Dimitri Hegemann

Dimitri Hegemann was born in 1954 in a small village in Westfalia. He moved to Berlin because he didn't find a platform where he could realise his visions for alternative living. So he started studying Musicology at the Freie Universität Berlin in 1978. His world began observing the night in West-Berlin and there he started to become active in the music scene. Between 1982 and 1990 he organized five Berlin Atonal Festivals - new codes in vision & sound. In 1986, he opened a store in an old shoe store, inspired by the Dadaist movement, called Fisch Buero. This space was registered on Misses Fisch, who was a phantom. In 1988 he opened the acid house club called UFO. After the wall came down, Dimitri and his friends opened the legendary techno club Tresor, which was located between the two infamous walls - in the heart of the reunited city. Tresor became the birthplace of the biggest movement of the last century - Techno. In 2005, the city of Berlin made a big mistake and sold the ground where Tresor was located to a boring insurance company and Tresor had to move out. In March 2007, Hegemann found a new home for the club in an abandoned power plant in the middle of Berlin. The so called Kraftwerk Berlin is now home for art events throughout all genres. His newest concepts are the Happy Locals and the Academy for Subcultural Understanding. He considers himself a cultural activist and space pioneer - aiming to turn industrial ruins into cultural spaces. Only art can save small cities to not vanish into meaninglessness.

Photo credit: George Nebieridze