Published
Mon, Mar 30, 2015, 16:42
- The Hamburg club is calling on city authorities to help secure the venue's recently vacated upstairs space.
New details have emerged about the legal battle between the two tenants in the building of Golden Pudel.
As reported by RA in September 2014, the owners of the Hamburg nightclub have sued the owner of the cafe on the building's top floor, Wolf Richter, for failing to pay into the non-profit fund they started to keep the venue. At the court hearing, Richter argued that the cafe didn't make enough money to pay into the fund. The judge demanded he lay out his books and make his finances public. Richter was also legally required to share ownership of the space upstairs with Golden Pudel's original owner, Rocko Schamoni—a ruling he had previously ignored, claiming the cafe for himself.
St. Pauli Blog reports that Richter has now abandoned the café, called Oberstübchen. If Richter refuses to pay the money he owes Golden Pudel Club, the top floor could be foreclosed. While this would lead to a clean break between Richter and the owners of Golden Pudel, it could also open the gates for new renters to come in upstairs. Even though the club's space is contractually secured for the years to come, the people running the club are hoping to avoid the possibility for the highest bidder to take the space upstairs and turn it into an even more commercial space.
One of the spokespeople of Golden Pudel Club, Schorsch Kamerun, sees it as the city's responsibility to secure the building for the club. The Pudel community has also set up a campaign named The Freaks Are Alright, with which they hope will keep the space alive. "One thing is clear, this house is not a normal piece of real estate," Schorsch is quoted as saying in the St. Pauli Blog post. "No matter what happens, we will fight for this place with many others."