“Tresor: True Stories” details first-hand accounts with never-before-seen photos of the early days of West Berlin refugee at the raves

Tresor was never a nightclub anymore. Its roots go back to the subcultural niches of West Berlin and the derivations of Tresor, such as the eponymous label or the reborn Berlin festival Atonal, extend to the present and beyond, critical reference points for electronic sound artists on all continents. More than thirty years ago, the legendary venue opened its doors, right next to the Potsdamer Platz, where the broken slabs of the Berlin Wall lay prostrate on the hard ground. It was the trigger for a global musical movement that will always be synonymous with the city of Berlin: the world capital of electronic music, already then and until now.

To celebrate Tresor’s three decades, we take a look at his libertine past (and present) through the new photo book Tresor: True Stories.

This project, written by multiple storytellers throughout Tresor’s story, examines the West Berlin club phenomenon and where future incarnations are headed.

This new archival book explores how Tresor helped forge a common German identity through the first-hand stories of 40 attendees and the photos of 20 different photographers, ranging from the club’s former fans to those who witnessed the “big bang” of techno in those inaugural days on Leipziger Straße.

Tresor: True Stories is a compilation of more than 400 unpublished photos, brochures and documents from the early days of the label, the initial UFO club and the opening of Tresor in 1991.

Below you can see some of the best photos, brochures and footage from Tresor: True Stories.