Berlin techno has become a UNESCO cultural heritage – Kommersant

The UNESCO Commission included Berlin’s techno scene on its list of intangible cultural heritage. UNESCO Commission announced about his decision yesterday, March 14. The list of intangible cultural heritage includes six more German traditions and crafts.

Lutz Leichsenring, a member of the executive board of the Clubcommission in Berlin, a network of clubs and promoters of club culture, told Deutsche Welle (recognized as a foreign agent) that the UNESCO decision was “another milestone for Berlin techno producers, artists, club operators and event organizers.” . “This decision will help us ensure that club culture is recognized as a valuable sector worthy of protection and support,” a Club Commission spokesman said. The Berlin club scene is still reeling from the effects of COVID-19 restrictions.

The non-profit organization Rave the Planet has been campaigning for Berlin’s techno scene to be included in the UNESCO list, organizing special raves in 2022 and 2023.

Berlin techno emerged in the late 1980s in Berlin: its heyday occurred after the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a rule, former warehouses or factory premises were used as dance floors. The most famous club of that era, Tresor, was located in the basement of the Stasi secret service document storage room. In the nineties and noughties, Berlin techno became so popular that techno tourists from all over the world began to come to parties in the capital of Germany.

The list of intangible cultural heritage objects also includes: mountaineering in Saxony, the tradition of singing the song “We are singers from Finsterwalde” in the Brandenburg town of Finsterwalde, the Perchtenlauf ghost dance in the Bavarian community of Kirchseon, the craft traditions of white Schwalm embroidery (satin stitch embroidery on white or light linen with white threads in the Hessian region of Schwalm, as well as the production of fitz cider from apples, pears or quinces in Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate.

The UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage was created in 2003. It aims to support and preserve traditions and cultural phenomena, including music, beliefs, crafts and social gatherings.

Anastasia Larina