Berghain is included here for one reason: it is not a sex club, and the number of people who arrive believing it is causes more bad nights than any other misunderstanding in Berlin.
What it actually is
Berghain is a techno club, and one of the most serious in the world. The music policy is the point. Sets run for many hours, the sound system is extraordinary, and the crowd is there for that.
It does contain darkrooms, and sex does happen in them. That is a facility within a club, not the club’s purpose. The proportion of the building and the evening given over to it is small. If your plan for the night is sex, there are venues in this city built for that, and you will have a better time at one of them.
The separate, smaller venue in the same complex is explicitly a gay fetish and sex-oriented space with its own events, its own crowd and its own rules. That is a different night out with a different door, and it is not interchangeable with Berghain itself.
The door
The door is genuinely unpredictable and nobody outside the club can explain it. What is known:
- Go in a small group. Two is ideal. Large groups are routinely turned away.
- Wear black, keep it simple. Not a costume, not going-out clothes.
- Be quiet and sober in the queue. Loud, drunk, or excitable is the most reliable rejection.
- Speak German if you can, but do not perform it.
- Do not photograph anything, including the queue.
- If you are refused, leave without arguing. Arguing guarantees it next time too.
Being turned away is normal, happens to locals, and means nothing.
Inside
Phone cameras are covered with stickers on entry. This is absolute and enforced by everyone, not only staff. The no-photography norm is the reason the space works, and breaking it is the one thing that will get you removed instantly and permanently.
Otherwise the etiquette is the standard set: ask before touching, accept a no first time, do not crowd people, do not stare at close range.
Should you go?
If you love techno, yes, and it may be the best night of its kind anywhere. If you are looking for a sex-positive venue, look at the dedicated ones instead — you will be more comfortable and far more likely to get in.
Before you travel: door policies and event patterns change. Confirm on the venue's own channels — and never plan a trip around getting into a club with a selective door.