Berlin techno raves about itself to UN

Berlin’s techno music scene, at risk from real estate developers and noise-sensitive yuppies, plans to save itself by applying for inclusion in Unesco’s cultural heritage list alongside folk dance and Saxon Boys’ Choirs. The campaign is being fronted by Dr Motte, a DJ and founder of the Love Parade, as well as organiser of Berlin’s first acid house parties. Techno, born in 1980s Detroit, was adopted by Berliners after the fall of thewall when clubbers flocked to raves held in abandoned east Berlin bunkers and factories. Unesco’s cultural heritage inventory is updated annually and comprises dances, theatre, music, traditions, festivals or crafts that the organisation believes ‘‘convey continuity and identity, and shapes societies’’.