The coronavirus is keeping Berlin's legendary clubs closed but techno mecca Berghain has found a way to throw its doors back open, luring visitors with an unusual sound exhibition.

Just 50 people are let in at a time to allow for physical distancing, but without the venue's notoriously picky doormen standing guard, no one has to worry about being denied entry.

Once inside Berghain's imposing Kessel Hall, it's not the sound of techno that fills the space.

Instead, visitors to the former power plant are enveloped by an eerie, almost surreal soundscape of rhythmic throbbing, soft city noises, murmurings and even the whirling of helicopter blades.

"You listen, you experience, you can close your eyes or leave them open and follow the sound across the room," said Carsten Seiffarth, co-curator of the Singuhr projects, a platform that organizes sound art installations.

The show, known as Eleven songs - Hall at Berghain is the brainchild of artistic duo Sam Auinger and Hannes Strobl and runs until August 2. 

The project was conceived in 2019, well before Germany went into lockdown to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although many of the restrictions have been lifted in recent months with shops, restaurants and museums allowed to reopen, nightclubs remain shut over concerns that crowds mingling indoors could fuel a surge in infections.