On the death of party organizer Bob Young: Master of Ceremonies for Freedom

Such stories were gold for Berlin’s reputation as an exciting party city – and they still haunt the collective nightlife memory. Even if the club where they happened has long since been demolished. At the 90 Grad location, the new buildings are now standing next to the Gleisdreieck.

The club, which was located in an old car repair shop, was opened four weeks before the fall of the Berlin Wall by Britt Kanja and Bob Young. It quickly developed into a party hotspot with long queues in front of the entrance and celebrities in the audience. At the end of the 1990s, the founding couple gave up the shop, which never regained its former glory until it was demolished in 2011.

The idea of ​​a party on Sunday was new

But for Bob Young, the glamorous party days were far from over. Since 1996, the American, who comes from Memphis/Tennessee, has been organizing the Sunday GMF series in the techno club WMF, which has become a strong magnet for the gay nightlife scene. The G stood for “gay” and the idea of ​​offering a party on Sunday filled a gap in the market at the time. Even star DJs like Westbam and Paul van Dyk had time to play that day.

Together with the WMF, the GMF moved through eight locations, mostly in Mitte. For many, Café Moscow, with its eastern pre-renovation charm, was the best place. The two dance floors were always full and the atmosphere was ecstatic.

Bob Young, who came to West Berlin in 1983 to study and initially worked as a waiter, always bustled through the crowd at parties, greeting the revelers, drinking and chatting with them. He spoke German excellently and with just as much sharp wit as his native language.

In the hustle and bustle of the GMF party, he kept discovering new talents. This included, among others, drag queen Barbie Breakout, who asked Young one night if she had ever DJed. Despite relatively limited previous knowledge, she said yes and played her first set at the GMF in 2004, as she writes on Instagram.

A memorial post addressed to Bob Young states: “So many DJs, drag queens and performers got their first steps at one of your events, so many friendships and relationships started just because they met at the GMF.”

CSD-Allee in front of Café Moscow

Young has not only launched numerous careers, but has also made a significant contribution to making the queer party culture the nightlife driving force in Berlin. Which was, last but not least, an exhilarating and empowering experience for the community. As Berlin’s queer representative and former GMF regular Alfonso Pantisano writes on Instagram: “For decades he has created spaces in which queers could find each other, try things out, love and celebrate. Spaces in which shame could become pride, loneliness became community and one night became a home.”

He was a master of ceremonies of the night – and of freedom. Because at his parties, emancipation danced along as a matter of course. Young never ran out of ideas: When Halloween had no meaning in this country, the American organized large parties on this date, to which the guests came in sometimes elaborate costumes.

At a CSD in the noughties there was a cooperation between the GMF in Café Moscow and the Kino International opposite. Karl-Marx-Allee became CSD-Allee, a colorful party street after the demo.

Young also tried his hand at running a bar, but was less successful. In recent years he has been suffering from the consequences of a serious bicycle accident. But among his friends, he continued to be full of esprit and joy of celebrating.

As it became known over the weekend, Bob Young died of a heart attack on a Berlin golf course last Thursday. He was 64 years old.