Dimitri Hegemann
Founder of Tresor club and label who arrived in West Berlin in 1978 from a village of 700 people—"such a country bumpkin, such a village dropout," as he later described himself. The bullet-riddled facades and vast empty backyards fascinated him, laying the foundation for him to become a spatial explorer. While studying musicology at The Free University of Berlin, he organized Atonal festival starting in 1982, building the 'Fisch' consortium of experimental spaces throughout the 1980s before discovering the Wertheim vaults beneath Potsdamer Platz. Opened Tresor in March 1991—where the heat was so intense international DJs brought oxygen tanks—and launched Tresor Records in October 1991, forging the permanent connection between Detroit's techno pioneers and Berlin's underground. "In other cities like London or Paris, such spaces were unaffordable," he explained. "But here I could do it." Now advises communities worldwide through Happy Locals on creating cultural opportunities for young people, spreading Berlin's model of open spaces and tolerance.