Bowie's Berlin:

David Bowie: singer, songwriter, actor and genre bending chameleon with a career spanning decades. His creative impact will be remembered forever. Less known is the impact he had on world events. A concert by Bowie in West Berlin in 1987 was seen by many as the fuse that lit the fire which was to become the end of The Wall, one of the most significant moments in 20th century Cold War history.

Bowie In Berlin - A Creative Love Affair

In 1976 Bowie, numbed by his rockstar lifestyle, needed a fresh creative start away from the excesses of Los Angeles. He was inspired by the avant-garde music coming out of 70’s Germany and this eventually led him to the bohemian and creative mecca of Berlin. During the ensuing period from 1976 to 1979 Bowie went on to create his “Berlin Trilogy” of albums that were Low, Heroes and Lodger. These three albums are widely considered his greatest works and cemented his deep connection with the city of Berlin.

I Will Be King & You Will Be Queen

Whilst Bowie has hundreds of incredible songs to his credit, the one most often associated wit his brilliance is Heroes. This iconic title track drips with emotion and beauty and very clearly demonstrates the influence the city of Berlin and German electronic music had on him at the time.

Heroes has an anthemic quality that cannot but help stir emotions in the listener. It contains one of the most emotive vocal performances Bowie was ever to record and its lyric, about two lovers meeting in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, became a powerful Cold War symbol that highlighted the tragedy of The Wall’s existence.

Singing By The Wall - The Start Of Change

In 1987 Bowie was back again in his beloved Berlin for a series of shows. One of the most important was when he played a two-day festival in West Berlin, close to the Reichstag. So loud was the concert that fans in neighbouring East Berlin could hear it and a large crowd, hoping to listen, soon gathered on the East side of The Wall.

East German police tried to break-up the crowd, often with the use of violence. Bowie’s appearance on the second night of the show brought the biggest crowds to the Eastern side of The Wall. Rather than succumb to the brutalities of the police the crowd hunkered down and were emboldened hearing Bowie on the other side.

This was the first large scale protest of Easteners by The Wall and the start of change. Bowie could hear the applause and emotions from the Easterners and he has said that, when he played Heroes to them, it felt like sending out “a prayer”.

The Fall of The Wall

This major protest by the Easteners, who simply started out trying to listen to a concert, brought great attention to their plight and pressure to bear on political leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev. Two years later, in 1989, The Wall came down for good and the world was changed forever. And, as we now know, it all started with a little help from the legendary Mr Bowie.