It hasn’t been a good year for Munich’s party scene: With Blitz and DNA, two popular techno hotspots have already closed their doors this year. Now, with the Sweet Club, another venue has joined this sad list. Operator Mathias Scheffel has now spoken out about the reasons behind the closure and warns of further closures.
Costs too high, not enough customers
Since 2017, Sweet has called the Feierbanane home, nestled between Roter Sonne, Pacha, and 089 Bar on Maximiliansplatz. For nine years, you could dance the night away here to house, R&B, and chart hits across over 1,000 m² and two dance floors. That’s all over now—Sweet threw its final party on Halloween. The club announced this on Instagram, where it called for one last wild weekend.
Owner Mathias Scheffel recently spoke to the tz about the circumstances behind the closure and paints a bleak picture for the future of Munich’s nightlife. Due to the hot summer, fewer partygoers came to his club, meaning he was unable to pay the €20,000 for two months. In good times, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but those days are now over. The Sweet Club received notice of termination and has now had to announce its closure.
Other clubs potentially affected
Unfortunately, Sweet Club isn’t alone in facing this bitter fate. “Sadly, the demise of clubs is real…” reads a post on its Instagram page. And indeed, with DNA and Blitz, two more iconic venues have closed their doors this year. The Paradiso Tanzbar is also expected to remain open for only two more years, as its lease was not renewed. In addition to the Sweet, Scheffel himself runs the Pacha, the Filmcasino, and the Café Reitschule near the English Garden. Currently, the latter is causing him the most concern, and it could face a fate similar to that of the Sweet.
Scheffel, who used to work at the Optimolwerke near Ostbahnhof, believes that more clubs in Munich will have to close in the future. Not a promising outlook for the night owls among you. But at least, despite all the bad news and closures, there are always new openings. Just this year, XOLO opened in Schwabing, and at Ostbahnhof, Sonder is set to become the successor to DNA. At Sweet, however, it’s finally over. Whether a new club will move into Maximiliansplatz 5 in the future remains to be seen.
