Crack Bellmer

Crack Bellmer is a roughly 200-capacity microclub, dance bar and cultural hub on Berlin’s RAW Gelände in Friedrichshain. Its calling card is unusually serious low end for a compact venue: a bespoke Kirsch-Audio bass array uses 60 custom speakers, designed around the room’s acoustics. That scale makes DJ sets and small live bills feel close-up, while the site’s garden, winter garden and terrace give the night several places to land.

Railway-yard roots, then a 2011 opening

The building sits within a protected former railway-repair complex whose history begins in 1867, when the Royal Prussian Railway Workshop Berlin II was established beside the Ostbahn. The works expanded through the late 19th century, later became the Reichsbahn repair works, and much of the industrial fabric along Revaler Straße survived wartime damage. Deutsche Bahn began a phased closure in 1991; by 1994, the repair works had ceased operations, opening the way for cultural and social uses across the grounds.

Crack Bellmer opened in 2011, placing a small bar-and-club room inside that larger shift from rail industry to nightlife and cultural production. Its early and continuing musical spread has included jazz and swing, funk, house, tech-house and techno, alongside readings, workshops and other formats. The result is a club built for proximity and mixed-use programming, shaped as much by the RAW compound’s brick-and-beam setting as by a single genre.

The room and its programming

Public-event bookings are open to parties, shows, daytime programs and other entertainment, with promoters asked for references and a potential lineup. House and techno form the core, though open decks, live music, Balboa swing, variety and experimental cultural events broaden the calendar. Inside, expect a high-ceilinged brick room with a long bar, dance floor, lounge and small balcony; outdoors, the garden, winter garden and terrace add breathing room. The indoor space is smoke-free, with smoking accommodated outside and in the winter garden.