David Bowie sought solace in Berlin when his life was spiralling out of control following his early musical success and the attention that accompanied it. During his time in Berlin, Bowie wrote 3 studio albums – Low and Heroes in 1977, and The Lodger in 1979. So, as a Bowie fan, on a recent visit to Berlin, I was keen to learn more about Bowie in Berlin and booked a David Bowie Walking Tour with my daughters (music education!). Here’s how we found it…
Table of Contents
The context of Bowie in Berlin
The creative genius needed a break!
Bowie escaped to Berlin from Los Angeles where he was struggling – drugs had got a grip, his marriage was ending and his relationship with his management team was creaking. He was also stuck in a musical ‘space rut’ (Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Space Oddity, Starman, The Man Who Fell to Earth….) and wanted to change direction. So his break to Berlin came at a critical time for him.
Cold War Era
When Bowie arrived in Berlin in 1978 it was during the Cold War era, with the city divided by the Berlin Wall into East and West Berlin. It was the perfect place to live anonymously and away from the glare of the press.
Flat sharing with his friend Iggy Pop, Bowie gave up drugs and immersed himself in the theatre, music and art of West Berlin. He took inspiration from the city’s predicament, the people he met, German music (Kraftwerk and Tangerine Orange) and successfully transformed his sound, writing one of his most iconic songs, Heroes (more of that later). Bowie’s time in Berlin was time well spent!
David Bowie Walking Tour in Berlin
First, I would like to say how much I enjoyed the David Bowie Walking Tour (booked through Get Your Guide) in Berlin and how knowledgeable our tour guide was.
Whilst I am outlining our tour experience below, our guide gave us so much more information and insights about Bowie in Berlin – it’s a must for any Bowie fan if you can book on!
Note – you will take trips on the Metro during the Bowie Walking Tour so it’s a good idea to buy the day Metro Pass for your journeys.
Ständige Vertretung Café
We met our tour guide at Ständige Vertretung Café on the banks of the River Spree, opposite Friedrichstrasse Station. The Café is near the German parliament building and over the years has hosted politicians, intellectuals, and creatives, including David Bowie and Iggy Pop.
Bertolt Brecht and Baal
After introductions we walked along the river to the Bertolt Brecht statue in nearby Bertolt-Brecht-Platz. Bertolt Brecht was a famous German poet, playwright (‘The Threepenny Opera’, ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’) and Theatre Director who worked at the Berliner Ensemble which stands at the back of the square. Bowie was fascinated with Brecht’s work and later went on to star in a BBC adaptation of ‘Baal’ written by Brecht and to release an EP to accompany the programme.
The sounds of Bowie
Then the fun really began as our tour guide reached into his cross-body satchel and flicked a switch on the speaker concealed in his bag. Much to my teenage daughters’ embarrassment the sounds of Bowie flooded the air as our tour guide strode off to our next stop leaving us to totter after him with the music blaring away – he didn’t even turn it off when we got on the Metro (funny)!
Cabaret at Anhalter Bahnhof Station
We got off the Metro at the Anhalter Bahnhof station which features in the movie Caberet starring Lisa Minelli and Michael Yorke, a favourite of Bowie. However, what he discovered when he arrived in Berlin was a half-ruined station rather than the beautiful station from the film, once Europe’s largest railway station. Sadly, it was partially destroyed during the WW2 allied bombings.
The Berlin Trilogy and the Hansa Studios
Around the corner from the station are the Hansa Studios where Bowie worked with Tony Visconti and Brian Eno to record The Berlin Trilogy albums of Low (1977), Heroes (1977) and The Lodger (1979). Bowie also assisted Iggy Pop in the recording of Lust for Life at the studio.
The title track of the Heroes album was recorded in the legendary Meistersaal (‘Masters Hall’) of Hansa Studios. Microphones were placed at different distances around the studio which you can hear in the finished song – a mix of close-up singing and shouting to other microphones.
The Hansa Studios once overlooked the Berlin Wall and the song Heroes became an anthem for Berlin with lyrics inspired by the city’s division – telling the story of two lovers who meet on either side of the wall but long to be together, referencing what might happen if they tried (“Standing by the wall, And the guns, shot above our heads. And we kissed, as nothing could fall”).
Going 'station to station' and to places that influenced Bowie in Berlin
After a short walk to Potsdamer Platz, we caught the U2 underground line to Wittenberg Platz, home of the KaDeWe upmarket department store. Along the way our tour guide offered many anecdotes about Bowie in Berlin – his time in the city and what he wrote about the city when he returned years later (‘The Next Day’).
This was followed by stops at Zoologischer Garten and stories about where Bowie used to like to frequent nearby (Paris Bar and DSchungel or ‘Jungle’ in English) and who he used to hang out with.
Bowie’s flat in Schöneberg
Our last stop was at Nollendorfplatz followed by a short walk to 155 Hauptstrasse in Schöneberg, the site of Bowie’s apartment which he once shared with Iggy Pop. Allegedly the room on the first floor in the bay window inspired the song Sound and Vision (“blue, blue, electric blue, that’s the colour of my room, where I will live”). There is a plaque to commemorate his stay and small mural outside on the wall.
Café Neues Ufer
A few doors down from Bowie’s apartment is Café Neues Ufer, Berlin’s first openly gay bar which opened in 1977, where David and Iggy used to drink. Unfortunately, it was not open when we visited but we could see memorabilia on the walls through the windows.
Our tour ended here and so we retraced our steps back to the underground station and returned to Potsdamer Platz. If you love Bowie, then you will enjoy this tour and the insight into Bowie in Berlin. Similarly, like my girls, if you want to start learning about this cultural icon, then the David Bowie Walking Tour is a great idea!
Bonus - Take a boat tour to rest your legs
If you’re looking for something to do before the Bowie Walking Tour then you can pick up a boat tour with Reederei Bruni Winkler from the bridge outside the Friedrichstrasse Station, opposite the starting point for the Bowie tour at the Ständige Vertretung Café. There are different tours varying from 1 hour to 3.5 hours.
Before heading for the boat, look out for the Trains to Life – Trains to Death sculpture outside Friedrichstrasse train station. This brass sculpture is one of a series displayed in train stations across Europe (Hamburg, London, Gdansk, and the Hook of Holland). It depicts two groups of children – one group symbolise those saved by the Kindertransport which took 10,000 Jewish children to safety outside of Germany, and the other group represent the 1.6 million children taken by train to concentration camps.
We enjoyed gliding through Berlin on the boat tour and admiring the views along the way – the Boden Museum on Museum island, the TV Tower (Fernsehturm) and twin spires of a church in the Nickolai area, spotting the Cathdral’s dome, a mix of old and new architecture along the banks, colourful balconies with sun brollies, people enjoying the sunshine on the river banks, and a cool Berlin beach bar with rows of deckchairs overlooking the River Spree.
After the boat tour your sightseeing legs will be well rested before you begin the Bowie in Berlin walking tour!
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