How do Saarbrücken clubs ensure their survival in times of Corona?

Admittedly, in a nationwide comparison, Saarland’s state capital falls rather into the category “small”. With regard to Saarbrücken’s cultural life, however, one can easily use the phrase “but oho”. And not only in the sense of the guiding culture.

The subcultures also find their home in Saarbrücken. Friends of swing and live music, for example, are drawn to Studio 30, while jazz musicians are gathering to the Zing. Techno aficionados make a pilgrimage to Mauerpfeiffer, Sektor Heimat or Silo.

All these deliberately turn away from the (capitalist) mainstream. “A club for subculture does not just mean making profits and building up reserves,” emphasized Tim Grothe, owner of the Mauerpfeiffers. Instead of big profits, the focus is on lifeblood, the desire to give the subculture a home.

However, this is exactly what could be the downfall of many of these clubs now, as the corona crisis is plunging them into an economically precarious situation.

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Subculture clubs turn to crowdfunding to cope with the corona crisis

However, there is hope, and that is called crowdfunding. Studio 30, Sektor Heimat and Mauerpfeiffer now rely on the support of their community. And because a club for subculture is more than just a club, the calculation seems to be working out. For two weeks now, they have been able to support Studio 30 by donating some nice shirts. But they haven’t designed them themselves. The Germany-wide initiative “Be My Quarantine” has created an online shop together with the merchandiser “Tourhafen.” The shop not only selects the design of the shirt – sometimes small children in ink style, sometimes gaudy comic figures, always with a quarantine twist – but also which cultural institution one wants to support with the purchase of the shirt. Take Studio 30, for example, which is the only club in Saarbrücken to have participated in the project so far.

At the beginning of last week, Studio 30 also launched a crowdfunding campaign, i.e. an Internet fundraising campaign. €10,000  is the provisional target, “so that we can be there for you again with strong concerts and parties after the crisis,” the club said.

Much higher is the funding target for the Sektor Heimat, which needs €50,000. After all, the grounds of the cultural center at the Osthafen are huge, the opening of the season had to be canceled at short notice due to the dramatically developing situation, and hopes for club operations on the Easter weekend have finally dried up.

The continued existence of the project is on the line. However, it is precisely places like “these that inspire the youth, provide input and show wonderful alternatives to the conventional”, said Josephine Goertz. This is why the Saarbrücken native, like many others, has donated to the Sektor Heimat.

Although, donated is perhaps the wrong word. After all, the team from the Sektor Heimat has come up with small and large thank-you gifts for their loyal supporters. Those who donate €30 will find their name in the “Hall of Fame” on the walls of the sacred halls. For €50 donors can also get an exclusively designed poster – a price that connoisseurs of the artworks of the Sektor Gang are certainly willing to pay. For donations of €5,000 and €10,000, the rewards are also accordingly.

“I couldn’t imagine life without the Mauerpfeiffer,” said Kevin Spiegel, himself a DJ and founder of a popular party series at the Mauerpfeiffer. This close relationship with the club, which Spiegel shares with many other musicians, guests, and staff, could be the reason for the Mauerpfeiffer’s brilliant start to the crowdfunding campaign: Over €14,000 of the targeted €40,000 was collected in just four days.

However, perhaps the success is also due to the thank you notes that the Mauerpfeiffer team has also come up with for the donors. In addition to the usual merchandise items in the comparatively lower price segment, individual areas of the club and even the entire complex can be rented from €1,200 upwards. The offer is limited.

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(Featured image by stux via Pixabay)

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First published in Saarbruecker Zeitung, a third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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