The Soundmap of Berlin: Discovering "Schokoladen"
Raw walls, €5 gin and tonics and a room full of people. Schokoladen feels like a piece of old Berlin that never quite left.
Located in Berlin-Mitte, Schokoladen has been part of Berlin's alternative scene since 1990. It started in a former chocolate factory and has had to fight to keep its place over the years. Walk inside today and you get the feeling that not much has been done to make it look any different. The Soundmap of Berlin: Discovering Schokoladen Berlin Mitte.
The walls are rough, the interior is unrenovated, and the whole place feels like a little time warp. There are around 40 to 50 people in the room. Punks, couples, people on their own, Millennials and plenty of people in their forties and fifties. It's a mixed crowd, but most people seem to be over thirty. Then you notice the drinks menu. 5€ for a Gin Tonic. 2€ for a large bottle of water. In Berlin. I mean, seriously.
Not Everything Needs to Look New
There's something refreshing about a place that hasn't been turned into a polished version of itself. Schokoladen doesn't look like someone sat down and decided what an alternative venue should look like in 2026. The walls are rough because they're rough. The place looks used because people have been using it. That might sound like a small distinction, but it isn't. There's a difference between a venue with a bit of history and one that feels as though it has actually lived through it. Schokoladen doesn't need vintage furniture or carefully distressed walls to give it character. It already has it. And the people are part of that, too. The crowd isn't made up of one generation or one particular kind of person. Some look like they've been around this scene for years; others may have found their way here much later. They all share the same room. Nobody needs to make a statement out of it.
Someone Has to Keep It Going
Schokoladen opened in 1990 as an alternative cultural project in a former chocolate factory. Its future became uncertain during a long dispute over the building, until an agreement in 2012 helped secure its continued existence. A place like this doesn't just keep running because people like it. Someone has to organise the concerts, look after the space, deal with the bills and do all the jobs nobody comes to see. In self-organized venues, a lot of that work depends on people giving up their time because they want the place to stay open. You don't see much of that when you're standing in the room. You see the walls, the bar and the people. But without all the work happening in the background, there wouldn't be a venue to walk into.
Berlin Has Changed. Schokoladen Is Still Here.
Mitte today is a very different place from the one Schokoladen opened into in 1990. The venue has had to fight to remain where it is and its survival is no small thing. But what makes it interesting isn't simply that it's old or that it has resisted change. It's still being used. People still come here, events still happen, and the place hasn't had to reinvent itself as something more fashionable to remain relevant. It doesn't have to look like the Berlin of thirty years ago. It just has to be Schokoladen.
Maybe that's why the 5€ gin tonic feels like more than a bargain. Along with the rough walls and the people filling the room, it's a reminder that going out doesn't have to be an expensive, carefully packaged experience. Sometimes you just need a room, a bar and a reason for people to show up. Schokoladen has managed to hold on to all three.
We visited Schokoladen for a screening of "Generation Y Punk - Update einer Subkultur". Read our report from Punkfilmfest Berlin for more on the documentary, the DIY punk scene and the people keeping independent culture alive.
The Soundmap of Berlin is INDIENOXZINE's series on the places that make the city's independent music scene what it is.
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