Hi!

I just read this article and it might be interesting for you as well if you "only" have a B permit or less. (like me)
Bottom line: If you do not have a Swiss ID or a C permit, you will not get into some Clubs in Bern "for security reasons and to have the right mix of guests"... I wonder what you mix if you keep the foreigners out...

Did anyone ever experienced the same? (I never considered myself to be a security problem...)

http://www.20min.ch/news/bern/story/10051640

Sad but at the end of the day it's their club and they can let in who they like.

Chalk it up as one establishment to avoid. Go somewhere a bit more forward thinking and progressive. Would you really want to go somewhere where there are a load of drunk people who have a dislike of foreigners hanging around nursing a big fat chip on their collective shoulders?

Recipe for a fantastic night out - NOT!

I must admit that it gives me a strange feeling. Not because one nightclub is doing it, it is more the idea that if it catches on and is relativly successful more and more night clubs could start enforcing the same rules.

No reason to overact at the moment though. . .

Oh well, at least we know where first to run with pitchforks come the revolution...

Nah, if too many clubs do it, it'll wreck their takings. Imagine how many tourists they'll have to turn away on account of their Swisslessness and lack of C permit.

I've also heard of this going on at various clubs in Switzerland, including the "Mad Wallstreet" club in Luzern.

Well I do not expect these rules to be used by bars in St Moritz or Gstaad, but most of us live in the less touristic areas.

The point I do not get is to use the permit as a criteria... you only need to be here for five years to get your "C", that does not neccessarily make you less of a troublemaker... and there are even some Swiss nationals I do not need to meet in a bar!

A few years ago, I tried to go into Quasimodo with someone that was
non-white, and they asked for memberships from us.

The next night, I went with two blond-haired ladies, and they
let us in without standing in line.

So Yes, I have had this experience before at this same club.

I'd think that it is more grounds to reject people they don't like the looks of, than a hard and fast rule without exception. If you have followed the news, there is an increase in beatings and stabbings around Switzerland, including Bern, and it is mostly non-permit holders behind it, though Swiss sometimes too.

Yes, this is something quite frequent at the "chic" clubs.

I am a white latin, I never had those problems, but I have seen latin and black people refused the entry with that excuse. The bouncer asked them for their membership card, just after he left me in without asking... and that was the first time I was there.

So instead of, "I don't like your shoes" it is "I don't like your Auslanderausweis"

Really? The sniper guy in Zurich used his army rifle, must therefore have a CH Passport, two of the three killers from last weekend had Swiss Passports as well (and I bet the third had a "C")...
http://www.20min.ch/news/schweiz/story/28816368
The guy who shot his "business partner" in Altstetten had his own business and lived here ten years and so on... to be honest: The discussion is usually focussing on the Ex-Yugoslavian nationals living here. (...which really seem to be involved in the worst crimes over proportion...) The conflict in Yugoslavia was in the early nineties, so they all arrived by far long enough ago to have their "Niederlassung" by now.

And I have the feeling that keeping them separated from the rest of the society will not lower the crime rate...

Perhaps someone should start a Swiss-free nightclub - just to redress the balance and to allow foreigners to escape the drudgery of Swiss life for an evening.

I'd have an area with washing machines where you can use them at leisure, and an area with showers exclusively for use after 10pm.

Cheers,
Nick

Cheers to you too Nick, nothing like a good belly laugh for a Grey afternoon.

Nothing unusual in that. A pretty girl (or two , or three , etc ) on your arm basically guarantees entry into the average nightclub the world over.

Crikey, anyone even remotely experienced with going to nightclubs should know trying to get into a busy place as a single, or group of, male(s) is a crap shoot, regardless of whether your skin is white, yellow, brown, or any other colour (unless, of course, you drive up in a car that costs more than most families make every few years). That's just the way those places work.

..well, let's not go off the deep end, I think it is largely a practical matter, not discrimination. For some reason lately, discos have become a magnet for people looking for trouble, mainly peeple from Balkan countries and Turks. The bouncers may want to have a look at your name as well as your face, just in case, and they may also have a list of trouble makers they want to check you against. One such disco fight recently sent something like 15 peeps to the hospital, so take it as in your favor that you don't become one of them.

Well if they seriously do not let anyone in without a C, I will stay out (as I only have a B). If that is a favor, the club cannot be that good... but if you tell me that it is not discriminating to filter guests by nationality, I do not get it. What would be more discriminating?

That's wierd. I just gave you an informed answer, so now I can't figure out whether you are looking for trouble or looking for answers. If you are looking for trouble, that's easy, you can find it anywhere. If you are looking for answers, that's easy, just pick up the phone and call one of the places you are interested in, that's what I did.

really? presumably this applies to black people and other minorities as well - provided it's not a public club? i thought the days of "NO COLOREDS" were over a long time ago. sad. or maybe it's just that skin colour is the only important thing in racism?

so the solution to problems caused by a minority is outright racism? i would rather literally jump off the deep end than listen to any more of this end-justifies-the-means rubbish.

Well maybe my intentions are unclear:
I am not looking for trouble (???), if I would like to have trouble with xenophobic Swiss people, I would not search for them on the EF. (www.svp.ch is the place to go...)

Actually I was only interested if the other folks here share my view that it is not just xenophobic, but actually clear discrimination to filter your guests by nationality. Obviously, you disagree.
I am not blind or stupid, no bar owner anywhere in Europe is interested in a gang of teenage troublemakers and will tell their bouncers to keep them out. No matter if they happen to be Albanian, Serbian, English, German or Swiss.
The difference is that the guy in the article publicly states that ALL foreigners which are less than five years in the country are kept out to keep the place "safe". This would get him to court in many European nations.
I strongly believe that no one should be discriminated by Nationality, religion, skin color, gender or whatever else... and this is quite the opposite.
I am maybe too liberal for Switzerland or it is the heritage of my own country but these things must be nipped in the bud...