Tesla’s German manufacturing plant – the so-called Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory – is now equipped with a techno club, which opened this week according to information shared by employees.
The opening of the club was first announced by factory manager André Thierig, who shared a video on LinkedIn, which has since been shared by Tesla on X.
The name of the club is ‘Hamster’. The Hamster is “now alive,” Thierig wrote on X.
Giga Berlin rave cave (aka HAMSTER) now alive! Party on… https://t.co/T3wN4PMJZl
— André Thierig (@AndrThie) June 28, 2024
A company club in Berlin?
Berlin’s techno culture is world renowned and its clubs, which range from small underground bars with dance floors to massive multi-storied complexes, are a huge part of that.
But today’s techno scene evolved from an underground and alternative movement, and some techno-heads take issue with efforts by mainstream, corporate actors to try and capitalise on it.
The irony of a company like Tesla trying to get involved with the techno party scene isn’t lost on Berliners.
A popular Instagram account, Berlinclubmemes, posted a series of memes about the club’s opening – most of which poke fun of the idea that the club would be full of tech workers.
View this post on Instagram
In a comment on the post Berlin-based artist Adam Ghebremichael (@kang_mesmer) wrote, “If the first place you announce a club is on LinkedIn it’s definitely not a club you want to visit”.
Berlin-based artist (@patywapor) replied: “Berlin horror story season 1.”
Another commenter suggested Hamster was a “club that people would be happy to be rejected from”.
Even far flung techno-heads joined in. Truncate (@truncate_la), an LA-based techno artist wondered, “Who will be the first ‘Berlin techno’ DJ they will book 😂”.
Other commenters reflected on the time when Elon Musk had reportedly been rejected from Berlin’s famous Berghain club – a claim that was widely reported and later denied by Musk who suggested that he had instead “refused to enter”.
The club at Tesla was foreshadowed as early as 2020, leading up to the opening of the German factory, when Musk wrote, “Tesla should have a mega rave cave under the Berlin Gigafactory.”
Can a club opening reboot Tesla’s image?
Hamster’s opening comes at a time when Tesla faces growing criticism that the company would rather shift news away from.
Locally, the company’s plan to expand its Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory sparked resistance from local residents and climate activists who are primarily concerned with water impacts.
READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?
In mid-May a local council approved Tesla’s expansion plans despite a referendum by residents that had rejected the move just weeks earlier.
Also in Sweden, Tesla mechanics have been on strike since October in what has become the longest labour dispute in the country since the 1940s. Workers involved in the strike say Tesla has engaged in union busting tactics.
The company has so far refused to engage in collective bargaining, which is generally a standard practice in Sweden as well as Germany.
Concerns about Tesla’s anti-union stance have caused a dozen different Swedish unions to join in solidarity actions, and has even spread to unions in Denmark and Germany.
For example, IG Metall, the largest metal workers union in Germany, has reportedly gathered more than a thousand Tesla employees to commit themselves to potential union action.
German news outlets RTL and Stern have also reported on safety issues at the Tesla factory, finding that accidents happen almost every day in the German plant with workers suffering serious injuries.
Tesla hasn’t provided comment on these findings.
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