KitKatClub
{{Short description|Berlin nightclub}}
{{About||the 18th-century English club|Kit-Cat Club|other clubs|Kit Kat (disambiguation)#Businesses and organisations{{!}}Kit Kat § Businesses and organisations}}
{{Infobox venue
| name = KitKatClub
| image = Kitkatclub.jpg
| image_caption = KitKatClub Berlin
| nickname = KitKat
| location = Mitte, Berlin, Germany
| coordinates = {{coord|52|30|40|N|13|25|00|E|}}
| type = Nightclub
| opened = March 1994
| owner = Simon Thaur and Kirsten Krüger
}}
The KitKatClub is a nightclub in Berlin, opened in March 1994 by Austrian pornographic filmmaker Simon Thaur and his life partner Kirsten Krüger.{{cite web |last1=Sandström Beijer |first1=Amanda |title=Simon Thaur – the Founder of KitKat Club Berlin |url=https://www.playfulmag.com/post/simon-thaur-the-king-of-kink |website=playfulmag.com}} It is a famously uninhibited nightclub known for its diverse crowd, open sexual expression, strict fetish dress code, and emphasis on music and dancing.
Since its founding in 1994, Berlin’s KitKatClub has moved locations multiple times, evolved from trance roots to a broad electronic music scene, launched a record label, adapted through the COVID-19 pandemic, and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2024. It has inspired a new generation of open-minded, sex-positive parties worldwide, influencing venues like Budapest’s Ministry of Freedom, which models its dress code and sexual freedom ethos on it.
Nightclub
The KitKatClub is known for its sexually uninhibited parties.{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=Neil |title=Notorious nightclub KitKatClub where people have sex on dancefloor hit by deadly bacteria scare |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/notorious-nightclub-kitkatclub-people-sex-13365998 |website=mirror.co.uk |date=5 October 2018}}{{cite news |last1=Scally |first1=Derek |title=Berlin's vanishing nightclubs: 'The open sex in all corners can be distracting' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/berlin-s-vanishing-nightclubs-the-open-sex-in-all-corners-can-be-distracting-1.4152966 |work=The Irish Times |date=1 February 2020}} Guests are allowed to engage in sexual intercourse openly at the venue. The motto of the club is "do what you want but stay in communication".{{cite news |last1=Oblu |first1=Ioana |title=All About KitKat Berlin |url=https://www.soundvibemag.com/city-vibes/all-about-kitkat-berlin/ |access-date=17 June 2024 |agency=Soundvibe Mag |date=4 January 2023}} Patrons are diverse, including heterosexuals and members of the LGBT+ community.{{cite web |last1=Miksche |first1=Mike |title=Dressing up at the KitKatClub |url=https://xtramagazine.com/love-sex/dressing-up-at-the-kitkatclub-70885 |website=xtramagazine.com |date=4 May 2016}}
A strict dress code is applied for entry at the door, often enforced by Kirsten Krüger herself during the "Carneball Bizarre Club Night" events, held on Saturdays, and requiring fetish, latex, leather, kinky, high style, and glamour. The venue consists of three dance floors and an outdoor area with a pool. It is decorated with ultra-violet light and fluorescent colour paintings by the Berlin-based painter Vigor Calma aka "Der Träumer" (the dreamer).
Nowadays, the emphasis in the club is more on music and dancing than on sexual activities.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thelocal.de/20170203/these-are-berlins-most-famous-and-notorious-clubs-clubbing-berlin|title=Berlin clubs - the ten most famous and notorious|date=2017-02-03|access-date=2018-11-13}}
History
The club has moved three times since its opening in 1994. It opened in Glogauer Straße in the Kreuzberg district in the former Turbine.{{cite news |last1=Jan Oberländer |first1=Von |title=Nächte im Kitkatclub: "Wenn man die Leute in normalen Klamotten reinlässt, wird nur das Normale passieren" |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/wenn-man-die-leute-in-normalen-klamotten-reinlasst-wird-nur-das-normale-passieren-5364304.html |work=Der Tagesspiegel |date=23 May 2020 |language=German}} In 1999 it moved to Neues Schauspielhaus at Nollendorfplatz, and in 2001 to another lot in the district Tempelhof (which became part of Schöneberg in 2000) in Bessemer Straße. At the beginning of July 2007, it moved to the SageClub in the Mitte district at Brückenstraße 1.{{cite news |last1=Gunda Bartels |first1=Von |title=Der KitKat Club wird 20: Besuch im Hedonistentempel |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/besuch-im-hedonistentempel-3548080.html |work=Taggesspiegel |date=28 February 2014}}
When the KitKat opened its doors in 1994 the musical profile of the club was mainly classical trance mixed with goa trance, but through the years the club has opened up to a wider selection of electronic music. A KitKat record label was founded in 2005 and two CDs were released, Hedonistic Nightlife in Berlin and The Piep Show Compilation #0.
The KitKatClub Berlin celebrated its 20th anniversary on March 1, 2014. At that time a novel about the early years of KitKat was published under the same name KitKatClub, written by Vigor Calma. In 2019, a new edition of the novel appeared under the title Rausch in Berlin (German language only).Vigor Calma: Rausch in Berlin. Publisher.: Vigor Calma. 4. Auflage. 2019, {{ISBN|978-1-07-046997-3}}, S. 475.
After the closing and the loss of any income due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the KitKatClub set up a website to support the club and transmit streams live from the location. The club started offering COVID-19 tests in December 2020.{{cite news |last1=Julius Betschka |first1=Von |title=Kitkat öffnet für Schnelltests: Berliner Fetisch-Club soll Corona-Testzentrum werden |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/kitkat-oeffnet-fuer-schnelltests-berliner-fetisch-club-soll-corona-testzentrum-werden/26674148.html |work=Tagesspiegel |date=1 December 2020}}
On March 2, 2024, the KitKatClub celebrated its 30th anniversary at the "Disco Bizarre" event.{{Cite web |title=KitKat Club's 30th Anniversaries: A Celebration of Berlin's Hedonistic Nightlife |url=https://berliner.party/en/news/kitkat-clubs-30th-anniversaries-a-celebration-of-berlins-hedonistic-nightlife |access-date=2024-03-05 |website=Berliner.party |language=en}}
Name origin
The name KitKatClub is inspired by the frivolous Berliner nightclub featured in the American musical Cabaret. Harold Prince's Cabaret was set in Berlin in the early 1930s, against the backdrop of the ascent of the Nazi party, at a burlesque theatre called the "Kit Kat Club". The name originated from the Kit-Cat Club, an 18th-century English liberal political society.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}
Followers
The KitKatClub has served as an example in many countries for open-minded parties of new generations, where a sex-positive attitude merges with electronic music. The Ministry of Freedom club in Budapest{{Cite web |last=Kun |first=Gabi |date=2024-09-01 |title=Fétispartin jártunk, ahol nem láttunk orgiát |url=https://nlc.hu/eletmod/20240901/fetis-klub-interju/ |access-date=2025-01-16 |language=hu}} also traces its image back to the KitKatClub, considering it the most important role model in terms of dress code and the experience of sexual freedom.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{in lang|en}} [http://www.kitkatclub.de/ KitKatClub's official website]
- {{in lang|de}}[http://www.kitkatclub.tv/ streaming-site]
- {{in lang|en}} [http://www.kitkatclub.de/Club/kitkatbooklet2.pdf KitKatClub DVD booklet (English/Deutsch – PDF)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029111343/http://www.kitkatclub.de/Club/kitkatbooklet2.pdf |date=2019-10-29 }} 1994–2005 – History of the KitKatClub by Kirsten.
- {{in lang|de}} [http://www.kitkatclub.org/SeitenVorlagen/Club/Bildergalerien/OpeningSage/070707_grand_open/index.htm KitKat-photo gallery] – Opening @ sageclub July 2007
- {{in lang|en}} [http://www.berlin-life.com/drink/pubs_cafes_details/89-KitKatClub Read KitKatClub's reviews on Berlin-Life.com]
- {{in lang|de}} [http://www.taz.de/pt/2004/02/28/a0322.nf/text.ges,1 „Die Bühne ist der Star“] – about the KitKatClub, by Henning Kober, die tageszeitung (taz), 28. Feb. 2004
- {{in lang|de}} [http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2001/0503/lokales/0036/ „Erlaubt ist, was gefällt“] – by Elmar Schütze, Berliner Zeitung vom 3. Mai 2001
- {{in lang|de}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20070314115050/http://www.parapolitik.de/kitkat/ "Locker trotz SM"] – S&M view about the KitKatClub
- {{in lang|de}} [http://www.insomnia-events.de/kitkatclub.htm KitKatClub @ Alter Wartesaal (Köln)]
- {{in lang|en}} [https://www.clubguideberlin.de/kit-kat-club-berlin-en/ KitKatClub @ clubguideberlin]
{{coord|52|30|40|N|13|25|00|E|region:DE-BE_type:landmark|display=title}}
Category:1994 establishments in Germany