Stattbad Wedding is located - as the name implies - in the currently trending, working-class district of Berlin entitled Wedding, which lays west of Prenzlauerberg and just north of Mitte. Bearing some striking similarities with a Kreuzberg neighborhood just after the Berlin Wall fell, Wedding's slow evolution is now in full blossom, and it's no wonder Stattbad teems with Berlin's young creative class, artists and party-goers.
 Stattbad, Wedding |
Stattbad, German for "City Pool," was built by the renowned German architect Ludwig Hoffmann but was severely damaged during World War II. It was rebuilt during the 50s and 60s, but at the beginning of the new millennium, the pool was emptied and new management took over. Jochen Küpper is now the designated "Culture Manager" at Stattbad and the focus is on the (experimental) present. Offering not only the swimming pool, underground club, photo lab, garden cafe and bar, Stattbad's dynamic program now includes regular film screenings, exhibitions, special performances, concerts and site-specific installations.
 Stattbad, pre-conversion |
Stattbad has also cemented its reputation as a raucous party scene - and not just on the weekends. When descending into the depths of the industrial club, you encounter its exposed exoskeleton literally everywhere: pipes, grates, tiles and even disco balls abound. The famous Wednesday night Boiler Room Party Series - counting only New York City, Los Angeles, London and Berlin among its exclusive members - takes place once-a-month here and invites some of the scene's most preeminent DJs. At Stattbad Wedding, the possibilities are ever unfolding, and with Stattbad's designation as a government-protected cultural center, it will certainly remain as such.
