BOHÈME SAUVAGE

Nightclubs

Time Travellers WELCOME!

Our German correspondents Marie de Winter and Ferdinand Sturm sample the nightlife of the Roaring Twenties at Bohème Sauvage

www.boheme-sauvage.com

hether in Berlin, Cologne,

WHamburg, Zurich or Vienna, for nearly 15 years the Bohème Sauvage is by far the most important event for all those who want to celebrate the stylish and wild zeitgeist of the 1920s. Whether enjoying the extravagant stage programme or the barnstorming record entertainment, having a stimulating chat at the absinthe bar or in obscure company at the poker table, with a jaunty step of tango, charleston or swing on the dance floor: the glamourous lounge circle knows how to party as if there were no tomorrow!

Exclusively for The Chap, we take a look behind the scenes of the extremely successful Bohème Sauvage and meet the hostess and “From midnight, when the absinthe bar opened, the salon became a wild party, and in the end everyone was lying on the floor smooching. Else is a demimondaine. She is wicked and has many affairs. Debauchery and excess have interested me ever since I can remember”

“The Bohème Sauvage is a glittering party in honour of the heroes of past nights, who are remembered by the heroes of today, a party for all those who celebrate every night as if it were the last, for whom no drink is too much and no dress too chic. Because less is never more and too much is far from enough!”

grande dame of Berlin nightlife: Else Edelstahl. “Grande Dame? I hope I’m still 40 years away from that! I prefer to be called Fräulein,” she laughs. Well, after all, since 2006 we can count over 150 Bohème Sauvage events, with nearly 1000 guests and a large number of Kabarett evenings and burlesque festivals that she has put on. So, how did it all begin, Fräulein Edelstahl?

“Strictly speaking, it started back in 2004,” she reflects. “I had come to Berlin to study, and of course I threw myself into the nightlife, but quickly I got bored of those cool scene parties with their just-got-out-of-bed dress code. So I started hosting little 'salons' in my flat.” She covered her walls with fabric wallpapers, put up big mirrors and refused to tolerate visitors in the typical sloppy Berlin look. In the ‘Salon Edelstahl’, ladies in flapper dresses and gentlemen in dinner jackets attended lectures, literary readings and spiritualist sessions. “From midnight on, the absinthe bar opened, the salon became a wild party, and in the end everyone was lying on the floor smooching,” the former salonière remembers with a smile and adds (in the third person): “Else is a demimondaine. She is wicked and has many affairs. Debauchery and excess, that has interested me ever since I can remember.”

Where would Else be better off with this affinity than in the Roaring Twenties? But how did the private longing for wild parties in glamorous companionship give rise to the company Edelstahl Events & Productions? “Yes, I was surprised by that myself too!” she laughs. “I never aimed for founding such a company. But due to the success of my idea, I virtually had no other choice.” Nevertheless she implemented it with discipline

Revellers aboard the yacht Fitzgerald, en route to the bathing lakes of Berlin

and business sense – as her pseudonym suggests (Edelstahl is the German term for stainless steel).

The locations of the events in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are no less stylish than the guests. To name but a few: the historic Wartesaal of Cologne’s central station, right next to the famous Cologne Cathedral; Berlin’s oldest ballroom or the famous Wintergarten Varieté, where Josephine Baker caused a furore back in 1929. In these interiors, whose walls are like a step back in time, “not just any kind of party” is celebrated, as Else Edelstahl emphasises. “The Bohème Sauvage is a glittering party in honour of the heroes of past nights, who are remembered by the heroes of today, a party for all those who celebrate every night as if it were the last, for whom no drink is too much and no dress too chic. Because less is never more and too much is far from enough!” Once again, Fräulein ‘Stainless Steel’ laughs and her eyes light up. She is an extremely successful businesswoman but above all a charming conversationalist who inspires with her positive charisma. The basis of all her activities is her honest enthusiasm for the era of the 1920s, and she never misses the opportunity to be personally present and approachable for her guests at all her events.

“The Bohème Sauvage is a homage to the nightlife of the twenties. We all are about authenticity, but not in the sense of historical correctness, but of originality,” she explains. Guests should not see themselves as tourists, should not disguise themselves, but should choose their wardrobe according to the occasion. After all, we are at a glamourous event! Space for fantasy is given, an eye or two will be turned blind, but occasionally admission is refused if a guest’s appearance or demeanour is too unsuitable.

“You should live and love this era, from the inside out!” the hostess declares passionately. That’s why there are short dance lessons as a prelude to each evening, so that even the most dance-shy among the guests can at least manage simple steps to the music. It is performed by bands dedicated to the wild hot jazz of the 20s and the swing of the early 30s, sometimes puristical, sometimes freely interpreted, but always at a high level. A chansonnier presents hit songs and anecdotes, the chips at the roulette table are bought with Reichsmarks. Later at night, provocative interludes to the main show by burlesque dancers cause oohs and wows in the audience.

While typing these lines, the authors are getting into a melancholic mood, remembering wistfully these lively ball nights lasting until the wee hours of the morning. Regrettably the Unpleasantness also has a lock on Germany. Nightly partying and

dancing closely with beautiful strangers is out of the question in these times. So what to do? Out into the open air with the glamorous circle and aboard the elegant motor yacht Fitzgerald! On a hot Sunday afternoon last summer, a group of stylishy dressed time travellers cruised along the river Spree, leaving the heart of Berlin towards its largest bathing lake. And guess who devised and implemented this idea? Else Edelstahl!

And she did not rest on her laurels in any other way either. If you can’t celebrate the 20s wildly, you can at least report on them on all channels and bring them closer to the audience. Else’s mission is reflected in her latest project, the podcast Goldstaub (Golden Dust). Under the motto GLAMOUR, GOLD, DUST AND DIRT. DECADENCE, POVERTY, ASPHALT AND LIGHT, she and historian Arne Krasting developed the first podcast entirely dedicated to the 1920s. As lyricists and moderaters, they take us back to the time of the Weimar Republic, presenting it in all its facets, in all its madness and confusion. “Not only the nightlife was exciting back then, but it was also an extremely exciting decade overall: Berlin became the third largest city of the world and was one of the biggest centres of modernity, Marlene Dietrich performed in a movie for the very first time, Fritz Lang shot Metropolis and Bertold Brecht wrote the Threepenny Opera. Numerous innovations of technical, artistic and...” Else mischievously lowers her gaze, “...of an erotic nature, which we take for granted today, were developed and tried for the first time. Not to mention the political and social upheavals.”

For those who prefer to read about these many ground-breaking upheavals and events rather than listen to them, we recommend Le Journal, the Magazin für mondäne Unterhaltung, published annually on New Year’s Eve. The publisher is of course – Else Edelstahl.

Editor-in-chief Marie de Winter is currently dedicated to another, even bigger task. On the occasion of the 15th anniversary next May, she will celebrate its brilliant history in her book Rendezvous mit der Bohème Sauvage. Else Edelstahl, Équipe and guests from Germany, Austria and Switzerland will chat about these extraordinary years and reveal some personal secrets. In the summer of 2021, it will leave the printing press to stylishly refine countless coffee tables.

But for now, let’s toast to future times when the inconvenience will have evaporated and the ballroom doors will be stormed by passionate, hungry, yearning time travellers! n

www.wintersturm.jimdofree.com

Luxury capmakers and handweavers

Distinctive tweed and linen caps for discerning Chaps and Chapesses. Now stocking triple-layer linen face masks.

All linen caps and hats now 50% off with checkout code LIN50

SARTORIAL

Interview and Photo Shoot: Adjustable Costume (p44) • Get The Look: 1920s Chap (p54) • Pharaohs and Flappers (p58) • Jake’s Thing (p64) • Clare Bradley (p68) • Grey Fox Column (p76)