Are Coffeeshops the new Berghain?

I am a partygirl. Always have been, always will be. Spending nights in clubs, laughing and dancing with strangers who become my best friends for the night and driving home in the early hours of the next morning while good looking people in good looking clothes sit next to me on the subway to drive to work has been the epitome of my happiness for the past years.

It is an understatement to say that I was thrilled to go to Berghain when I came to Berlin. I was ecstatic. Berlin has been known for its intense parties for a long time now and I very soon realized why. You get lost there. I almost did.

After another intense weekend of partying and dancing with my best friend, she took me to a little coffeshop in Prenzlauer Berg to “clear our heads and finally get shit done“. I was hesitant at first, not wanting to leave my flat and see or talk to people but I still accompanied her. “You’ll like it“, she said.

I’ll keep it short: I did like it. Ever since then, I spend every spare minute in this little coffeeshop around the corner. My days changed from coming home after work or uni and being by myself and exhausted to being in company and exhausted. The difference is this: You meet friends, you drink a coffee or two and (most importantly) you actually get stuff done. I have found it to be a lot more fulfilling to come home after a long day in your favorite coffeshop than to come home after a night out partying. And don’t get me wrong here: My friends and I, we still go to parties, we still go clubbing but the centre of our lifes has shifted. And we are not the only ones.

Lately, a new cult is on the rise. Or has it already risen? Instead of meeting at clubs or bars, people now meet their new lovers, friends or business partners in coffeeshops. The original idea of Berlin’s trendiest coffeshops being exclusively designed to serve as workspace is long gone and it has yielded to being a central stakeholder in the lifes of young adults all over Berlin.

In times of bars and clubs being the highest of emotions in terms of universal meeting points in groups of friends, coffeeshops are now offering not only everything you are looking for on a night out (good music, even better friends and new people) but also the possibility of being productive. A day in a good coffeshop is yours to design. There are no limitations on whether you’re there to be social or productive, it’s all up to you. A coffeshop is what a club always wanted to be but failed miserably. A home, sometimes only for a couple hours.

"A coffeshop is what a club always wanted to be but failed miserably. A home, sometimes only for a couple hours."

More and more students trade study sessions in libraries for coffee flatrates and calm house music in coworking spaces and it’s easy to see why: the exertion of effort we inevitably wittness when entering a coffeshop is contagious. Being around people who work hard subsequently makes oneself work harder. And treating yourself with a good drink during studying probably never killed nobody as well.

The idea of coffeeshops being the new Berghain, the new scenery of people meeting, working and fulfilling dreams, is something I could get used to. Our generation is blessed with being able to get unshackled from traditional work environments and move to a more cozy atmosphere in which not only productivity is being increased but also the likeliness of establishing (private or professional) relationships. And that’s a lot more sustainable than being friends with someone you won’t remember after the lights of the club have gone out.

"that’s a lot more sustainable than being friends with someone you won’t remember after the lights of the club have gone out."