Dorian Gray (discotheque)

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Logo of the Dorian Gray

The Dorian Gray was a popular nightclub in the 1980s and 1990s at Frankfurt Airport . The founders and operators Gerd Schüler and Michael Presinger oriented the club, which opened on November 8, 1978, at Studio 54 in New York . The establishment of the discotheque cost more than DM 2.5 million and laid the foundation for the “most successful airport club”. The discotheque was named after the book Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde .

The "Dorian Gray" was on Level 0 (low level) of Hall C in Terminal 1 of the airport. The Dorian Gray was not affected by curfew , which at that time was 4:00 a.m. in Frankfurt.

music

Fur fashion show at Dorian Gray (1981)

Up to 2500 guests danced per night on three floors (Runningman, Studio 54 and Chillout) - at the end of the 1970s to disco , funk and soul , later, from 1984, mainly to electronic music such as EBM , house , new wave and techno music , from 1992 to Blackmusic in the small club.

Well-known DJs were Sven Väth , Torsten Fenslau , Ulli Brenner , Michael Münzing , DJ Dag , Talla 2XLC , DJ Taucher , Tom Wax , Mark Spoon , Heinz Felber , Pascal FEOS , Björn Mulik , DJ T. , Andy Düx and DJ Jeff .

Sound and light technology

The discotheque had a Richard Long Sound System design that was spectacular at the time . Due to the use of large horn loudspeakers , which were equipped with JBL and Gauss - Alnico low-tone transducers , loud and clear sounds were made possible despite relatively low amplifier outputs . In the picture on the right you can see the JBL 4520 rearload horns. In addition to the very powerful bass, the JBL 075 high-frequency horn radiators, which hung in two blocks of four above the dance floor in the large club, provided the typical disco sound with high volume and great clarity. The turntable system consisted of Thorens - and later Technics - devices until the mid-1990s . The lighting system consisted of red, green and orange fluorescent tubes that were attached to mirror surfaces. Warning lights from American police cars of the 1970s and movie studio headlights were installed around the dance floor of the large club. The Dorian Gray had fog machines and various light effect devices. A powerful green laser was in operation until the mid-1990s . Among the light jockeys included, among other butcher Alexander .

closure

Entrance door of Dorian Gray (2005)

On December 31, 2000, the discotheque in Frankfurt am Main was closed because official requirements for modernizing the fire protection facilities could not be met due to the outdated premises. The last record , which was played in Dorian Gray was Lovin 'You by Minnie Riperton and was the resident DJ launched Ufuk in the small club. Years after the closure, the pictured door to the Dorian Gray was still installed in the airport building, although the fixtures behind it had long since been torn down and removed. In January 2008, after renovation, modernization and compliance with fire protection requirements, a shopping arcade was opened in Hall C / Level 0.

Others

At the beginning of 2003, the two former operators started a new edition of the club in Berlin at Potsdamer Platz , which, however, could not build on the success of the Frankfurt original and was closed again. The 'sister discotheque' of Dorian Gray, the Perkins Park in Stuttgart , which was planned by Schüler and Presinger two years after the opening of the Dorian Gray in Frankfurt based on the same concept, still exists. In the years 2006–2008, the Airport Night took place at the end of each year at Frankfurt Airport , which was supposed to revive the old days of the Dorian Gray discotheque.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ top v .: “Million-Disco in the Airport”, Der Spiegel 49/1978 of December 4, 1978, p. 228 online
  2. ↑ Von Wellershoff: "Flight into the night", Der Spiegel 48/1997 of November 24, 1997, p. 137 online
  3. ↑ youtube.com - Dorian Gray Time Machine (floor names @ 2:52, 3:09)
  4. ^ Dorian Gray Frankfurt Memorial. In: Tranergy.de. Retrieved August 7, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Richard Long (* 1933; † December 9, 1986) ( Memento from January 21, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  6. ↑ Around 15,000 guests at the Frankfurt Airport Night ; pressrelations.de, November 28, 2008

Coordinates: 50 ° 3 ′ 3.9 ″  N , 8 ° 34 ′ 27 ″  E