As the second anniversary of David Bowie's death nears, Berlin commemorates the British musician with tours, parties and a TV documentary. Bowie lived in West Berlin in the late 1970s, in what was still a divided city.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Pilick
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David Bowie died in New York City on January 10, 2016, just two days after his birthday on January 8. The British singer would have turned 71 years old this year.
Various events honoring Bowie have been set up in Berlin, where Bowie is well-remembered. He lived in West Berlin for a few years in the late 1970s, and recorded two of his most famous albums there, "Low" and "Heroes."
David Bowie's Berlin home Image: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Nietfeld
Hansa Studios, where Bowie started recording in 1976, has scheduled daily walks retracing the legendary musician's footsteps from January 5 to 11.
The Neues Ufer café, one of Bowie's regular haunts in the district of Schöneberg where he lived, and the club Lido plan tribute parties.
In a world premiere, Germany's Sky pay TV channel will be showing the documentary "Hansa Studios: by the Wall 1976-90" — a tribute to the musician's Berlin years.
In 2016, the city unveiled a memorial plaque at Hauptstrasse 155, in Berlin-Schöneberg, the house where David Bowie lived from 1976 to 1978.
Six cultural influences that brought Bowie to Berlin
David Bowie came to Berlin to take a break from his hectic life in LA. His time in the German metropolis was one of the most creative periods in his career. But what attracted him to this city in the first place?
Image: DW/H. Mund
'Metropolis'
David Bowie famously moved to Berlin in 1976 to escape the drug scene in LA - decades before the German city became a hipster's hub. Bowie's interest in German culture went back to his teenage years. In an interview with the magazine "Uncut," he says he was attracted to the city where "Metropolis" was created. The 1927 Expressionist film was directed by Fritz Lang.
Image: Morris Everett
'The Cabinet of Caligari'
This other Expressionist classic from 1920 tells the story of the murders committed by an insane hypnotist. The dark and twisted visual style of the film definitely influenced Bowie to use stark imagery in his own performances.
"Since my teenage years I had obsessed on the angst-ridden, emotional work of the Expressionists, both artists and film makers, and Berlin had been their spiritual home," Bowie told "Uncut." "Die Brücke," a group of German Expressionist artists, was another major influence. During his time spent in Berlin from 1976 to 1979, Bowie often went to the Brücke Museum for inspiration.
Image: Janine Albrecht
Bertolt Brecht
David Bowie also cited the influential German poet and playwright as a source of inspiration. In 1982, Bowie starred in a BBC production of Bertolt Brecht's play "Baal." In September of the previous year, he recorded the five songs he performed in the play at the Hansa Studios in Berlin, working together with American producer Tony Visconti. The EP was named "David Bowie in Bertolt Brecht's Baal."
Image: picture-alliance/akg
Max Reinhardt
The Austrian-born theater director, producer and filmmaker is cited as another reason Bowie moved to Berlin. Establishing and leading a number of major theaters in Berlin at the beginning of the 20th century, Reinhardt is considered a pioneer of modern stage presentation. After leaving Nazi Germany, he worked and lived in the US.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Kraftwerk
The release of the album "Autobahn" by the electronic music band in 1974 attracted Bowie's attention back to Germany. Bowie said, however, that many have overestimated Kraftwerk's influence on his Berlin albums. Kraftwerk was very controlled and robotic - unlike his work with Brian Eno, which he described as "Expressionist mood pieces."
