Drugstore im Rockhaus

Drugstore im Rockhaus was Drugstore’s temporary event and rehearsal space at Buchberger Straße 6 in Berlin-Lichtenberg. Drugstore began as a self-managed youth center in Schöneberg in September 1972 and is Berlin’s oldest center of this kind. It followed the closure, for financial reasons, of a youth pub called drugstore, which had operated on Motzstraße from April 1971. In May 1972, young people obtained a vacant youth recreation center on Potsdamer Straße and renovated its rooms before opening.

A volunteer collective operates Drugstore, with members holding equal rights and making decisions together. Its sponsoring organization is the nonprofit Sozialpädagogische Sondermaßnahmen Berlin e. V. The center prohibits sexist, racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, homophobic and trans-hostile conduct. Spirits and drinks containing spirits are not allowed, and animals cannot attend events.

Drugstore used the Rockhaus while its Schöneberg premises were being remediated. From May 2022, it used a 173-square-metre space there for events and rehearsals. The program encompassed concerts, parties, meetings, workshops, film screenings, exhibitions, discussions, theatre performances and dance events. Its first concert at the Rockhaus took place in November 2022. The lease covered five years, with an option for an initial two-year extension.

Music at the venue included drum and bass, breakbeat, hip-hop, dubstep and experimental electronic music. Artists who performed there included FLOORi, Sagrivox, Agem and DJ Betska. In mid-2023, Drugstore moved to Potsdamer Straße 134–136 in Schöneberg, where noise restrictions prevent concerts.