Berlin, Apr. 13,2023 [TDR®] The Night a Berlin Bar Called the Police Because We Sat Too Close to Quentin Tarantino

Date: April 13, 2023
Location: Haifischbar Berlin, Arndtstraße 25, 10965 Kreuzberg

I Want to Tell You Exactly What Happened

We were sitting in a bar. We had drinks in front of us. We were doing nothing wrong.
That’s where this story starts - and it’s important you hold onto that, because everything that followed was built on the assumption that “nothing wrong” wasn’t enough.

The Haifischbar Berlin – a place that has the audacity to advertise "living room atmosphere" and "excellent service" on their website.

The Incident

On the evening of April 13, 2023, we were paying customers at Haifischbar, a cocktail bar in Kreuzberg that describes itself as having a “living room atmosphere” and “excellent service.” At some point we noticed that Quentin Tarantino was also in the room. We didn’t approach him. We didn’t speak to him. We didn’t take out our phones. We simply noticed him, the way you notice anyone in a room, and went back to our evening.

Minutes later, a bartender told us we were bothering him. And asked us to leave.

What Followed Was Not What I Expected From a Democracy

We refused - calmly, clearly - because we had done nothing wrong. That’s when the manager was called. And the manager, rather than speaking to us like adults, called the police.

Not security. Not a mediator. The police.

Two officers arrived quickly. Too quickly for anyone to have had a real conversation about what had actually happened. They didn’t ask for our version of events. They came to remove us, and that was already decided.

I asked if I could finish my drink. One of the officers took my glass, poured the contents into a plastic cup, and handed it back to me.

I want you to sit with that image for a moment: a police officer, in uniform, pouring a cocktail into a plastic cup to speed up my removal. Because thirty seconds of basic dignity was apparently not available that night.

I asked to use the bathroom before leaving. He blocked me physically and pointed at the door.

I asked him - genuinely, not rhetorically - whether he was working for the bar or for the public. His answer was two words: “Shut up.”

His partner stood beside him throughout. She said nothing. Not one word.

When I asked for his service number, he handed me a card. The number on it is stamped so poorly it cannot be read. I still have that card.

I’ve Been Thinking About This for a Long Time

What stays with me isn’t the anger, though the anger was real. It’s the particular feeling of being made invisible. Of having our calm, our reasonableness, our basic conduct count for absolutely nothing in the face of someone else’s discomfort. Of being poured into a plastic cup, in every sense of the phrase.

Berlin has a story it tells about itself. A city of freedom, of anti-authoritarianism, of space for everyone. Kreuzberg especially. We believed that story, at least in part. What we experienced on April 13, 2023 was different: a bartender’s judgment was sufficient to summon state force. A celebrity’s proximity was sufficient to suspend the normal rules of how people are treated. And two police officers acted, from start to finish, as private security for a private establishment without asking a single question.

What I’m Asking For

This isn’t a call for outrage. It’s a call for accountability, which is a more durable thing.

From Haifischbar Berlin:

A public explanation of what happened that night, and under what policy paying customers can be removed without warning, without cause, and without a single attempt at conversation.

From the Berlin Police:

A formal review of the conduct of the officers involved. If you want to file your own complaint, the relevant body is the Unabhängige Beauftragte für die Berliner Polizei - Berlin’s independent police oversight commissioner.

From you, if you’re willing:

∙ Share this if you think it matters.
∙ Leave a factual review of Haifischbar on Google or TripAdvisor.
∙ If something similar happened to you - at this venue, or anywhere in Berlin - document it. File a complaint. Don’t let the illegible service number win.

A Note on Quentin Tarantino

I don’t know what he said, or didn’t say, to the staff. I don’t know what he was aware of. I’m not accusing him of orchestrating anything. But I think it’s worth noting: someone in that room had the power to say “this isn’t necessary”, and didn’t. That silence is part of the story, even if it isn’t the whole of it.

One Last Thing

I was told to shut up that night. By a man in uniform, outside a bar in Kreuzberg, holding a plastic cup that used to be my drink.

I’ve thought about the right response to that for a while now. I think it’s this: to say what happened, clearly and calmly, as many times as it takes for someone to answer for it.

So here it is. What happened.

I still have the card with the illegible number.

The authors were paying customers at Haifischbar Berlin on April 13, 2023. This account is based on direct personal experience.