It is still best to wear hiking boots if you want to visit the “Bergson”. But by New Year’s Eve 2023, the new “Bergson Kunstkraftwerk” in the old cogeneration plant in Aubing should be suitable for dancing shoes. After a gentle opening on October 10, 2023, a New Year’s Eve celebration is to rise – for an overture with glamor, boom and glory. What will be called “All Area Party” there, on the edge of an inconspicuous residential and commercial area, could be breathtaking.
During a site visit this Friday, you could see the great progress that the construction work has made after many years of planning. In addition to the owners Michael and Christian Amberger, the following came: Mayor Katrin Habenschaden (Greens), the architect of the bold project, Markus Stenger, and the future artistic director of the Bergson, Roman Sladek – known as the leader of the Jazzrausch Bigband.
When the Ambergers, who own the Allguth gas station chain, fell in love with the historic boiler house and bought it and the surrounding 20,000 square meter site in 2005, this gem of 1920s industrial architecture was a ruin. Become non-functional in 1988, it was thoroughly rocked down in the 90s by techno raves that were as illegal as they were orgiastic. Not a single pane was intact in the tall, narrow windows that run through the 25 meter high facades. There was water in the basement.
“Actually, the whole thing consisted of only three intact walls,” says Michael Amberger, who was not discouraged by such mundane realities. It was the view up to the ceiling, high as in a house of worship, that held him captive. That this ceiling was also ailing – never mind.
Now the roof has been renewed. There is still a lot of scaffolding underneath. You can already see where the music will play later in the truest sense of the word, where the bar will be, where the restaurant will be located and where a huge staircase will lead to higher realms. To where the huge charcoal funnels hang and hang – as cubes left raw on the inside, in which art can be shown. And where, as a contrast, high under the roof with a view, an elegant salon for a maximum of 50 people is being created.
The computer image shows the relationship between the new building and the old hall.
(Photo: Allguth GmbH)
A few days ago, the foundation for a modern extension was laid on the north side of the historic hall. Because the plant from the 1920s is now flanked by new buildings a hundred years later. Among other things, they should house a concert hall, the “Elektra Tonquartier”. In addition, the largest private art gallery in Germany is to be built there. If you add up all the areas available for visual arts in the Bergson, you come up with 1800 square meters.
Deep below the Bergson, night owls will celebrate in the live club Barbastelle. It is named after the rare barbabie bat, which has had its own winter quarters set up in the basement at great expense. For the rare animals that had settled in the ruins, there is a separate area with its own exit – or better, a flight tunnel. A biotope in front of the house, which was created for Batman’s cronies and other animal inhabitants of the ruins, is growing and thriving. “Relocation successful,” say dedicated biologists.
program with high standards
Michael and Christian Amberger are pursuing noble but also ambitious goals with the Bergson. “It should enrich cultural life far beyond Munich’s borders,” says Michael Amberger. It should be a place that is open every day with new presentations of modern art, concerts and events. For everyone. At the same time, the Ambergers know what a unique place they are creating. The Bergson is also designed as an event location for companies and private celebrations.
But superlatives are popular, such as the “Pulpo Gallery” with its 1800 square meters of space. Its rooms allow up to five exhibitions to take place in parallel. It has museum dimensions. The gallery space is used by Katherina and Nico Zeifang, who have already established a gallery of the same name based in Murnau nationally and internationally.
In the future, the Bergson will even have its own orchestra – albeit a very unconventional one: the Jazzrausch Bigband, which fuses jazz and techno and is known beyond Munich’s borders, is to find its “residence” here in the future. And when its founder Roman Sladek is now the artistic director for the entire music program of the house, then he really has his hands full. As a modern concert hall, the Elektra Tonquartier is able to accommodate several hundred performances a year. The Live Club Barbastelle also needs its own program for its capacity of 100 guests.
No longer under Sladek’s direction, but other stages that are set up specifically for word formats can also be used. The Amberger brothers have recruited a prominent journalist from the classical music scene who will soon be leaving Bayerischer Rundfunk: Maximilian Maier will then operate at Bergson as “Director Programming”. He will also be responsible for public relations at the Kunstkraftwerk. “With the word formats, the focus is on the one hand on knowledge transfer, for example in the areas of politics, science or culture. On the other hand, space should also be created for lively debate,” says Maier.
This is what the Bergson beer garden should look like.
(Photo: Allguth GmbH)
The gastronomy caters for up to 900 guests
The diverse gastronomic offer stands for the low-threshold access to the Bergson. More than 900 guests can be served in a total of five areas. The central restaurant will offer up to 90 guests cuisine from regional producers. On warm days, however, there will be room for a further 110 guests on the outdoor terrace and an additional 500 guests in the beer garden. There is also a day bar for 100 guests, and the barbastelle will also have its own menu.
Katrin Habenschaden is one of those who are particularly happy about the art power plant in the west of Munich, “where we still missed culture and high-quality gastronomic supply”. This morning is not the first time she has seen how the construction site is thriving. The mayor lives in the immediate vicinity, on Bergsonstraße. And the Bergson is also named after their namesake.