What just happened at the RAW-Gelände?
Cassiopeia has roughly two weeks to clear out. Managing director Florian Falkenhagen told Berlin broadcaster rbb24 that the club was handed an eviction notice after the owner of the RAW-Gelände, the Kurth Group, pulled out of talks over the future of the Friedrichshain complex. The deadline lands at the end of June. The owner has accused tenants of unpaid rent and of using the space for purposes beyond their agreements, which the operators reject.
Why is this bigger than one club?
This is not just a dancefloor. Cassiopeia anchors the so-called socio-cultural L at RAW, a run of clubs, artist studios, a climbing hall and a skatepark that operators say supports more than 80 projects. Cassiopeia is the financial backbone for much of it, so an immediate eviction would not only shut the venue, it would tip the club straight into insolvency and pull the rest down with it. The RAW-Gelände itself is a former Deutsche Reichsbahn repair works that ran from 1867 to 1994, then became one of Berlin's defining post-Wall cultural sites.
Can the club actually be saved?
The maddening part is how close a deal was. A compromise on the table would have secured the clubs' rents for 30 years in exchange for letting residential construction go ahead on part of the grounds. The Kurth Group walked away before it was signed. Berlin's Senate and the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district have publicly criticised the move and say they want everyone back at the table. Cassiopeia, for its part, has started a petition and is organising a protest rather than packing up.
Just one thing: we're not giving up.
