Berghain bouncer Sven Marquardt has released a memoir - News - Mixmag
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Berghain bouncer Sven Marquardt has released a memoir

Die Nacht Ist Leben chronicle's Sven's life in alternative culture

  • Seb Wheeler
  • 15 August 2014

Sven Marquardt, Berghain's famously picky doorman, has released a memoir.

Titled Die Nacht Ist Leben, which means "the night is life" in English, the book chronicles Sven's life in alternative culture and was ghost written by journalist Judka Strittmatter.

From being a punk in East Berlin back in the day to working on the door of Berlin's techno mecca, Sven tells his life in detail and has timed the book's release with Berghain's 10th birthday celebrations. The party has kicked off, with an exhibition celebrating the club currently on show within its industrial bowels.

At a launch part for the book on Thursday, Sven illuminated what goes into his strict selection process: "I don't mind letting in the odd lawyer in a double-breasted suit with his Gucci-Prada wife. If they make a good impression, let them in. We also take guys in masks and kilts, or Pamela Anderson blondes in run-of-the-mill high-street outfits who tag along with bearded blokes, licking the sweat off each others' armpits. That, for me, is Berghain."

He's incredibly choosey but stated how important it is to be polite to the many turned away from the entrance of Berghain, saying "It may be your thousandth guest of the night, but for them it may be the first time they are turned away."

Sven has attained cult status among the Berlin techno community and this'll offer fans and those who are intrigued by his mystic the chance to learn more about him. Get the German language book via Amazon here, we're hoping for an English version soon.

[ Via the Guardian]

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