History
The building originally housed a sugar refinery built in the 19th century. In 1920, OVVV bought the factory and used it as a milk factory until it closed in 1969. The building was closed for a year, but reopened by Cor Schlösser and others as a cultural center, with its first event on July 17, 1970. It was only open for the summer; it featured a café, a restaurant and one hall for music and theatre. This was a success: Melkweg reopened in the summer of 1971 and 1972 before becoming a year-round venue in 1973. In the 1980s, it became more focused on live music. In 1985, a photo gallery opened. In 1995, The Max opened, first with a capacity of 1,000 people, expanded to 1,500 in 2007. By 2010, the venue was hosting 400,000 guests annually and was estimated to have hosted 9 million guests since it opened. [3]
Notable events
- In October 1980, U2 played their first concert outside of Ireland and the United Kingdom at the Melkweg. [1]
- In October 1981, The Grateful Dead played two unscheduled shows at the venue using borrowed instruments.
- Nirvana played at the venue in November 1989, before they were famous. [4]
- In 1994, Rammstein, then an unknown newly formed band, played a show at the venue that was attended by 40 people. [1]
- In 2011, Prince played a surprise show at the venue, with tickets going on sale one hour before the show started. [2]
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