Vault door and deposit boxes from the Wertheim department store on Leipziger Platz

Shortly after 1989 techno fans discovered a vault behind this door on Leipziger Strasse, in an uninhabited border area between East and West Berlin. The vault of Wertheim Bank - with its low ceilings, Weathered walls and rusty steel - had stood empty for 45 years. Used as a club, it was filled with hard techno music and dancing guests from around the world.
The vault came to symbolise a culture that made playful use of abandoned space to create something new. It is considered a birthplace of the techno movement that has thrilled the world.An office building now stands where the club once was.