For 15 years, Das Gift has been a cultural institution as the friendliest bar in Neukölln. It has also been more than a bar. We have made it a home for live music, spoken word, comedy, and the local artistic community. Every Monday since 2012, we host Berlin’s first English-language pub quiz, rain or shine. Every week we open our stage to independent artists and our doors to curious audiences.

In 2024, Das Gift was selected as one of a handful of venues by the Clubcommission Berlin for a funded soundproofing renovation (which the landlord had demanded) – a sign of our value to the city. And yet, we are now facing eviction.

The landlord asked for soundproofing. We secured the funding. Now they say it’s “unnecessary”, and they refuse to renew our lease.

Every week we hear of the struggles of our fellow bars, clubs, and live music venues against a hostile housing market. Our spaces are being reported by neighbours, harassed by police, shut down by landlords, repurposed by investors. If Das Gift is evicted, the creative community in Berlin would lose another haven for musicians, writers, comedians, and the people who love them. 

Berlin can’t afford to lose yet more independent cultural spaces. They're not just bars or businesses. They’re places where stories begin, where people find each other, bands are formed, poems are scribbled, projects are dreamed up. Where culture lives and struggles.

Your support can play a crucial role in saving Das Gift. By signing this petition, your show that you care about the future of our beloved bar, and its place in the neighbourhood, which may be rough around the edges – but it’s open, it’s vibrant, and it’s ours! Save Das Gift.