Off Limits

Off Limits by Rab Lewin provides a rare glimpse into Berlin’s squatter and techno-traveller communities in the years immediately following the fall of the Wall.

The book documents a liminal cityscape left half-derelict before reunification, where abandoned buildings became homes, exhibition spaces, political centres, and sites for techno free festivals. Rab Lewin records the bizarre and chaotic alongside intimate moments of friendship, quiet pauses, and candid expressions of freedom.

With an introduction offering historical and cultural context, the images capture the outlandish, spontaneous, and often anarchic adventures of these communities, while also showing their creativity and resilience. From art to architecture, DJs to political action, Off Limits is both a document of a unique era and a testament to alternative subcultures that shaped Berlin.

This is the second edition of the book.