“Your Inner Self Is Hungry”: Britt Kanja, Grande Dame of Berlin Nightlife on Eclectic Vintage, the Secret Lake and Finding People With Joy in Their Hearts
On a night in October 1989, in the empty hall of a car workshop in Schöneberg, Britt Kanja co-initiated a club. The street outside, Dennewitzstraße, turns a right angle into Kurfürstenstraße at that exact spot, so Kanja and her partner Bob Young called the place 90 Grad.
Weeks later the Berlin Wall came down, and the half-city that had lived for twenty-eight years as an island in the East was suddenly whole. For the next sixteen years the room was where Berlin went to find out who else was in Berlin: artists and bankers, royalty and outsiders, and, when they were in town, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hugh Grant and George Clooney.
Once a month Kanja dressed the whole club to a new theme, put white lilies and fresh fruit on the tables, and stood at the door. The city gave her a title for it, and it stuck: the Grande Dame of Berlin nightlife.
Today Kanja is one of the most photographed people in the city: a style icon with 100,000 followers, a wardrobe of vintage she takes apart and redesigns, and a collection of hats she has stopped counting.
With Locals Insider, Britt Kanja shares how the parties started, what made them work, how Berlin has changed in forty years, and the places she still goes: the bars, the galleries, the vintage shops, the hidden lake. Everything, in other words, that makes Berlin sexy.
Free city guide
Berlin by Britt Kanja
Her bars, restaurants, galleries, vintage shops and clubs, 38 places with addresses that open in Maps. Made for your phone.
My first career began at the age of 18 as a dancer, touring Western Europe for ten years. After the performances — because of the adrenalin, you can’t just go to sleep — we either went to the clubs dancing, or gathered with other artists and aesthetes, with a wide open horizon, creating mutual mirth.
When I came back to Berlin, my hometown, the party scene was very cold and ego-orientated, and for a social romantic person this was quite a challenge. Still, I loved going out dancing with my American friend Bob Young. We enjoyed it — but something was missing, like your inner self is hungry, but without nourishment.
So we developed the idea to create our own happenings.
First we gathered the joyful, brilliant minds that were still around, and launched themed parties at various locations, every four to five weeks, under the name TANZSTELLE — dancing place, from Tankstelle, a gasoline station. Just to make sure we got the right fuel.
The success came swift. House music had just arrived. Our flyers were collected by collectors as works of art. There was a thirst for the enjoyment of life in the air. And our parties at different places evolved into a steady club, 90 Grad, where I was a co-initiator — and it began to bloom magnificently.
“Berlin’s party scene was cold and ego-orientated. Something was missing — like your inner self is hungry, but without nourishment. So we created our own happenings.”
Artists, Birds of Paradise and Grande Dame of Berlin Nightlife
A wonderful team was quickly formed, and everything we created was nourished by love. We collected this fascinating, dazzling mix of vastly diverse people — gay, androgynous, hetero, all ages, existentialists and the rich, artists and birds of paradise. So it became easy to inspire and to include those present, spreading fun and joy: an ideal foundation for enthusiasm, inspiration and beautiful things to happen.
I hosted my own themed parties once a month, always with a different imaginative concept that transformed the face of the club’s appearance — new décor, paired with white lilies, treats and fresh fruit distributed across the tables. Whispering welcome.
That is how I became the Grande Dame of Berlin nightlife, and in 2002 I was honoured by Madame magazine as one of ten Berliners who are moving Berlin.
“White lilies, treats and fresh fruit, distributed across the tables. Whispering welcome.”
“Our flyers were collected by collectors as works of art. There was a thirst for the enjoyment of life in the air.”
A City Like an Island in the East – Poor But Sexy
Life is constantly changing, something one strongly experiences in big cities. Especially in the former West Berlin: a city like an island in the east, financially dependent on the Federal Republic of Germany.
With the beginning of the Berlin Wall, and some years later the Cuban Missile Crisis, there was a threat that West Berlin could become Soviet territory. That led to big money fleeing, as well as the industry.
After a while this made housing very affordable, attracting artists and creative individuals from all over the world in the 1980s. In the late Eighties, a part of this city was in a state of absolute optimism with overflowing creativity that was seeking expression.
During the Nineties, after the Wall came down, Berlin became the capital and was therefore again attractive for the media, industry and film, banks and so on. The big money came back, and so did the nobility.
Now, due to the globalization trap, the purchasing power of the individual has declined, and Berlin has become impoverished once again. Life itself became very expensive, and it is very difficult to find an affordable apartment these days.
Yet the creative, cultural, fashion and party scenes are still finding loopholes, and awaken a frequency of beauty and joy. Which reminds me of something one of our mayors once said: “Berlin is poor — but sexy.”
“Everything we created was nourished by love.”
Beautiful Frequencies
Designers: Heinz Oestergaard, Karl Lagerfeld, Thierry Mugler, Wunderkind, Jil Sander, Dorothee Schumacher, Iris von Arnim, Lena Hoschek from Austria, Esther Perbandt, Arrey Kono, Isabel Vollrath.
Filmmakers: Ernst Lubitsch, Bernd Eichinger, Werner Herzog, Wim Wenders, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Oskar Roehler, Veit Helmer, Tom Tykwer, Dominik Graf, Margarethe von Trotta, Ulrike Ottinger.
Singers and bands: Marlene Dietrich, Nico, Tangerine Dream, Can, Scorpions, Farin Urlaub of Die Ärzte, Nina Hagen, Annette Humpe of 2raumwohnung, Mia, Andreas Bourani, Max Raabe.
I love the beautiful frequencies within soul, meditative music, trance and some classics — and for dancing: house, soul, swing.
“The creative, cultural, fashion and party scenes are still finding loopholes, and awaken a frequency of beauty and joy.”
Very Hidden, Through Nature’s Help
The water terrace by an enchanted lake in Berlin-Grunewald, part of the former estate of the actress Romy Schneider. It is no longer privatized, but very hidden, through nature’s help.
A place to enjoy the summer vibes, where city noises are far away. A place to recharge, chatting with friends, enjoying working with design, reading, swimming.
Once I lost all sense of time while I observed the diverse life and activities on the water lilies, with deep fascination, from my air mattress on the water — for far more than three hours. Fortunately, I was in the shade.
“I lost all sense of time, watching the water lilies from my air mattress — at a lake on the former estate of the actress Romy Schneider.”
Only Natural Materials and My Eclectic Vintage
I am a lover of vintage — only natural materials — and of redesigning it into something else, which then transforms into my own style, that I call Eclectic Vintage: a mixture of old and new, of different cultures.
I love to find treasures at Oxfam, Stadtmission and the flea markets. And hats at Fiona Bennett, Beretkah and Hut Salon Berlin.
Britt Kanja’s Best Vintage Shops in Berlin
Mimi Textile Antiquitäten
Fräulein Anders
SUMO Curated
Garments
Berliner Modeinstitut
Huesken Antiques
Fräulein Anders
“I am a lover of vintage — only natural materials — and of redesigning it into something else. I call it Eclectic Vintage.”
Сountless Hats and The Appearance of a Madonna
I own countless hats and headgears. Some are waiting for my inspiration, to find a new shape or colour for them to complement my wardrobe.
Last year I received a wonderful birthday gift from Fiona Bennett — a hat-making workshop with her, where I learned a great many skills.
My most unique hat is from Philip Treacy. I call it the UFO, and wear it in different ways. When I put it on as intended, as a UFO, the person next to me can get, unintentionally, a blow to the face — so I decided to rotate it 90 degrees, which then gives me the appearance of a Madonna.
“When I wear the Philip Treacy hat as intended, the person next to me can get a blow to the face. So I rotate it 90 degrees — which gives me the appearance of a Madonna.”
If You Are One of Them, You’ll Find Them
At art salons, at cafés, at society events, when dining out with friends, on the dance floors, or meeting strangers with beautiful intentions on the streets.
This world is full of people with unconditional love in their hearts and minds. If you are one of them, you’ll find them.
“This world is full of people with unconditional love in their hearts and minds. If you are one of them, you’ll find them.”
Britt’s Berlin: Where to Drink, Eat, See Art and Dance
Theodor, Bell Boy, Grace, Paris Bar, Lubitsch, Borchardt, Brasserie Colette, Hotel de Rome, The Crazy Little Greek, Katerschmaus.
GRACE Berlin
@restaurant__lubitsch
Art Galleries
@fotografiska.berlin
Galerie Friedmann-Hahn, Galerie Tammen, Fotografiska Berlin, Kornfeld Galerie, Schinkel Pavillon, Hamburger Bahnhof, Helmut Newton Foundation, Atelier Yves Sucksdorff, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Galerie Mond, König Galerie, Jaeger Art Gallery, Gallery Ehren Art.
@koeniggalerie
Clubs
Eleven Eleven / Studio 1111, Sisyphos, Ritter Butzke, Renate.
It doesn’t matter what your preferences are. If you are open enough, you will find your circle.
Locals Insider · Berlin
Britt Kanja’s Berlin: Bars, Restaurants, Galleries, Vintage and Clubs
38 places from the Grande Dame of Berlin nightlife — where she drinks, eats, looks at art, hunts for vintage and still goes dancing. All in Berlin, with addresses and opening times.
Britt Kanja is a Berlin style icon and the Grande Dame of the city's nightlife. Born in West Berlin, she danced professionally across Europe before co-initiated the legendary 90 Grad club in Schöneberg in 1989, where she ran a themed party every month for sixteen years. She dresses in what she calls Eclectic Vintage, owns more hats than she can count, and is still out most nights.
