ausland

ausland is a compact Berlin venue with capacity for about 80 people, best suited to listeners who want close-range encounters with experimental sound and performance. Its 70-square-metre room sits in the basement of Lychi 60, a former squatted house project in Prenzlauer Berg; wooden flooring, concrete walls and a five-metre ceiling give the space a distinctly work-in-progress character. Professional sound, lighting and video equipment support concerts alongside films, readings, dance and installations.

A basement with a collective history

ausland opened in December 2002, converting the basement of Lychi 60 into an event and production space. The venue emerged from a house project with roots in Berlin’s squat culture, then developed under a collective of curators, artists, administrators, technicians and DIY organisers, with a nonprofit association behind the operation. That structure remains central: ausland frames its work outside commercial interests and divides its programme between in-house curation and collaborations with local organisers, artists and institutions.

A significant later marker came in 2020, when Berlin’s state funding began supporting the venue’s ongoing operation, residency programme and workshop work. The production side has grown alongside the concerts: ausland reports that its residency programme, active since 2010, has hosted over 100 residencies. That history helps explain a calendar where a performance work, a workshop and a free-improvisation set can share equal billing.

The room today

Music at ausland leans toward experimental and improvised practice, free jazz, new-music approaches, noise, unusual folk and pop, electronica, dubstep and experimental hip-hop. Artists can approach the venue through its music contact, and the house asks for at least two months’ lead time. Its policy also requires a minimum 50 percent FLINTA presence onstage and backstage for internal and guest events. Expect an intimate, flexible room, with seating for some shows and a small standing audience for others; the venue lists no dance floor.