing factors to this fluidity, “encounters mediated by tactile sounds, labyrinthine architecture, and libido-enhancing drugs create an unusually porous sexual subjectivity” (8).
In the research, Andersson continues to explain how the combination of substances and living examples of same-sex erotica is essentially the opposite of ‘aversion therapy’ and “erotic horizons expand and multiply through the combination of chemicals and multi-sensory overload of pleasurable stimuli” (8). The permeable boundaries of sexual orientation dissolve when openness is embraced.
Love is like a red, red rose’ signs of sexual openness in art at Briefmarken Weine. Photo by Alex da Costa Cox.
The early hours
The night (morning?) carries on and we keep flitting about the club, finding special hazy moments in every crevice of the space. We venture back to the ‘upside down’ and I leave my friends in a corner and scour the vault for a trace of the beautiful Spanish girl or her entourage. To my great dismay, she is gone.
Losing an attractive woman on a wild night out with my friends is a continual source of disappointment in my life, and I make a mental note, with the few brain cells that I have left, that I simply MUST improve my follow-through game.
This moment of disappointment is fleeting as I rejoin my motley crew and we continue to surrender to the wordless sensuality of the techno’s hypnotic heartbeat.
As we emerge from the depths of the club, and we are greeted by a crisp morning with muted dreamy light – people walk past us and, in German, ask us how the party is. Post sensory overload I manage a smile and a thumbs up before following my friends to the line of taxis waiting to chariot us back to our accommodation.
My friend remarked, “I have never partied so hard and with so few of my senses”, but I felt the exact opposite – every nerve ending I had felt revitalized and alive in the darkness.
A night to remember! Photo by Isobel Clark.
I turn around and steal one more glance at Tresor, still buzzing with activity in the 7 am light, and breathe in with silent gratitude for the fabulous fever dream of an evening that was spent within the walls of the vault. Marta if this article somehow finds its way to you, message me.
Writer and feminist, Alex is just another bisexual based in East London. With a creative background and a master’s in psychology, she likes to synthesize culture and sexuality through a queer femme lens. As shame-free as a former catholic can be, she is passionately sex-positive and has a special interest in topics surrounding sexual liberation for women and queer individuals. Originally from the US, she likes to split her time between the UK, the US, and Spain (whenever she gets the chance).
A homage to one of my favourite controversial film characters of all time, Floriane (Adele Hanael) from Celine Sciamma’s queer debut feature, ‘Water Lilies’ (2007).
After an explosive opening, Broadway Market has officially become home to London’s second and sexiest lesbian bar in the city. It's cheap
cañas, it's candlelit tables, it’s red tulips and low ceilings and a thousand women all together in a teeny tiny basement. It's everything you've been searching for.
Period blood has long been regarded as impure by mainstream religions but new-age hippies are rewriting this misogynistic narrative -- embracing it as a sacred elixir and using it for spiritual and physical healing.
It’s time for the collective consciousness to switch gears from pain-focused BDSM to sensual dominance. Mankind is in crisis and needs healing. Sensual dominance offers a solution.
When I hear the word exhibitionist, the first thing that pops to mind is a creepy old dude masturbating on the subway. But it turns out, exhibitionists comes in all shapes and sizes. This week I sat down with one of my most sexually liberated of gal pals to learn more about her kink for public nudity, sex, and masturbation.
