When Watergate set up on the banks of the river Spree in 1992, just two years after the Berlin Wall came down, Kreutzberg, on the East/West border, was a stretch of urban wasteland.

These days, Watergate's neighbourhood is a bustling bohemia of bars, restaurants and clubs, this split-levelled mini-club-complex with an LED ceiling its ground zero. Unlike the political building from which it takes its name, there's nothing corporate about the operation within its walls.

The city's home for Diynamic, Circoloco and Tiefschwarz's Souvenir parties celebrated 10 years last year with open-air events, including a Henrik Schwarz live band on the river, and serves as a regular stomping ground for household names like Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, Solomun, Kerri Chandler and Ellen Allien. There's absolutely no reason to hate Watergate.