Berlin inspired some of the world’s greatest music legends. While Udo Lindenberg provoked the East German leadership in 1983 with his song “Sonderzug nach Pankow” and Roger Waters brought down a gigantic stage wall at Potsdamer Platz in 1990, David Bowie was already making music history in 1977. From a window at Hansa Studios, he watched two people kissing secretly in the shadow of the Berlin Wall—a moment that inspired his global hit “Heroes.”
One of David Bowie’s most famous songs was written in 1977 in Berlin, which was divided at the time. In the mid-1970s, the British musician had moved to West Berlin to take a break from his excessive lifestyle in Los Angeles and to explore new musical directions. Together with his friend Iggy Pop, he spent a formative period in the city and lived for a time at Hauptstraße 155 in Schöneberg. In the summer of 1977, Bowie was working on his album “Heroes” at the legendary Hansa Studios on Köthener Straße, not far from Potsdamer Platz. The recording studio was located right next to the Berlin Wall, whose border fortifications could be seen from the windows.
During the recording sessions, Bowie said he watched a couple kissing in the shadow of the Wall. This encounter is said to have inspired his later global hit “Heroes.” For a long time, the musician kept the couple’s identities a secret. It wasn’t until 2003 that he revealed they were his producer Tony Visconti and the German singer Antonia Maass. Visconti was still married at the time, which is why Bowie didn’t want to go public with his friend’s secret relationship. However, Maass later questioned the well-known story behind the song’s creation and explained that the song had already been completed before the encounter described took place.
“Heroes” was released as a single on September 23, 1977. The song tells the story of two lovers who, despite external obstacles, feel invincible for a moment. The Berlin Wall became a symbol of political and personal boundaries. Ten years later, on June 6, 1987, Bowie performed the song at a concert in front of the Reichstag building in West Berlin. On the other side of the Wall, numerous East German citizens gathered to listen to his music. This led to clashes with East German security forces. Just two years later, on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. Today, “Heroes” is considered one of the most famous musical reminders of the once-divided city.
