Kulto­pia

Before Hagen became the NDW stronghold, the city was already an exciting live music city in the 1960s. As everywhere in the Ruhr area, for example in Gelsenkirchen [LINK ZU TEMPEL] or Recklinghausen [LINK ZU VESTLANDHALLE], a real beat mania breaks out in Hagen. The local youth center "Kultopia" (formerly: Jugendzentrum Buschey) is of particular importance for this. Here the many bands of the city can perform at the beginning of their journey and try themselves out. The scene competes for the few lucrative gigs. It's about which band can play the Beatles, the Rolling Stones or the Kinks best. Producer and musician Eroc remembers: "Back then you couldn't just play what you wanted, you had to replay the charts. And whoever could play them best was the one who was hip. Of course, it took a tremendous amount of diligence. You had to create everything with total precision. In the 60s you had to be better than everyone else." At the end of the 60s some of the bands started to break away from replaying and to develop their own songs. Above all, Eroc's Grobschnitt became Hagen's most important band in the course of the 70s. The expansive, experimental pieces of the band and the wild live show can hardly be realized in pubs anymore. Youth centres like the "Kultopia" become important venues before the success leads the band into the big halls all over the country. Even today the "Kultopia" is indispensable for the local scene. Here concerts take place in the areas of punk, alternative and metal, but also social commitment. Together with the nationally known socio-cultural cultural center Pelmke, also in Wehringhausen, the "Kultopia" is the place in the city where you can experience unusual and exciting subcultures today.

Further information
Konkordiastraße 23-25, 58095 Hagen
www.kultopia.de