Black Sheep Club - in Karlsruhe city center since June 2025
A place for young people to be creative and come together
Since the beginning of June 2025, the non-profit Karlsruhe-based organization "1001 Perspektiven" has been offering at-risk young people a socio-cultural platform and contact point in the heart of Karlsruhe's city centre in the form of the Black Sheep Club in Herrenstraße.
A meeting place for at-risk young people in Karlsruhe - the Black Sheep Club
Art, sound, context - something very special has been created at Herrenstrasse 7: A place for at-risk young people from difficult backgrounds. Some have a criminal past with experience of violence and drugs, some live on the streets or have run away. Here they find inspiration in the form of concerts, readings, exhibitions and interdisciplinary projects. "We've been around for five years. Before that, we were in Rüppurr. However, the building there is to be demolished and when we heard that the premises here in Herrenstraße were becoming available, it quickly became clear that we wanted to set up the Black Sheep Club here," says Dorothea Kartmann, Black Sheep's art and socioculture officer. While the focus in Rüppurr was still on activities such as painting, drawing, pottery or textile work, the Gravity Venue in Herrenstraße is a space where music, sound and film-making take center stage. "We are delighted to have a stage here with sound and lighting technology, as well as musical instruments. We also have a DJ booth and a recording studio," says Dorothea. Thanks to the wide range of offers, such as
- Music
- Art
- Filmmaking
- and photography
young people can discover their creative strengths and try out new things.
All of this takes place in Herrenstrasse, in the protected and inspiring space of Black Sheep, where young people, artists, social pedagogues, psychologists and media professionals come together to realize socio-cultural and creative projects. "1001 Perspectives is often the last hope for young people at risk and they are referred to us by the youth welfare office. A concept and the necessary measures are developed in a preliminary discussion with the youth welfare office, the parents or guardians and also the young people - which is different in each individual case. Together with the social and youth welfare office, we then determine what help is needed for the young people, for example in the form of the Black Sheep Club."
Here, at the Black Sheep Club, at-risk young people find work and become part of a community. This is incredibly important and an extremely big step for many of them.
Events of the Black Sheep Club in Karlsruhe
The Black Sheep Club offers regular events to present what they have created to an audience. "The young people work as a team here - there is someone who controls the technology and sound, someone else takes care of the catering and others are on stage on the day," says Dorothea. The next event at the Black Sheep Club is the final presentation of the "Urban Sound Project". "Anyone can take part in advance. We search for and collect city sounds together and record them. The sounds are stored on a sampler on site in Herrenstraße and then you can experiment with them," explains Dorothea. The final event on July 18 from 6 p.m. is free of charge and everyone is welcome. "All our future events are also listed in the Karlsruhe calendar of events to be found. It's worth stopping by," says Dorothea.
