30 JAHRE ESCHSCHLORAQUE!

In the organizer's words:

... ...] some madmen [work] in these walls who, no matter how bad the times are, realize their ideas. [...]These people are commonly referred to as madmen, lunatics or dreamers.

- Eva-Maria Hilker, 1996

An unadulterated microcosm of creativity, inspiration and encounters rumbles in the "space in which almost anything is possible that the unconventional art scene can come up with", Hilker continues. This space is called Eschschloraque Rümschrümp and is 30 years old! Three decades of untamed experimentation and artistic freedom - in any case, they stand for realized ideas that have lost nothing of their madness or dream dance. For some, a "word monster", says Frank Jansen in 1996, "abandoned by all etymological spirits", for others "a last oasis of self-determination in a thoroughly commercialized neighbourhood", according to Susanne Messmer in 2019.

Within the walls of Haus Schwarzenberg, which has also existed since 1995 - founded by cultural workers and members of the Dead Chickens artists' group, whose works include the Eschschloraque - the artists' club creates a parallel world, "in what is probably the only post-apocalyptic cocktail bar in the world", according to Ulrich Gutmair in 2000. It challenges an insane reality characterized by crises, because in the artists' club, writes Moritz Gerber in 2016, "many of those present look in surprise from the bar counter to the stage - on which a completely different world suddenly takes place".

With various press commentaries on time travel through the last three decades - the entire birthday month will be similar: April 2025 will be played by DJs who helped shape the initial years of its creation and the last 30 years and are still associated with the artists' club today. The focus is on the birthday on April 10 - and the completely different world of the Eschschloraque Allstars!

KAI 's steely performance art becomes the backdrop for sound experiments: performing artist Yuko Matsuyama lets her vocals flow into every noise, while MissVergnügen's alter ego Señor Depressivo, the melancholy chanson singer, returns to the stage. The sound of audacious art is completed by the interplay of bassist Edu Delgado Lopez, multi-instrumentalist Luca Andriola, musician Fritz Ali Hansen and Eddylirious ink on the handpan as well as the musical influences of Barox, Toby-Wan Kenobi, vocalist Andrew McGinn and the diabolical whirring of Bodo Albrand's steam punk string instruments . It remains to be seen who else from the crew will spontaneously surprise you on stage before the eclectic sets of the Eschschloraque Allstar DJs around Sheila Chipperfield, Mater Morgana, Kassetta & Co. finally promise the dopamine inside for the after-show.

Gigs with electronic modules such as Seelenfunker or Transzendent 2000, extreme performance noise Radikalinski groups, the largely artistically active crew, DJs and musicians from all genres of the musical underground, dancers, performers and freaks are all part of the story - 30 years of Künstlerclub means a lot of happenings that can really get your head spinning. No wonder that the two Chickens, co-founders and operators of Eschschloraque, "only have fog machines on their minds for now!" when asked to look back.

That doesn't matter at all, because Eschschloraque Rümschrümp is nothing but Eschschloraque Rümschrümp - "it's as simple as that", Jenni Zylka noted back in 1999.

Text: Vera Fischer

Text sources:

Gerber, Moritz: "Tanzstadt Berlin: Die Aussenseiter vom Eschschloraque", in: 030 Magazin 04/2016.

Gutmair, Ulrich: "West in the East. Like a ring of dirt under a manicured fingernail: The Eschloraque bar in Mitte", in: taz from 04/01/2000.

Hilker, Eva-Maria: "Chaos Club", in: tip Berlin 04/1996.

Jansen, Frank: "Thekentanz. Eschschloraque, rümschrümp", in: der Tagesspiegel from 19.07.1996.

Messmer, Susanne: "The last open space in Berlin-Mitte. Arcadia as a place of longing", in: taz from 09.04.2019.

Zylka, Jenni: "Eschloraque, Rümschrümp", tip recommendation 1999/2000.