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Telekom Electronic Beats Podcast: Cookie Maker Heinz Gindullis in Interview
Anyone who arrived in Berlin in the 1990s automatically ended up in Mitte. This was the first port of call for anyone wanting to soak up the new Berlin nightlife. In conversation with Gesine Kühne, former Cookies operator Heinz Gindullis discusses Berlin’s club culture of the 90s and 00s, taking on responsibility, the rise of the food hype, parallels between a club and a high-end restaurant, and of course: growing older in nightlife.
We’re in the second half of the 1990s. After the first club legends like Tresor, E-Werk and Bunker, trendy new scene clubs emerged: WMF, 103 on Friedrichstraße, later Rio and of course Cookies. After founder Heinz ‘Cookie’ Gindullis had left behind the basement phase with wallpaper tables and cocktails, they found themselves in the tower of the Kalkscheune. Cramped, hot, an ecstatic 
atmosphere. However, if you didn’t know someone with a Cookies club pass, you had to stay outside. The Cookies door policy was always tough. This remained the case at the next location, the former postal depot at the corner of Oranienburger and Tucholskystrasse. But if you did make it in, the party exhilaration knew no bounds. The hottest day back then was Tuesday. Cocktails in big, sturdy glasses cost 10 marks, the tunes—mainly house—came from the likes of Ben E. Klock (now, without the E, one of Berghain’s residents) and colleagues Highfish & Diringer. They created the incredibly positive atmosphere that surrounded Mitte’s scene at the time. With the move to Charlottenstraße, the baton was finally passed on to a new club generation—the over-30s of today. Cookie too has moved on. Where exactly and with what concepts, you’ll find out in the Telekom Electronic Beats podcast series. Highly recommended. Not only a must-listen for nostalgics.
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