Lake View’s Berlin Nightclub closes its doors after four decades: ‘The music is silenced and our dreams are now memories’

Berlin Nightclub announced late Tuesday that it had ended its four-decade run as an anchor of the LGBTQ+ community.

The Lake View night spot closed its doors for good Sunday.

“The party ended at 5 a.m., November 19, 2023 — nearly forty years and more than 10,000 nights from when it all began,” the nightclub said in a statement on its website. “So the doors are locked. The music is silenced and our dreams are now memories. We hope you made some memories with us and that you smile when they visit you.”

The announcement comes as the nightclub was in labor negotiations with Unite Here Local 1.

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times

“The workers of Berlin are heartbroken to hear of Jim [Schuman] and Jo [Webster’s] decision to permanently and abruptly close this historic institution,” the union said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “This is the wrong decision.”

Most employees were bartenders, bar backs, security, door workers, coat check workers, stage managers, audio/visual technicians and social media staff, according to a press release from the union late Tuesday night.

“Berlin’s owners decided to close rather than offer us more than minimum wage. We decided to organize the union at Berlin Nightclub because queer and trans workers are worth more than that. That was true then. It is still true today,” said Jolene Saint, who had worked as a bartender at Berlin Nightclub for six years.

The nightclub owners cited “expenses of increased security, insurance and licensing, equipment, rent, and more” as some of the reasons why Berlin shut its doors.

“We could not imagine morphing the bar into a bottle service, VIP-area venue,” the announcement said.

“When some of Berlin’s unionized workers went on strike and picketed on August 4th and 5th, we were shocked,” club owners said in a separate statement posted to the venue’s website. “Our entertainers and many of our staff were asked not to perform. As we rent our space, Berlin has high fixed costs and we can ill afford to lose a sold-out weekend in the summer or continue to operate with such uncertainty.”

In a separate post to social media, Unite Here Local 1 said the union “made it clear to the company that our original proposals were not final and we were negotiating in good faith to reach an agreement that was financially practical for the business ... While we are sad that Jim and Jo have made this decision, we know that our community is resilient, creative and capable of dreaming things into its place.”

Schuman and Webster took ownership of Berlin after co-founder Tim Sullivan died in 1994.

“It was a remarkable tornado of talented performers and staff, inspired friends and customers, a crazy location and a lot of dreams,” the announcement said. “It’s time for us to go home.”