Overview
- David Bowie relocated his primary residence to West Berlin in August 1976 to find privacy and to recover from drug abuse, a choice he later called liberating and important for his work.
- During the Berlin years he produced the so‑called Berlin Trilogy—Low, Heroes and Lodger—with only Heroes recorded entirely at Hansa Studios’ Meistersaal in Berlin.
- Bowie first stayed with Tangerine Dream’s Edgar Froese in Schöneberg before moving into a seven‑room apartment on Hauptstraße 155, now marked by a plaque commemorating his time there.
- He collaborated closely with local and expatriate musicians, helped Iggy Pop finish The Idiot and work on Lust for Life, and drew on West Berlin’s electronic scene and Hansa’s distinctive acoustic space.
- Recent coverage marking the period’s 50th anniversary reaffirms studio facts and chronology while questioning contested anecdotes, such as Tony Visconti’s kiss story about the inspiration for “Heroes,” which Antonia Maaß denies.