November 2013
Group headed by Dimitri Hegemann, Berlin techno entrepreneur forms with help of Detroit writer/artist Walter Wasacz.
May 2014
First conference of Detroit-Berlin Connection held at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD). The event featured presenters from Berlin and panelists from Detroit.
November 2014
Workshop with Dimitri Hegemann and Mario Husten of Berlin-based project Holzmarkt held at Trinosophes in Detroit.
May 2015
Second conference of Detroit-Berlin Connection held at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (Detroit).
August 2015
Detroit delegation of government officials and community leaders travels to Berlin to see first hand examples of outside the box entrepreneurship that led to growth of the creative economy in Berlin over the past 25 years.
September 2015
Partnership with the Packard Plant in Detroit begins. Plans include developing pop up dance club, restaurant and hostel and organizing an art-music festival in 2016.
October 2015
Meeting with teams of architects chosen for an exhibition of new speculative architectural projects designed for specific sites in Detroit, including the Packard Plant. The exhibition will open to the public in the US Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. The Detroit-Berlin Connection will also assist in programming talent for parties at the Venice event.
November 2015
The Detroit-Berlin Connection becomes a 5013c non-profit organization.
May 2016
Third Annual Detroit-Berlin Connection Conference
May 2017
Fourth Annual Detroit-Berlin Connection Conference at Jam Handy. It focused on a round table discussion with creatives and community stakeholders along with city officials to discuss the viability of the night economy in Detroit.
October 2017
DBC Chairman, Dimitri Hegemann plants roots in Detroit and purchases property in the City of Detroit.
May 2018
Fifth Annual Detroit-Berlin Conference at Tangent Gallery. We hosted a house party for Mayor Duggan and included a community feedback session that brought together the neighbors and businesses in the North End neighborhood. There was an overwhelming amount of positive feedback about making the neighborhood a destination for the night economy. We proposed a test designation of 24-hour operations for event spaces in hopes of increasing tourism to the city.
May 2019
Sixth Annual Detroit-Berlin Conference hosted at Tangent Gallery. This year’s focus is A Safe and Legal Path to 24-Hours.
December 2019
The Detroit-Berlin Connection is leading efforts to end the decades-long dance curfew from 2 to 7:30 a.m. in the city. The laws stretch back to a time when auto industry and political leaders in Detroit, along with the state's Liquor Control Commission, aimed to limit hours of entertainment as a way to protect business interests - as well as reduce late night options for people of color in the neighborhoods like Black Bottom-Paradise Valley, which flourished with jazz and blues clubs in the 1930s and 1940s, but was demolished to make way for interstate highways and other urban renewal projects in the 1950s.
May 2023
7th Annual Detroit Berlin Conference is scheduled at Tuxedo Bar. This years focus is Detroit Nightlife United.