Today David Hasselhoff came to Berlin to support the East Side Gallery – a stretch of the former wall, which has become both an outdoor art gallery and a memorial ever since about 20 years ago, shortly after the opening of The Wall, over a hundred artists from East and West Germany came together and painted murals on a remaining section of the wall.
Now the city together with developers have begun making more holes into the wall to make way for luxury condos and a bridge across the Spree River.
David Hasselhoff has had a special connection to the Berlin Wall ever since his song “Looking For Freedom” became an anthem in Germany during the time the wall came down in 1989.
So today I went to the East Side Gallery and made a short video featuring David Hasselhoff signing “Looking For Freedom”, some shots of the crowd and a few images I took of the East Side Gallery last year when it had been freshly restored.
If you’d like to know more:
Watch the 1-minute video I made about the East Side Gallery (and read more about it): East Side Gallery (The Wall Art) – In A Berlin Minute (Week 95)
Listen to a Mädels with a Microphone podcast about the recent controversy and protests surrounding the East Side Gallery: The East Side Gallery Protest
Sign the petition to save the East Side Gallery: change.org/eastsidegallery
On a personal note: While I’m in the US I get asked so often about Germans’ obsession with David Hasselhoff, who in the United States is only known for being an actor, while in German-language Europe he is also known as a singer. My response is always: I actually don’t know German people who are buying his records or who talk about him – while I’m always fascinated by how many Americans are obsessed with Germans supposedly liking David Hasselhoff. Maybe they’re just jealous of the attention he gives to Germans? 😉
In any case: I think it’s awesome that he traveled to Berlin to support the cause of the East Side Gallery, which is too important historically and culturally to continuously be chopped up and moved around. And if this gives him some more publicity, so be it. It gives the East Side Gallery the publicity and international attention it deserves.
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| David Hasselhoff sings at the East Side Gallery in Berlin on St. Patrick’s Day |