Gully (Frankfurt am Main)

The restaurant on Brönnerstrasse (2007).

The Sinkkasten Artsclub ( spelling : sinkkasten arts club , meanwhile also just Sinkkasten ) was a music venue in Frankfurt am Main , which was run by the “Arts Club Sinkkasten e. V. ”was operated. The association was founded in 1971 by students as a music club and in the following decades developed into a concert venue of supraregional importance. At the end of 2011 the restaurant was closed due to bankruptcy . The Zoom music bar has been located in the same location since 2012 .

history

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Origin and basic idea

Manu Dibango (1982).

At the beginning of the 1970s, employment opportunities in Frankfurt consisted essentially of conservative and correspondingly expensive offers, both in the cultural and leisure sectors. Young people were forced to look for alternatives. The example of the Aquarius youth club showed that it was possible to provide a largely musical offer created by students for young people. The initiative was run by the business administration students Detlef Christoph and Werner Vogel and the graphic artist Marianne Christoph, who wanted to start something similar in an old, empty cellar vault in Frankfurt's old town at Mainstrasse 2, not far from Aquarius . Above all, cultural events of various kinds should be offered at moderate prices.

Realization of the project

The first thing to do was to clean the vaulted cellar and prepare it for its new purpose. This was mostly done in-house with extensive support from the Society for the Promotion of New Orleans Jazz (GfN). The mayor at the time, Walter Möller , issued the approval of the public order office. The cultural office under Hilmar Hoffmann supported the project. With financial support from the Passavantwerke (an iron foundry), which also supplied the gullies used as lamps, and many other volunteer workers, the music cellar of the Sinkkasten Arts Club e. V. opened in April 1971. The two Christophs and Vogel were elected to the board. At the opening, the New Orleans Brass Band moved through Frankfurt-Sachsenhausen over the Main Bridge to Mainstrasse. The economic basis at that time was a membership card valid for one month for 3 DM and the drinks sales at relatively low prices, which was especially welcomed by the young people and on the other hand led to the fact that the artists were willing to perform at appropriately acceptable prices.

Further development and relocation to new rooms

Initially, with advice from Dieter Nentwig , the local jazz bands provided most of the program, but there were already photo exhibitions, painting exhibitions, for example. B. by prisoners, guest performances by the Fulda puppet theater (Gerhard Hoßner, 1940–1988), pantomime by Duzan Parizek, a happening with Otto Muehl , appearances mostly by local rock bands, theater performances and screenings of films that were not shown in the cinemas. Due to the monthly program, which was also published in various magazines, the number of artists from home and abroad who were interested in appearing in the gully increased rapidly. Artists such as Rahsaan Roland Kirk , Memphis Slim and Herbie Mann soon appeared in the gully .

At that time there were five floors of apartments above the vaulted cellar. Some of them suffered from considerable noise pollution, which often led to the intervention of the public order office. The continued existence of the restaurant, which has now become famous, was questioned, especially since the most important proponent, Lord Mayor Walter Möller, had surprisingly died. With the support of the head of the cultural department, Hilmar Hoffmann, new rooms were finally found on the first floor of the centrally located Brönnerstraße, where the Storyville jazz bar and the Zoom disco had previously been operated. These could also be paid for due to rent subsidies from the cultural office and Saalbau GmbH .

The city of Frankfurt honored the previous work of the gully by having the rooms converted and redesigned at their own expense and according to the wishes of the remaining operators, Marianne and Detlef Christoph. The move took place in 1979. The gully operators returned the favor by taking over the program of the jazz series of events in the museum on a voluntary basis. Since the mid-1970s, visitors to the museum have been introduced to jazz and blues concerts free of charge on Sunday lunchtimes in the courtyard of the Historical Museum , in keeping with Hoffmann's leitmotif, Culture for All . Dieter Buroch , who worked in the cultural office, was responsible for the technical organization .

In the new restaurant of the sink box there were still art exhibitions in addition to the normal stage operation, there were also some modeling and painting workshops under professional guidance, and finally, as part of a theater festival, pantomime workshops. The projects were financed by the monthly fee of 7 DM and the bar, which covered a large part of the monthly costs. In addition to the stage hall and exhibition room, there was also a small kitchen and a light-flooded café, called the Café Treibhaus . This was furnished with antique furniture and lamps, lots of green plants and a wall painting that showed the view of the Frankfurt palm garden . The environment should underline the alternative character of the gully. As early as 1980, the operators tried to dissuade visitors from smoking. They had the cigarette machine removed and offered to exchange cigarettes for sweets.

Due to the larger capacity, in addition to artists from Germany, many international artists of world renown could now be presented, which brought the gully international reputation. The long-time employee Rudolf Link took over the management in 1983 and partially delegated the program design to other employees, which, in addition to the cultural scenery that has changed over the years, gave the gully a different character after some time.

In 1998, the Saalbau GmbH, which was the tenant of the rooms, withdrew from the lease in the course of closing various town houses. The operators have now become tenants themselves in order to be able to continue running the club. At the same time, the rent increased significantly. There was only a small amount of rental support from the city until this too silted up in 2002. In the following years the operators were forced to charge higher entrance fees per event in order to be able to pay the artists and the rent. This took away the opportunity for many unknown newcomers to the cultural scene to present themselves to a random audience on the gully stage. The disco events became a major factor in increasing revenue.

Shortly after the gully's 40th birthday, "the management of the Sinkkasten Arts Club filed for insolvency proceedings at the Frankfurt am Main district court on May 27, 2011 " (Detlef Kinsler, Journal Frankfurt of June 3, 2011). On December 22, 2011, the insolvency administrator announced that the restaurant would be closed at the end of the year because the lease had not been extended. On New Year's Eve 2012, the last event took place in the gully.

Guest performances (selection)

Program posters in Brönnerstrasse (2007).

Old gully, Mainstrasse 2

Champion Jack Dupree & Mickey Baker in the old gully

Lester Bowie Group

Modern jazz and blues Performance year (s) Artist origin 1971, 1973, 1977 Big Joe Williams United States 1971, 1974 Memphis Slim United States 1972 Baby Boy Warren & Boogie Woogie Red United States 1972 Lightnin 'Slim United States 1972 Little Brother Montgomery United States 1972, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988 Jan Garbarek Norway 1972-1987 Champion Jack Dupree United States 1973 Homesick James United States 1973 Passport Germany 1973, 1975 Oscar Benton Netherlands 1973, 1975, 1976 Slide Hampton United States 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1982 Blind John Davis United States 1973, 1976 Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee United States 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979 Albert Mangelsdorff Germany 1974 Bukka White United States 1974 Cousin Joe Pleasant United States 1974 Eddie Taylor United States 1974 Herbie man United States 1974 Roosevelt Sykes United States 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979 Willie Mabon United States 1974, 1976 Inge Brandenburg Germany 1974, 1977 Eddie Boyd blues band United States 1975, 1977 Eddie Vinson United States 1975, 1977, 1980, 1983 Dexter Gordon United States 1975, 1978 Sunnyland Slim United States 1976 Charles Mingus United States 1976 Rahsaan Roland Kirk United States 1976 Robert Pete Williams United States 1976, 1977, 1981 Pharoah Sanders United States 1976, 1978, 1980 Chet Baker United States 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981 Elvin Jones United States 1976, 1978, 1981, 1984 Joe Henderson United States 1977, 1978 Cecil Taylor United States 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981 Kind of Blakey United States 1977, 1979 Yusef Lateef United States 1977, 1979, 1980 Johnny Griffin United States 1977, 1980 Archie Shepp United States

Modern jazz and blues Performance year (s) Artist origin 1977, 1982 Louisiana Red United States 1977-1985 Abdullah Ibrahim South Africa 1977-1991 Alphonse Mouzon United States 1978 Clark Terry United States 1978 Floyd Dixon United States 1978, 1979 Little Willie Littlefield United States 1978, 1981, 1986 Carla Bley Big Band United States 1978, 1982 Art Ensemble of Chicago Chicago 1979 Freddie Hubbard United States 1979 Leon Thomas United States 1980 Albert Collins United States 1980 Albert King United States 1980 Alexis Korner Great Britain 1980 Sonny Stitt United States 1980 World Saxophone Quartet United States 1980, 1981 Otis Rush United States 1980, 1983 Charlie Mariano United States 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 Luther Allison United States 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 Airto Moreira Brazil 1981 Billy Cobham Panama 1981 Buddy guy United States 1981 Don Cherry United States 1981 Junior Wells United States 1981 Koko Taylor United States 1981 Ray Barretto United States 1981 Taj Mahal United States 1981, 1983 Manu Dibango Cameroon 1981, 1983, 1984 Lester Bowie United States 1981, 1985, 1991 James Blood Ulmer United States 1982 Eddie Harris United States 1982, 1983, 1985 Dudu Pukwana ’s Zila South Africa 1983 Clarence Gatemouth Brown United States 1983 Lou Donaldson United States 1984, 1985 Sun Ra Arkestra United States 1985 Bo Diddley United States 1985 Jimmy Witherspoon United States 1985 Katie Webster United States 1988 Johnny Copeland United States Gil Evans Canada Herbie Hancock United States Jimmy Dawkins United States Long John Baldry Great Britain

New Orleans Jazz 1971 Barry Martyn jazz band London 1971-1987 Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band London 1972 Geoff Bull's Olympia Jazz Band Australia 1972-1980 Barrelhouse jazz band Frankfurt a. M. 1973, 1974 Louis Nelson London 1973, 1978 Benny Waters United States 1974, 1975 Old Merry Tale jazz band Hamburg 1975 Pasadena Roof Orchestra Great Britain 1975 The Louisiana Shakers United States 1976, 1982 Hagaw Association Poland Rock jazz Performance year (s) Artist origin 1971-1979 Dieter Seelow Germany 1975 Sahara Germany 1975-1989 Mombasa United States 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986 Fisherman's Walkband Germany Shivananda Switzerland

Folk Performance year (s) Artist origin 1971, 1973, 1975 John Pearse Great Britain 1972 Derroll Adams United States 1972, 1973 Eddie & Finbar Furey Ireland 1972, 1973, 1976 Schnuckenack Reinhardt Germany 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981 Häns'che Weiss Quintet Germany 1974, 1981 Marion Williams : The Stars of Faith United States 1975 Sebastião Tapajós Brazil 1976 Zipflo Reinhardt Violin Impression Germany 1976, 1977 The Tannahill Weavers Scotland 1977 The Bothy Band Ireland 1980, 1981 Julian Dawson Great Britain 1980, 1987 Piirpauke Finland 1981, 1992 Richie Havens United States 1982 Barry McGuire United States 1983 Sanjukta Panigrahi India 1989 Arlo Guthrie United States 1994 Al Stewart Great Britain Fairport Convention Great Britain

Rock , pop , salsa , reggae Performance year (s) Artist origin 1972 genesis Great Britain 1972 Clay stones shards Germany 1975 Keith Tippett Great Britain 1975-1983 Jim Kahr United States 1976-1981 Beatles Revival Band Frankfurt a. M. 1978 Jutta Weinhold Germany 1979 Dillinger (musician) Jamaica 1979 Tim Curry Great Britain 1979, 1980 Spider Murphy Gang Munich 1980 Kiev Stingl Stereolisa Germany 1980, 1987 Johnny and the Hurricanes United States 1982 Achim Reichel Germany 1982 Peter Hammill England 1982 Wilfrido Vargas Dominican Republic 1982, 1988 Herman Brood Netherlands 1983 The Touch (band) Germany 1983, 1988, 1990, 1992 Mitch Ryder United States 1984 Spencer Davis Great Britain 1984 Radio Zebra United States 1986 Scrifis Germany 1987, 1988 The Pretty Things Great Britain 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994 Canned heat United States 1988 Junior Walker Allstars United States 1989 Rare Earth United States Peter Green Great Britain Rose pride Berlin Rufus Thomas United States

Theater and show Performance years Artist origin 1972, 1973, 1977, 1981, 1983 Boy stage 57 Frankfurt a. M. 1972 Ken Campbell ’s Roadshow London 1972, 1974, 1977 Rational theater Munich 1972, 1974 Basement theater sand grain Karlsruhe 1978 Footsbarn Theater Great Britain 1979, 1983, 1985, 1987 Jango Edwards & the Friends Band United States 1979 Hallucination Company Vienna 1981-1988 Johnny Melville (Comedian) Great Britain 1978, 1979, 1980 Shusaku Dormu Dance Theater Japan 1979, 1980 first general uncertainty Austria 1979, 1983 Bette Bourne ’s Bloolips Great Britain Carl Napp 's Chaostheater Germany 1982, 1983 Bath salts Hesse 1982 Drahdiwaberl Vienna 1983 Gardi Hutter Italy 1991 Helge Schneider Germany Oral stool Frankfurt a. M.

cabaret Performance year (s) Artist origin 1973, 1974 Franz Hohler Switzerland 1977 Rolf Linnemann Germany Franz Josef Bogner Germany 1977, 1982, 1987 Evelyn Künneke Germany 1977 Konstantin Wecker Germany Curetic & Virch Germany 1978, 1979, 1982 Hanns Dieter Hüsch Germany 1980 Philipp Sunday Germany 1980 Bruno Jonas Germany 1982 Tschiersch & Fischer Germany 1987 The 3 tornadoes Germany

Author readings Performance year (s) author 1973 Theodor Weissenborn 1973, 1975 Gerhard Zwerenz 1975 Peter Turini 1975 Alice Schwarzer 1975 Volker Spengler

literature

• Jürgen Schwab, Harald Hertel: The Frankfurt Sound: a city and its jazz history (s), Societätsverlag, 2004 ISBN 978-3-7973-0888-7 , pp. 207 ff.
• Demanding and unpretentious The "sink box" - the veteran of the club scene . In Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of January 9, 1998, p. 45

Web links

Commons : Gully  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

• From the gully via Storyville, Zoom, Gully back to the Zoom History of a cultural site
• Gully An era is coming to an end, FR
• Out for a Frankfurt legend - review of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of December 29, 2011.

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 54 ″  N , 8 ° 41 ′ 0 ″  E

Individual evidence

1. ↑ New operator: Sinkkasten becomes Zoom , Frankfurter Rundschau, January 17, 2012