The SO36 () club is a music club on Oranienstraße near Heinrichplatz in the area of

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Berlin-Mitte, Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. It takes its name from the historic postcode of that area, SO36, in which the SO stands for Südost (South East). The Kreuzberg district has historically been home to the Berlin ''

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

'' movement, as well as other alternative subcultures in Germany.

History

Since the 1970s SO36 has been a major venue for "alternative" music and culture. Many Punk greats have performed and still perform here. Martin Kippenberger took over the management in 1979, focusing on creating a crossover between Punk and other genres and mediums such as New Wave and the visual arts. SO36 has been compared to New York's ''

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

'' as one of the finest new-wave venues in the world. However unlike CBGB the venue still stands as of March 2023, and remains a fixture on the Berlin music scene championing new artists, while staying true to its Punk roots. In 2016, the club released ''SO36: 1978 bis heute'' ("1978 through today"), a retrospective illustrated book covering the 36-year history of the club, for €36.

Notable cultural connections

English rock band

Killing Joke Killing Joke were an English rock music, rock band formed in Notting Hill, London, in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Killing Joke ...

named a song $.O.36 on their eponymous first album, but it is unclear if the song was based on the postal code or the club. The ''Electric Ballroom'' held at the club is considered a legendary fixture of the Berlin

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

gay scene. ''Gayhane'' founded 1997 by Turkish performer Fatma Souad is the nucleus of the Berlin Turkish gay and lesbian community. DJ Ipek, an internationally known DJ and performer at the club, is responsible for the ''Gayhane'' mixture of Arabic, Turkish and Indian music. German photographer Nicolaus Schmidt created both a documentary and fictitious portrait of the club, called an "amalgam of western and oriental culture". Alternative folk/rock band

New Model Army The New Model Army or New Modelled Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 t ...

recorded their 2025 live double album and DVD, Live SO36 at the venue.https://www.earmusic.com/news/so36/

References

External links

*
SO36 in Exberliner Magazine

Lonely Planet guide to SO36

1979 Martin Kippenberger Poster, Tate Modern

1982 SO36 hosting
Berlin Atonal festival photo by Peter Lind {{Coord, 52, 30, 01, N, 13, 25, 20, E, region:DE-BE_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Music in Berlin Buildings and structures in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Punk rock venues Nightclubs in Berlin Infoshops