THE DESTINATION60 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELLER INDIA | JULY 2019
DAVID DIXON/ALAMY/INDIAPICTUREwhere Köthener Strasse and Bernburger Strasse intersect,
there’s a piece of the Berlin Wall behind some chain link
fencing. It’s a single grey panel of the monstrosity that once
divided the city into two. A relic, it sticks out like a sore
thumb amongst the modern buildings that surround it.
It’s absurd. An oddity, much like the Wall itself, in whose
shadows surreptitious meetings took place and forbidden
lovers met, if only briefly, and kissed.
It was exactly this scene—a pair of lovers kissing by the
Berlin Wall—that David Bowie witnessed through one of the
windows at Hansa Studios, also on Köthener Strasse, just 150
feet up the road from the piece of the Wall that I’m gazing at.
Somewhere here, Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti had a quick
rendezvous with a backup singer—Antonia Maass—with
whom he was having an affair. The scene worked its way into
Bowie’s mind, and then into the lyrics that he was scribbling
on a piece of paper. The song it inspired, “Heroes,” would be
recorded in the same studio.
‘I can remember
Standing by the wall
And the guns, shot above our heads
And we kissed, as though nothing could fall’
I can almost hear Bowie crooning away in the background
as I walk towards Hansa Studios, which is still in operation
today. It’s impossible to miss the studio—there’s a huge
hologram of Bowie on the side of the building. Seen at an
angle, it’s a photograph of him with a finger on his lips. Seen
head on, the British musician has his hands around his open
mouth, as if he’s shouting something at you. As I edge closer, I
observe something else there. A laminated card that someone
has taped below the hologram. It has a picture of Bowie on
it, the lightning bolt that he made so popular on the cover of
Aladdin Sane, and a couple of black stars, a nod to the last
album he released, two days before his death on January
10, 2016. Along with it the words, “Don’t believe for just one
second I’m forgetting you. From Lambini x. Love you forever
x.” I feel a curious touch of moisture in my eyes when I see this
tribute, and am suddenly glad that I’m wearing sunglasses.
Later, I find myself a parking spot as close to Hauptstrasse
155 , in the Schöneberg area. Between 1976 and 1978, Bowie
lived on the first floor of this apartment building, sharing a
flat with Iggy Pop. It was the home
that he’d chosen as an escape. In Los
Angeles, Bowie was a famous musician
who couldn’t escape the trappings
of his celebrity, and had developed a
cocaine habit which was leading to
his ruin. In Berlin, he was able to kick
the vices that seemed to come with his
rockstar status, was able to retreat into
anonymity, and, because he was nearly
bankrupt at the time, could also live
frugally. The city (and his able assistant
Corinne ‘Coco’ Schwab) helped him
clean up his act, think straight, and
inspired much of his Berlin trilogy—
the albums Low, Heroes, and Lodger.‘I wanted no distractions
Like every good boy should
My-my
Nothing will corrupt us
Nothing will compete
Thank god heaven left us
Standing on our feet’The lyrics of “Beauty and the Beast,”
the first track on Heroes, is meant to
reflect Bowie’s gratitude at having
overcome the dark phase in his life.
Gratitude not only for the life he led in
Berlin, but for the city itself. Decades
after he wrote the song, the city seems
to have reciprocated with its own
acknowledgement of how important
and intrinsic to the city Bowie is. For
the thousands of fans who flock to
Hauptstrasse 155 every year in search
of where Bowie lived, a plaque was put
in place a few months after his death.
Amongst the many details of Bowie’s
time in the city, one line on the plaque
stands out. It says, simply, “We can be
heroes, just for one day.”
The tributes to Bowie, in
combination with the impossibly
hot day, have left me feeling a little
drained. I’m grateful that my next
stop is 10 steps away from where
I’m standing. Back in the day, the
Neues Ufer (New Shore) used to be
an establishment called Anderes Ufer
(Another Shore). It was famous for
being one of the first café-cum-bars
in Europe that was welcoming of the
queer community, although, when
it first opened, someone smashed in
the venue’s glass window. Bowie is
rumoured to have paid to have the
window replaced, after which he
and Iggy were Ufer regulars—always1 Besides David
Bowie, famous
musicians such
as REM and David
Byrne recorded
at Hansa Studios.
2 Paris Bar is
the preferred
hangout of
many Berlin
scenesters.
3 Guided walks
or tours offer
a glimpse of
Bowie’s Berlin.
4 In 2016, the
British rocker’s
demise led to an
outpouring of
tributes outside
his old home.
5 Bowie remains
a figure of
admiration here,
with art exhibits
often centred
on him.In the heart
of Berlin’s
Mitte district,