MASARYK UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Berlin Wall and Pop Culture

Bachelor Thesis

Brno 2018

Supervisor: Michael George, M.A. Author: Pavel Fuka

Declaration

I hereby declare that I worked on this bachelor thesis independetly and that I used

only the sources listed in the list of references.

Prohlášení

Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto bakalářskou práci vypracoval samostatně, s použitím pouze

literatury uvedené v bibliografii.

……………………………………..

Pavel Fuka, Brno 2018

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my supervisor Michael George, M.A. for the help

with supervising this thesis, for patience and advice he provided

Abstract

The topic of the bachelor thesis is Berlin Wall and Pop Culture. The thesis focuses on the cultural environment in Berlin from the 1970s till the 2000s (i.e. the period after the fall of the Berlin Wall). In each chapter it briefly discusses a significant cultural topic relevant to a particular period. Documentary analysis serves as an applied method. The thesis is divided into four chapters, each chapter covers three subchapters. Apart from these twelve chapters, the first chapter is listed in the beginning of the thesis. Various books and internet sources are used as a researched material. The main aim of the thesis is to make readers familiar with cultural aspects related to Berlin in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Key words

Music, film, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Berlin Wall, director, author, book, concert, West Berlin, East Berlin.

Abstrakt

Tématem bakalářské práce je Berlínská Zeď a Populární kultura. Bakalářské práce se zaměřuje na kulturní prostředí v Berlíně od 70. let až po rok 2009 (tzn. období po pádu Berlínské Zdi). Každá kapitola se věnuje významnému kulturnímu aspektu, který se vztahuje k určitému období. Dokumentární analýza zde slouží jako aplikovaná metoda. Bakalářská práce je rozdělena do 4 kapitol, každá kapitola zahrnuje 3 podkapitoly. Kromě těchto 12 kapitol, je na začátku bakalářské práce uvedena první kapitola. Různé knihy a internetové zdroje jsou použity jako výzkumný materiál. Hlavním cílem bakalářské práce je, aby se čtenáři seznámili s kulturními aspekty, které se vztahují k Berlínu v 70. letech, 80. letech, 90. letech a letech po roce 2000.

Klíčová slova

Hudba, film, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Berlínská zeď, režisér, spisovatel, kniha, koncert, Západní Berlín, Východní Berlín.

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 7 Hansa Studios by The Wall in Berlin ...... 9 1. Berlin Wall and Pop Culture in the 1970s ...... 13 1.1 David Bowie- Low, Heroes, Lodger and How David Bowie helped to bring down the Berlin Wall ...... 13 1.2 Zoo Station- The story of Christiane F. (1978) ...... 17 1.3 Pink Floyd- The Wall (1979) ...... 20 2. Berlin Wall and Pop Culture in the 1980s ...... 23 2.1 Christiane F.- We Children from Bahnhof Zoo (1981) ...... 23 2.2 Pink Floyd- The Wall -Film (1982) ...... 26 2.3 Wim Wenders- Wings of Desire (1987) ...... 29 3. Berlin Wall and Pop Culture in the 1990s ...... 33 3.1 The Scorpions-Wind of Change (1990) ...... 33 3.2 Pink Floyd-Live in Berlin (1990) ...... 36 3.3 Pink Floyd- A Great Day For Freedom (1994) ...... 39 4. Berlin Wall and Pop Culture in the 2000s ...... 42 4.1 Tunnel film (2001) and Some Remarkable Escapes Across The Berlin Wall ...... 42 4.2 Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) ...... 46 4.3 Rabbit a la Berlin (2009) ...... 49 Conclusion ...... 53 List of References: ...... 55

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Introduction

The Berlin Wall was a guarded barrier that divided Berlin into two separate cities, West Berlin and East Berlin. The Wall was constructed in 1961 and it was torn down in 1989. Fall of the Berlin Wall is right after the end of the World War II the most significant historical event for German people. In Germany, this event has such a huge meaning that it can be compared to J.F. Kennedy´s assassination or 9/11 in New York. Everybody knows what they did and where they were when it happened. Fall of the Berlin Wall brought sudden and unexpected changes to East Berlin, however, it is necessary to say that after 29 years on, not everyone agrees with reunification of Berlin. (See, 2018).

Construction of the wall, its existence and its fall was a big topic for many books, films, songs and other artistic forms. Turbulent events of 1989 in Germany inspired lots of artists in various cultural fields. The importance of these works of art was to reflect the events related to the Cold War.

The Berlin Wall was constructed in order to eliminate the increasing number of citizens from East Germany who were escaping to West Berlin after the World War II. From June 1961 till July 1961 the number of those who escaped was almost doubled. So the East German government did not have any other possiblity than to block it by building the Wall. John Fitzgerald Kennedy in June 1963 addressed his very famous speech in Berlin where he stated: „Ich bin ein Berliner“. During the first year when the Berlin Wall was put up (1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966) the limitations were not strict and families in West Berlin could visit families in East Berlin. Willy Brandt, the former ruling mayor of West Berlin received in 1971 The Nobel Prize for Peace for his policy which was based upon rapprochement with East Germany, Poland and Soviet Union.

When the city of Berlin was celebrating its 750 anniversary, there were a great number of celebrations both in West Berlin and in East Berlin. Ronald Reagan who arrived to Berlin on 12 June 1987, declared his famous speech to Mr. Gorbachev: „Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!“ „Concert for Berlin“ which was in fact Concert for unification of Berlin took place on June 6 and June 8. Even there the concertgoers cried: „The Wall must go!“ 40th anniversary of founding of the East Germany was linked with demonstrations which can be compared to „Perestroika“ and „Glasnost“ in Soviet Union. Ruling government in East Germany was increasingly unstable and this fact led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 9, 1989. (The Berlin Wall and the „Cold War“, n.d.)

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Culture can be defined as traditions, customs and trends which are common for a particular group. It is a general knowledge that a certain kind of culture existed long time ago, in prehistorical times. Popular culture is a kind of culture which requires people, that means us as human beings.

As stated above, in general, popular culture has its origin in prehistorical times, however, William Shakespeare was the first pop culture „superstar“. It is taken for granted that Shakespeare wrote his timeless classical plays for enjoyment of his audience. (Wertz, 2010)

„The Kiss“ is perhaps the most famous picture which can be seen on the remaining part of the Berlin Wall-East Side Gallery. Connection of politics and art is evident on this image. At first, some people might think it is a joke, but this is for real. This image was taken in 1979 when Brezhnev and Honecker on this occassion were celebrating 13th anniversary of German Democratic Republic. „The Kiss“ is one of the 100 paintings which appears on the East Side Gallery. (Peterson, 2012)

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Hansa Studios by The Wall in Berlin

Hansa Studios are one of the most important studios in the history of music. It is located in the centre of the city of Berlin, very close to the Potsdamer Platz. Part of the city where the studios were before the fall of the Berlin Wall was called West Berlin. In the building which was constructed in the year of 1912 lots of wonderful recordings by amazing artists were made. Hansa Studios started to be famous all over the world particularly thanks to David Bowie who recorded Low and Heroes in the 1970s together with Iggy Pop. Other artists who made Hansa Studios well-known are for instance Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, REM or U2. Nowadays, The Hansa Studios are located on Kothener Strasse and it is considered to be „the most creative music house“ in Berlin. As a matter of fact, all genres of music are produced here-rock, hip hop, pop etc.

Hansa Studios were founded basically in the early 1960s by the brothers Peter and Thomas Meisel in Berlin. These brothers were using the Meistersaal (which was later known as Hansa Studios) since 1965. Since Hansa Studios received a good reputation in the following years, a great number of artists wanted to record their albums there, the Meisel brothers chose to build their own studio for independent production in the early 1970s. Hansa Studio 1 was opened in 1973 on Nestor Strasse in Berlin where plenty of amazing records were made later on. Sonopress Studio on Kothener Strasse was later turned into Hansa Studio 2 in 1975 and in fact these are the Hansa Studios which are known today as the greatest music studio in Europe. In 1976, the Meisel brothers bought a building on Kothener Strasse which was badly damaged during the WWII and later it was changed into a modern music studio. (Wendewende.de, 2012)

According to the documentary Hansa Studios: By the Wall 1976-90, The Hansa recording studios existed on an empty land which was situated next to the Berlin Wall. The documentary has good reviews, it is so well-made that the watcher behind the screen can feel as if he visited the studios. The documentary includes of course the main megastars who recorded their albums in these studios-David Bowie and Iggy Pop, among others.

In fact, there has never been released any documentary which would describe Hansa Studios in its great detail and its significance as this one. According to Barry Adamson, musician who played with Nick Cave (Australian rock singer) Hansa Studios has darkness within itself which can be of use. Its great effect was to stimulate creativity in the artists. (Saner, 2018)

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The studios, and the strangeness and desolation of its setting, had an alchemical effect on the artists who came through its doors. The building was the scene for the destruction of the bands Wire and the Birthday Party, and the make-or-break point for U2. They arrived at Hansa, remembers Flood, „on the verge of nervous breakdown. The tension was palpable- day-in, day-out confrontation.“ Instead, they recorded Achtung Baby, which is as everyone knows, their best album. (Saner, 2018)

According to Mike Christie, the director of the documentary, the magical atmosphere of the Hansa Studios is in its combination of the place and the city. Mike has been active in music since 1990s and his career is associated with very famous acts such as Pet Shop Boys and Suede. Mike Christie who hails from London managed to do a brilliant job: his documentary Hansa Studios: By the Wall 1976-90 is both for die-hard fans who remebers Berlin in the 1970s and also for those who has just learned about the Hansa Studios recently.

When Mike Christie was asked in the interview who made David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Depeche Mode to record their album in the Hansa Studios, Christie answered that it all started basically by accident when Bowie got there. And Depeche Mode knew about these studios thanks to Bowie. In the 1970s Berlin was a magical place full of incredibly interesting things and talented artists. Thanks to them Berlin received a very good reputation and other less known bands started their career there, more or less.

When Christie was asked what made him to make this documentary Hansa Studios By the Wall 1976-90, he replied that lots of people associated with film industry are familiar with the story of Bowie in Berlin, however, nobody yet have made any good documentary dealing with Hansa Studios so far. It is important to highlight that Hansa Studios were not only about Bowie, Depeche Mode and other extremely famous British bands. Not many people know that Hansa Studios and the Meisel family helped to pave the way for German music industry.

When Christie was asked if something was new for him, if he learned something that he did not know before he answered that he learned a lot even though he hoped that he knew it all about the Studios. The most important thing for him in terms of this documentary was to comprehend why it all happened in Berlin, in fact it was a coincidence of three aspects: the place, the people and the city.

When Christie was asked what is the difference between the music scene in Berlin back then and the music scene nowadays, he replied that the local people think that the music scene was quite small in comparison with today. The music scene was full of experiments and those bands

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that would not survive nowadays. But now the music scene is more international than it used to be in the past. It is important to say that Berlin still has its vibes, its great atmosphere in a way, which has survived up to date.

When Christie was asked, why he mixed past footage and present footage in his documentary, he answered that when a documentary about a certain place is made, it is necessary to know the background, that means past and presence. In his opinion, the viewer has to have the feeling as if he visited the place back at that time and is totally familiar with that.

When Christie was asked what has changed in the studios after the fall of the Berlin Wall, he said that the studio lost its legendary atmosphere and appeal together. It was a very inspiring place due to its difference. In the past the studio was shaped by the famous and less famous artists, nowadays the studios are also defined by the tourists and visitors.

If Christie had to describe Hansa Studios By the Wall in one song, he would go for People Are People by Depeche Mode. It is a fact that David Bowie left America after recording Young Americans and Station to Station in order to receive new energy and inspiration in Berlin. Depeche Mode did the reverse: they came to Berlin to record and went to America to become one of the greatest rock and pop bands of all time. According to Christie People Are People describes the Hansa Studios best. It is totally influenced by Berlin and its people. (Kay, 2018)

Apart from David Bowie´s recordings, and Depeche Mode- Some Great Reward, U2 recorded Achtung Baby from 1990 to 1991 in the Hansa Studios as well.

This band flew to Berlin in early October 1990 in order to work on the album called Achtung Baby. In contrast to David Bowie´s recordings which were made in these studios quite easily, U2 had to work hard and agree what music style they would follow after previous album called Rattle and Hum (1988). Larry Mullen, member of the group, described this period as unstable, unclear and full of doubts about the future of the band. The major success and breakthrough came with an early version of the song called One. After writing this song, the band felt better, relieved and in the long run this song has become probably the greatest success that the band has ever had. The song bears also a hidden message to Berlin as „one city“, after Berlin became one reunified city again. (McGee, 2016)

As stated above, when U2 started to work on Achtung Baby in October 1990, Hansa Studios were still standing at the same address, but the Berlin Wall was already torn down. The city

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was in a situation which has never been before-in a shock, since Berlin was reunited after 28 years of division. After coming to Berlin, the band wanted to work on something new, something that would capture the „zeitgeist“ of Berlin reunification. In 2011, the album was re- released after 20 years of its release and it included also documentary called „From the skydown“ which tells in detail their time spent in Berlin. Even today, the band still remembers about these times spent in Berlin in the 1990s with great joy and happiness. (Berlin Music Tours, 2018)

Hansa Studios are probably smaller than they used to be in the 1970s, however, plenty of Germany bands and international acts still record there even today. It is still one of the greatest and most significant music studios not only in Germany, but also in Europe, so to speak. (Bieger, 2012)

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1. Berlin Wall and Pop Culture in the 1970s

1.1 David Bowie- Low, Heroes, Lodger and How David Bowie helped to bring down the Berlin Wall

David Bowie (8 January 1947- 10 January 2016) was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Apart from this, he was also a multi-instrumentalist, he could play the keyboards, sax, guitar and percussions. He was active as a performer for over five decades (1967-2016). His most famous albums are Hunky Dory (1971), Aladdin Sane (1973), Low (1977), Heroes (1977), Let´s Dance (1983) or Earthling (1997).

David Bowie is considered as one of the greatest performers in the world and one of the most imporant Britons of all time.

According to Buckley, author of Strange Fascination David Bowie: The Definitive Story, for two years 1972 and 1973 David Bowie became the greatest rock and pop star in the United Kingdom since Mark Bolan, glam rock star became less popular around that time in Great Britain. Even though Bowie´s success was not stable, he could rely on large crowds of his hardcore fans and followers, thanks to them he was still the biggest cult icon in pop. During the second half of the 1970s he received reputation as a style music guru, music critics said that he was one step ahead of his music competitors. The whole world followed Bowie in his steps since he was the trendsetter. He had both commercial influence and artistic prestige. By the 1980s his achievements were several times criticised, because he felt artistically exhausted, his new albums were degraded. By the mid 1990s he had been on the way up at the time of writing this book he is one of the greatest performers in the contemporary era. (Buckley, 2005, p.1-2)

Low (1977)

The album Low (1977) is an ambient (related to modern music or sound that is slow, peaceful and does not have a formal structure) album containing 13 songs. „Always Crashing in the Same Car“, „Warszawa“ or „Be My Wife“ are the most famous tracks. The listener can be aware that lyrics are the secondary aspect of the songs, whilst music is the first thing they perceive. This album is one of the three albums (together with Heroes and Lodger) which was recorded primarily in Berlin in the Hansa Studios By the Wall in 1977.

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According to Seabrook, author of Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town, Bowie started to work on the album Low officially on September 1, 1976, nevertheless, some songs were written earlier. For example, „What in the World“ was supposed to be included on the album The Idiot, whilst, on the other hand, the last track on the album, Subterraneans was originally written by Bowie for the soundtrack album The man who felt to Earth. As soon as Station to Station tour reached Paris, Bowie planned to record a new album, which was called Low in the long run. A guy named Brian Eno, who was a former glam rocker, visited him around that time. He helped him to shape sound and atmosphere of the next three albums (Seabrook, 2008, p. 86).

Heroes (1977)

The Berlin Wall is the main theme of the album Heroes (and the second side of Low).

The Wall wasn´t just a symbol of disconnetion or even of tyranny or political division for the side was a new, less addictive and less obsessional lifestyle for Bowie. When he sang, „We can be heroes, just for one day,“ it was an acknowledgement that the future didn´t just belong to him any more. It belonged to everyone. (Buckley, 2005, p. 281).

Heroes (1977) is the second instalment of his „Berlin Trilogy“. Bowie cooperated with Brian Eno and Tony Visconti on this album. Together with Low, Heroes released in the same year contains ambient tracks and many critics considered this as Bowie´s most remarkable album.

Sean Egan in his book Bowie on Bowie asserts that these two albums recorded by David Bowie in Berlin in the 1970s together with Brian Eno are considered to be most interesting, most innovative and most adventurous records that the rock audience has ever listened to. These two albums combine the theories and techniques of modern electronic music with lyrics where Bowie got rid of traditional forms of narrative in order to be able to create special vocabulary which shall describe real pessimistic and dark mood that he has spread in contemporary music society. (Egan, 2015, p. 62-63).

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Lodger (1979)

Lodger (1979) is the last album of the Berlin Trilogy. In contrast to Low and Heroes, it includes no instrumental tracks and it is more pop oriented. Lodger was the least commercially successful Bowie´s album.

According to Buckley, author of Strange Fascination David Bowie: The Definitive Story, Bowie´s next step was to make a free space during his tour for recording a new album. Now he was ready to start to record a new album called Lodger which was the last part of the Berlin trilogy. In contrast to Heroes which was recorded in Berlin, city of full of artistic background and bohemian lifestyle, the new Bowie album was supposed to be recorded in beautiful Switzerland (Buckley, 2005, p. 298).

According to Buckley, the studio was located at the place of a studio which became known for recording session of Deep Purple´s „Smoke on the Water“ which went down in history of rock and roll. The new building served for various purposes, it consisted of long concrete hallways and winding stairways. In contrast to Hansa Studios in Berlin which had large extremely spacious and decadent rooms, this studio looked more like a bunker. The control room was situated on the first floor, and the recording room itself was placed on the second floor. The musicians were spied by a small television from the control room which they could not see. The musicians felt quite uncomfortable with that, it led to disquieting feelings. (Buckley, 2005, p. 298).

This is how David Bowie helped to bring down the Berlin Wall

In the year of 1987, 10 years after recording album Low, performer David Bowie had a concert in West Berlin. The concert took place near the Reichstag, which is the national Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany. Bowie´s concert was so enormously loud that even citizens behind the Berlin Wall (on the East Side) could listen to that.

As stated above, Bowie recorded album Heroes in 1977 right in Berlin. A very famous song called Heroes is a story about two lovers, one lover is from the West side and the other one is from the East side. The song was so extremely popular at that time that it became something like „Berlin´s anthem“, its aim was to reunify Berlin again and it wants to emphasize absurdity of the Wall.

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Apart from David Bowie (as the main star), Eurythmics, Genesis and Bruce Hornsby came. Thousands of citizens from East Berlin wanted to get near the gate in order to be able to listen to the concert despite the danger that East German guards could drag them away and arrest. In terms of the concert, David Bowie himself said that it was absolutely extraordinary experience for him to play like this. He has never played for both sides of one city within one concert and he believes that he never will again. At the end of the concert, the crowd started to shout „The Wall must fall!“ And „Gorby, get us out!“ This concert completely changed atmosphere of the city, only two years before the Wall was torn down indeed.

Bowie came back to play in Berlin in 1989, his last show in Berlin took place in 2004. When Bowie passed away in 2016, the German government officially thanked to Mr. Bowie for helping to tear down the Berlin Wall and reunify Germany. (Stilwell, 2018)

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1.2 Zoo Station- The story of Christiane F. (1978)

Zoo Station, the story of Christiane F. is a memoir that was first published in Germany in 1978 under the name Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo. The book was written by Kai Hermann and Horst Rieck.

It tells about drug-addicted children in the Berlin district of Neukolln. Major part of this book is set in Berlin Bahnhof (Berlin Zoo station), where junkies and prostitutes meet. The main character of this book is a young girl called Christiane F. who has just moved to Gropiusstadt, a locality in Berlin. When she was 13, she started to smoke hash and weed and soon began to smoke it on a regular basis, more or less. Around this time, Christiane started going to the Sound, known as „The most modern discotheque in Europe“, where she met Detlef R. and they both became lovers later. At that time, heroin was a huge hit among young people in the discotheque and since Christiane F. was tired of smoking hash, taking pills and LSD, she decided to try heroin after David Bowie´s concert when she was only 13 years of age. (Sancto, 2013)

In her successful and worldwide known book Zoo Station, Christiane F argues that when Kessie was about 13 years of age, she had already dated several guys. In order to find other friends she also came to the Center House which was a good place for young people to meet other people. As a matter of fact, this Center House was something like a club. Since Kessi looked much older than 13, even though she was in reality only 12, she had no problem to be allowed to enter the club.

Christiane F. also really wanted her mother to buy her a bra in order to look older than she was, actually. Then, she also started to use make up on a daily basis. And then Kessi took her to the club in the basement whose gate opened at 5 p.m. (Christiane F., 2013, p. 47)

There was a wild drug scene in this club and Christiane met her future friends there who had become addicted to drugs like herself. Detlef, her boyfriend was a role model for her, Christiane fell into drug abuse shortly after her fourteenth birthday, the main reason was to follow her boyfriend. Christiane´s parents got to know what was happening with their daughter when she accidentally overdosed in the bathroom, she passed out and fell to the ground. Christiane´s mother was in shock, she tried to send her to Narconon, drug clinic.

Unfortunately, no drug clinic at that time was suitable for young children such as Christiane, her friends Stella, Babsi or Detlef. The book ends when Christiane flew away from Berlin to

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her grandmother to Hamburg, her mother wanted her to take away from pills and drugs, Berlin and her friends who are also junkies like herself. The book was written during the time when the Berlin Wall divided East Berlin and West Berlin. According to Christiane F.:

The most beautiful spot was near the Wall, which wasn´t far from Gropiusstadt. There was an undeveloped strip alongside it that we called the „little woods,“ or „no man´s land“. It was almost twenty-two yards wide and nearly a mile long. There were trees, bushes, tall grass you could disappear in, old boards, and water holes.

There we climbed around, played hide-and-seek, and felt like explorers who every day discovered a new part of our little wild wood. We could even make campfires and roast potatoes and make smoke signals. (Christiane F., 2013, p. 35)

Christiane V. Felscherinow and Sonja Vukovic- My second life (Autobiography) 2013

My second life is a sequel to enormously successful book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo which has become a cult book all over the world not only for young readers. Christiane F. has become a celebrity and success itself has completely changed her life.

Sonja Vukovic is a journalist, a friend of Christiane F. who made several interviews with Christiane F. in the recent years and these interviews are basis for the whole book. Readers come to know Christiane´s battle with drugs, her stay in prison, meeting with famous pop and rock stars, writers, actors and most importantly, they learn about her son Phillip, who is in her opinion the best thing that has happened to her.

In My Second Life Christiane F. asserts: As a matter of fact, all the kids are nice, kind and beautiuful when they are between two and seven years of age. Boys´s human nature is to fight and girls in contrast to boys tend to look like real princesses. It is quite difficult for both parents to tolerate, since it is irritating, however, parents want to relent their children.

Nevertheless, on the other hand, all the children are really pleasant and nice when the evening comes. All the things calm down and everything is fine. When Phillip fell asleep after we had cuddled up each other, while he was watching cartoons. I took him into my arms and took him into his little bed. He asked me many times if he could have more cocoa. Since I gave him cocoa and I tasted it at that time, I like it even these days (Christiane F., Vukovic, 2013, p. 179).

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In an interview Vice.com in December 2013, she stated that she hopes that her story will scare people away from taking drugs more than her first book. She is quite sure it will. It describes how much pain she has had in her life, and (explains) that she will die a very early and painful death. (Daly, 2013)

After releasing the first book, it gained almost a cult status and it was suggested to be included on the curriculum for young teens in Germany to keep them away from drug abuse. Unfortunately, not few young readers decided to follow Christiane in her footsteps and started to do drugs after reading the book or watching the film.

„Kids were more fascinated than upset about what they read. So Stern (publishing) published a factbook, which they handed to teachers and parents, with information about how to deal with teens who were fascinated by the story of Christiane F.“ (Daly, 2013)

In conversation with Max Daly about her drug abuse, Christiane F. states that she never wanted to give up drugs. She just wanted to live a different life than most people live. She does not need a reason to kick the habit. In terms of her current state of health she said that she was on metadone now. She claims that sometimes she smokes a joint and drinks too much alcohol. She said she knew she was going to die soon since she has hepatitis C and liver cirrhosis. To conclude, she thinks that she does not regret her junkie life, she wouldn´t change that. In her own words, she doesn´t think this is the best way how to live but this was just her life. (Daly, 2013)

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1.3 Pink Floyd- The Wall (1979)

Pink Floyd was an English band which was founded in Cambridge in 1965. Pink Floyd is generally considered to be one of the greatest and one of the most successful bands of all time in terms of rock and roll. The name Pink Floyd comes from the names of two American blues musicians-Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. To date, the band sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.

When Syd Barrett joined the band in 1965, he became immediately the main writer of lyrics. Since Barrett´s arrival, Pink Floyd started to be psychedelic band and in Britain they were in the epicenter of psych rock.

Pink Floyd´e epic album The Wall is generally considered as opus magnum in the rock opera genre. (White, 2018)

Syd Barrett (lead vocals and guitar), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass and vocals) and Richard Wright (keyboards and vocals) were the members of Pink Floyd. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) was the first successful debut album and the only one with Syd Barrett as the main founding member. Due to deteriorating mental health, Syd Barrett left the band, since Barrett´s departure from the band, David Gilmour came to replace Syd in 1968. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), Wish You Were Here (1975), The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), The Division Bell (1994) and especially The Wall (1979) are considered to be real masterpieces not only within Pink Floyd discography, but also in the history of rock and roll in general.

The Wall is the 11th studio album by Pink Floyd released in 1979 as a double album. Together with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), The Wall (1979) is generally considered as one of the most recognizable and best selling albums of all time. What makes this album unique is that it was made into a feature film The Wall (1982) with Bob Geldof in the main role of Pink. In Pink Floyd: Pigs Might Fly Mark Blake speaks about Roger Waters, one of the founding members and most importantly musically creative author in terms of The Wall (1979) album:

„If you looked at the original lyrics, Roger was being very honest about his fear and pain and isolation“ says Ezrin. „But when we turned him into Pink, we were able to give him even more fear, pain and isolation.“

In the last dramatic chapter of the story and album, a deranged Pink finds his audience becoming increasingly fascist, and the concert becomes less of a rock show and more of a

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political rally. The dramatic coda to the piece finds Pink tearing down „the wall“, and becoming a caring, vulnerable human being once more. Another happy ending, then?

(Blake, 2013, p. 261)

As the title of the album reads The Wall, the first thing that one comes to their minds is association with the Berlin Wall. The Wall- Live in Berlin was a live concert performed primarily by Roger Waters and other artists. The concert took place in Berlin on July 21, 1990 in order to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall which happened on November 9, 1989.

According to genius.com A few moths after the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989, Roger Waters wanted to celebrate this extremely significant historical fact that was reunification of Germany by playing live The Wall which he had recorded with Pink Floyd a decade before. The vacant place between Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburg Gate (which was called „no- man´s land“ of the Berlin Wall) attracted lots of various performers, artists and other important guests in the field of music industry, most importantly Roger Waters in order to perform almost the complete rock opera The Wall. To this date, this live show is considered to be one of the largest and most remembered concerts in the 20th century. More than 350,000 tickets were sold, and a few moments before the concert started, the gates opened for 100,000 more people. (Genius Media Group Inc., 2018)

According to Mark Blake, author of Pigs Might Fly, if anybody would asked Roger Waters two years ago if he is going to stage The Wall live again. Waters refused and was hesitant but he also made a joke of it that „there are chances in the future that he will do it outside in case the Berlin Wall will be down“. This comment was reported to Worwood and Cheshire.

Waters took the view that he is going to perform The Wall live, but he did not assume that the Berlin Wall will be down in the future. In the meantime, Roger had a discussion with Tony Hollingsworth who had recently been in charge of the Nelson Mandela seventieth birthday tribute concert, which was a big event which had been televised to sixty-seven countries (Blake, 2013, p. 343).

It is generally acknowledged that the song called Another Brick in the Wall is the most famous song on the album The Wall (1979). Basically, it consists of three parts Part 1 (working title „Reminiscing“), Part 2 (working title „Education“), and Part 3 (working title „Drugs“). Roger Waters is the author of the entire song. In general, this song is a kind of protest against boarding schools in the United Kingdom.

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According to songfacts, Roger Waters composed this song about his opinions on formal education when he was a student at the Cambridgeshire School for Boys. He did not like his grammar school teachers, in fact, he hated them, since they were not good teachers, they were only interested in keeping the pupils quiet. The word „Wall“ refers to the wall Waters constructed around himself. The bricks refer to the activities that happened to him in his lifetime and his grammar school teachers are another brick in the wall. All in all, there is a satirical meaning in this song. He commented on the grammar school for boys as controlling rebellion. This song is to be meant against those who control you, who have power over you, who do you wrong. (Songfacts, 2018)

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2. Berlin Wall and Pop Culture in the 1980s

2.1 Christiane F.- We Children from Bahnhof Zoo (1981)

We Children from Bahnhof Zoo is a movie which is based upon the book of the same name. According to rogerebert.com, We Children from Bahnhof Zoo (1981) ranks among the most shocking films dealing with drug addiction. The reason why it is so extremely scandalous and unparalled to any other film concerning drugs is that it is based upon the real facts which happened in Berlin in the 1970s. Similarly as the book upon which this movie is based on, also We Children from Bahnhof Zoo (1981) has become bestseller all over the world. There is probably only one American similarity to this movie and this is The Connection (1961) but We Children from Bahnhof Zoo (1981) appears much grimmer and more realistic. The movie shows brilliantly the drug culture of West Berlin in the 1970 such as junkies shooting in the WC, Christiane and her boyfriend trying to withdraw and sad faces of junkies standing as prostitutes at the Zoo station waiting for their clients. An interesting fact is that David Bowie had a cameo role in the film where he played himself. (Ebert, 1982)

According to Buckley, author of Strange Fascination David Bowie: The Definitive Story:

Bowie also provided the soundtrack culled from his recent work and made a cameo appearance in the German film Christiane F: Wir Kinder Vom Bahnhof Zoo, commonly regarded as a classic of its type in its realistic depiction of teenage drug addiction. In July 1981 an accidental meeting with rock band Queen led to a one-off track being cut, „Under Pressure“, and Bowie adding guest vocal to a Queen track „Cool Cat“. Apparently, Bowie quizzed Mercury about the joys of being contracted to EMI, and Mercury promised to find an „in“ for him at the company. It seems certain that, with the terms of the 1975 settlement with Defries due to expire a year later, Bowie had already decided to leave RCA (Buckley, 2005, p.325 ).

David Bowie also released a soundtrack album for this film- Christiane F.- Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo: V-2 Schneider, TVC 15, Heroes/Helden, Boys Keep Swinging, Sense of Doubt, Station to Station, Look Back in Anger, Stay and Warszawa are tracks which are heard throughout the whole movie.

According to dazeddigital.com David Bowie as a huge star appeared also in the movie where he performed „Station to Station“. It is a fact that Christiane F. was a big fan of Bowie and the movie wanted to stay true to the real-life account of Christiane F. The sequence of the

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movie where David Bowie played a track called Station to Station was actually filmed in New York in October 1980. David Bowie toured at that time in the United States on Broadway , so that the concert scene had to be filmed in that city.

Apart from Station to Station song which is heard at the concert, Heroes is something like Christiane´s F. „unofficial theme song“. If Bowie would not have played in the movie, it is believed that the movie would not have gained such respect and importance within cinematography of the 1980s.

Real- life Christiane F. recalls that her and Bowie both attended the premiere of the film. Christiane F. was extremely nervous in Bowie´s presence since he was her long-time idol. Nevertheless, her nervousness was over when she came to know that David Bowie was rather small and thin. (Belinky, 2018)

Thesamecinemaeverynight.net says that the first half of the film is somewhat optimistic and hopeful, since Christiane F. entered the Sound Club even though she was not supposed to be allowed to enter the disco because she was underage. Also, next positive element was when the kids fled the police and went to the David Bowie concert.

On the other hand, the second part is something completely different: it contains grueling scenes where Christiane and Detlef suffered cold turkey when they tried to kick the drug habit. Also, vomiting all over the places was really realistic, the couple even did not bother to clean it up. Later, Christiane F. was seen prostituting herself, and also her boyfriend. Finally, Christiane´s good friend Babsi died of drug overdose at the tender age of 14. (Tompkins, 2015)

Towards the end of the film there is a scene where Christiane met Babsi at the Zoo Station:

„I´m giving it up. Why are you still here, then? I´ll really start tomorrow. I´ll withdraw tomorrow. I think that´s really great. Either I stop…or I die. You´ll stop, for sure. And when I´ve made it, I mean after the therapy… what then?

(Christiane F. – We Children from Bahnhof Zoo, film 1981).

According to byronsmuse.wordpress.com Babsi was one of Christiane´s best friends and a report about her death appeared on the first side of German newspapers in 1977 when she died at the age of 14. Since Babsi´s death drug addiction in Berlin was no longer taboo. Babsi was the youngest drug victim in Berlin and her sudden death and most importantly publication of the book Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo contributed significantly to awareness of the teenagers who thought that drugs are solution to everyday problems. (Byron´s Muse, 2013)

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According to www.vice.com Christiane F. says that she does not like the movie because it does not depict the real things in her life. Christiane states that she was neglected by her parents, her parents had frequent arguments. This is the reason why Christiane F. felt lonely and turned to drugs in the long run. Later she asserts that when she was 16 she could not expect such huge success both of the book and the film later on. She just wanted to talk about it she could not bottle it up any more. She and the journalists thought in the beginning that this is going to be somewhat special book dealing with drug addiction. But they were terrible wrong since it has become a massive bestseller all around the world. (Daly, 2013)

In terms of the actors, Katja Brunckhorst played Christiane´s F. role and Thomas Haustein played Detlef´s R. role. Both young actors were approximately at the same age as their real characters.

According to vice.com, Thomas Haustein has not starred in any film since Wir Kinder Vom Bahnhof Zoo in 1981. The way he got the role was quite simple, he was at the Sound discotheque in Berlin where he met the sister of the producer Bernd Eichinger. She gave him her phone number and said to him that he should call her. When he was questioned, if he ever met the real Christiane F., he answered yes, however, he met her for a short time because he was busy making the film. Thomas Haustein has never met the real Detlef R. Thomas only knows that he works for a welfare community, lives with his wife and family in Berlin. An interesting fact is that Thomas Haustein was dating Stella, the real character which also appears in the book. She plays a drug dealer who sells heroin in the movie. Finally, concerning famous people from the movie, Thomas could have met David Bowie, the very famous singer who performed Station to Station at the concert scene in the movie. One day he came to the Sound but Detlef´s friends tricked him into believing that this was not the real David, it was his double! Then he went away and his friends told him the truth. (Allen, 2010)

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2.2 Pink Floyd- The Wall -Film (1982)

Pink Floyd- The Wall is a musical film which is directed by Alan Parker and it is loosely based upon 1979 Pink Floyd album of the same title.

According to thewallanalysis, The Wall tells about the main protagonist Pink since the days he was a young boy towards the end of World War II in England until the days when he became a legendary rock star and its tragic end resulting in self-destruction.

The whole story starts when Pink was born during the final years of World War II in which Pink´s father passed away. Due to this very sad fact Pink is loved by his mother very much indeed, and he built a wall around himself that should protect him from the outside world and all the emotional troubles that he faced. Any event that happened in his life is so called another brick in the wall: loss of his father during the war, his mother who cared about him too much, or usage of drugs in order to escape the reality. Towards the end of completion of the wall, Pink becomes insane. The story ends in a trial (a song in the movie itself) which is set in a great spectacular show and at the same time it delivers an enigmatic message as his whole life. As a matter of fact, it does not matter from which point of view the viewer watches the film, there is no doubt that The Wall is an outstanding piece of art that deserves attention. (Urick, 2016)

Metalbanger.com says that The Wall is quite demanding for watching since the viewer has to be familiar with the plot of the film, nevertheless, it is a must for any rock fan.

It must have been very difficult to keep all the songs from the album The Wall in the original order and also to create an understandable plot with focusing on the life of the protagonist. Sir Alan Parker, one of the greatest English film directors, producers and screenwriters succeeded in connecting all the significant elements in Pink´s life and thus this movie has become one of the greatest musical movies of all time. (Metalbanger, n.d.)

According to Mark Blake- Pink Floyd- Pigs Might Fly, when Roger Water´s original plan turned out to be impossible, Parker approved of directing the movie and he started to work in a different way in terms of the future project with the Pink Floyd´s music as the main point of the film.

Pink was known as an animated version of the main person, whilst, Roger was known as the human version. Nevertheless, in the long run, it was evident that Roger Waters was not the best choice for acting. When Parker saw Bob Geldof, the frontman and lead singer of the band called Boomtown Rats, he knew that this man would get the role (Blake, 2013, p.289).

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This is the excerpt of the lyrics of The Trial. The Trial is a track from Pink Floyd´s 1979 rock/opera/concept album The Wall and also it is the final song of the album and the film.

The Trial

Pink Floyd

Good morning, Worm your honour

The crown will plainly show

The prisoner who now stands before you

Was caught red- handed showing feelings

Showing feelings of an almost human nature

This will not do…

Call the schoolmaster

I always said he´d come to no good

In the end your honour

If they´d let me have my way I could

Have flayed him into shape

But my hands were tied

The bleeding hearts and artists

Let him get away with murder

Let me hammer him today?

(Pink-Floyd-lyrics, 1995)

According to quora.com/What-happens-in-Pink-Floyd-The-Walls-ending when the trial comes to a close, it seems that the wall comes down and everything collapses, in fact, according to Roger Waters the purpose was to make it all optimistic and upbeat.

In the song Outside the Wall it is explained that even when we are trapped in a bad situation, there are still some people who care about us and we don´t feel alone. They are able to do anything just in order to help us.

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Concerning the movie, when the wall is torn down, children found themselves in the rubble and symbolically „pour out the bad“ from the bottles. Similarly, the album itself is full of various symbols. (DuckDuckGo, 2015)

Jackfilmreviews.blogspot.com says that this film contains both animation and surrealistic elements. Also, this movie has numerous features which are not typical of a standard film. Alan Parker is a talented director who made many more famous movies but The Wall remains his greatest feat. (Jack L., 2011)

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2.3 Wim Wenders- Wings of Desire (1987)

Wim Wenders is generally considered to be one of the most important and influential directors of New German Cinema which is a period which lasted from the late 1960s into the 1980s.

Wim Wenders was born in 1945 in Dusseldorf, Germany and began making films in the 1970s. In the first half of the 1980s he had international success with Paris, Texas (1984), in the second half of the 1980s Wings of Desire (Himmel uber Berlin) 1987 was filmed and it is considered as his biggest achievement.

(Richard W. McCormick and Alison Guenther, 2004, p. 208)

More importantly, Wim Wenders as the only German director became known for making viewers familiar with American culture. The presence of American song, clothing and cultural background is evident in his German movies, music of Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan or Harvey Mandel can be heard even in his German films.

(Ciment, 2016, p. 250)

Wings of Desire (Himmel uber Berlin) filmed in 1987 is a story about two angels (Cassiel and Damiel). One day Damiel meets up with a trapeze artist Marion, he falls in love with her and then makes the choice to become a human being because he wants to stay with her on Earth. (Allreaders.com, n.d.)

After making Paris, Texas (1984) Berlin became something like a „sanctuary“ for Wim Wenders. Even though all the films by Wenders were told from the perspective of a protagonist, this time he did not want to cast a hero (main character) who discovered Berlin and Germany. The idea of two angels comes from Rilke´s poetry. In 1987 when Wings of Desire started to be shoot Wenders was reading Rilke´s poetry on a daily basis, more or less, and he put down „angels“ and „unemployed“ into his diary. First, he was not sure if angels can be used as the main protagonists, but in the long run, after second thought, he came to a conclusion that it is brilliant since the angels could do practically anything: flying in the sky, cross the wall or enter through the windows into houses etc. The director was able to use his imagination the way he wanted. Wenders as the maker of the movie wanted to cast a woman as the main character, he was thinking that a woman would be an angel. But then he took the view that an angel will be a man and a woman will be a normal human being and the angel will fall in love with the woman and decides to remain a human being in order to be with the woman (Solveig Dommartin).

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The very significant aspect of the film was colour. Wenders chose black and white colour not only due to the city of Berlin itself, but also due to angels: they could not touch things, in fact, they did not know physical world, and thus logically neither they knew colours. Black and white colour is associated with the world of dreams. First Henri Alekan (French cinematographer) wanted the angels to be transparent. Wenders says it was hard to convince him that it is not possible to tell a story by means of transparent angels. Solveig Dommartin is a female character in the movie, she embodies a trapeze artist (human being) and Damiel (the angel) falls in love with her. Damiel was mesmerized with her, because she did a dangerous occupation and Damiel himself has never been in danger of falling down.

Peter Falk was the last major character. His role was basically a comedy idea: it had to be somebody who is extremely famous all over the world. Wenders had a few other persons in his mind, Willy Brandt was one of them, by the way, but it turned out to be impossible to shoot with him. Since Falk did not know the city of Berlin, he just walked through the city. It was like his role in the movie: the staff was searching him and he was just walking around the city.

(Wenders, 1996, p. 155-160).

Falk arrived in Berlin one Friday in November and he and Wenders spent the weekend together, developing the role on the basis of taped improvisations. All of Falk´s scenes were shot the following week and Falk returned to Los Angeles.

Not all of Falk´s improvisations make complete sense. For example, when we see him for the first time, seated in a plane flying over Berlin, he says in a voice-over: „If Grandma was here, she´d say: Spazieren… Go spazieren!“ (Raskin, n.d.)

The film´s setting plays a big role in the whole movie. Damiel as one of the angels yearns to exchange his wings for humanity when he falls in love with circus acrobat Marion.

The movie is primarily shot in the West Berlin in the days when the whole city was still divided by the Berlin Wall, in black and white, but when Damiel becomes a human being, colours appear.

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In the beginning of the movie Damiel is introduced when he sits on top of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtnichskirche on Breidscheidplatz. This is perhaps the most significant symbol of damage from the WWII by allies.

The scene where Damiel and his friend Cassiel muse over strange qualities of human life is shot opposite the Maison de France, the French cultural centre. During this scene they sit in BMW. It is in this scene where Damiel states that he is tired of being angel and that he wants to become a human being.

Nick Cave, famous Australian singer also stars in this movie. He sings a song „From Her To Eternity“ (1984) towards the end of the movie in the nightclub where Damiel and Marion meet and since this moment on they actually stay together. Nick Cave´s short performance was shot in the old Hotel Esplanade which is situated in the centre of Potsdamer Platz. It is needless to say that this hotel has very interesting history since it was constructed in the first years of the 20th century in the grand Belle Epoque style.

Langenscheidtbrucke is the bridge which is located at Czeminskistrasse where Damiel comforts a man who has just had an accident.

The old Staatsbibliotek in the Kulturforum on Potsdamer Strasse is the setting where the angels appear in the modern Berlin library. They float in a peculiar way among readers, listen to their thoughts and whispering. (Movie-Locations, n.d.)

Angels in Wings of Desire are played by Bruno Ganz and Otto Sander. In Wender´s film they move without notice through the divided Berlin, they listen to people, observe their actions and try to understand them. From time to time they try to comfort an accident victim or they do not want a young man to commit suicide. Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sander) listen to the stories of an old Holocaust victim, parents who are much worried about their son or they just watch and listen to people on trams, underground or in the streets. Wenders worked together with Peter Handke (German writer) on the screenplay. The movie itself is quite slow, it does not contain any usual plot, the viewer does not know what will follow next.

Basically, there is a happy ending at the end of the movie, when Damiel falls in love with a trapeze artist and decides to remain a human being in order to be with a woman. (Ebert, 1998)

The Berlin Wall was torn down a few years after Wings of Desire was released. Politics, economic and the enormous power of media allowed people to go into the streets. Due to the fall of Berlin Wall people from East Berlin could enter West Berlin without risk of being killed

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by secret GDR police. In fact, Wenders deals with these aspects in this film, but not too directly, because they are linked with practical things. Wenders prefers talking about unreal things and the imaginery of cinema. (Robert Phillip Kolker, Peter Beicker, 1993, p. 160)

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3. Berlin Wall and Pop Culture in the 1990s

3.1 The Scorpions-Wind of Change (1990)

The Berlin Wall was constructed in the year of 1961 and divided Berlin into two separate parts: East Berlin and West Berlin. People in East Berlin could not move freely, they were under control of Soviet Union, people in West Berlin lived in freedom and in democratic part of the city. The length of the Wall was over 96 miles and it consisted of two walls, in fact. Between the years 1961 and 1989 the wall was guarded attentively, so that people could not escape from East Berlin to West Berlin. Needless to say that lots of escapes happened during the times when the Wall was standing in Berlin, some of them were successful, others were not successful and resulted in death. (LivingDedGrrl, 2008)

The Scorpions are German rock metal band which was founded in the 1960s in Hannover. They are considered to be one of the greatest German rock bands of all time and they are famous basically all around the world. The band hit the big time when the Iron Curtain was still standing in the East Europe. Their albums were popular during the 1980s, however, their biggest success came with megahit Wind of Change from 1990 which is taken from their eleventh studio album named Crazy World. The song Wind of Change became something like „anthem“ of the end of the Cold War and Scorpion´s biggest hit that the band has ever had. (Alpha History, 2018)

During the 80s when metal music was in its decline, rock and grunge bands started to replace metal scene. The Berlin Wall, perhaps the most evident symbol of Cold War which was a political tension between Eastern Bloc and Western Bloc was torn down in November 1989, exactly two years after when American president Ronald Reagan had a very famous speech addressed to Mikhail Gorbachev: „Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.“

Even though The Scorpions do not consider themselves to be a political band, they felt the need to react to events related to politics since they were German citizens as well. They released Wind of Change as their own way of expressing their attitude to political state of affairs. (Heller, 2013)

Michael Schenker, German rock guitarist of The Scorpions stated in the article Scorpions „Wind of Change“: The Oral History of 1990´s Epic Power Ballad:

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The Wall had not come down yet, but it was here, in Moscow, where you could feel evening coming. Gorbachev was bringing glasnost and perestrojka! The world was changing. Somehow Klaus Meine (singer of the band) picked up on that vibe.

The footage of the Berlin Wall is the strongest material (in the video), no question about that. All the other things, let´s say the birds in oil and stuff like this, compared to this they are weak parts. The strongest parts are the parts where you can see the Berlin Wall, where you can see the happiness of the people. (Bienstock, 2015)

Klaus Meine, the writer of this song, thinks that Wind of Change deals with frienship, brotherhood and mutual forgiveness. In his opinion, he wanted listeners to pay some attention to the fall of the Berlin Wall which was perhaps the most infamous symbol of Soviet oppression for East Berliners. (Heller, 2013)

The Scorpions recorded this song at the right time. It is a song which describes in its lyrics the feeling of a time when all the significant events of the 1990s happened, it has become an unofficial anthem of the beginning of new era of the East Europe.

As a matter of fact, for most people video and the song itself has connection to the fall of the Berlin Wall, nevertheless, according to the band members, the idea and the lyrics were influenced by events that happened before the Berlin Wall fell down in November 1989.

As Rudolf Schenker, guitarist of The Scorpions recalls Wind of Change came to light when the band was on Soviet Union tour where they promoted their 1988´s album named Savage Amusement. The band was supposed to tour in Moscow, that was a city where they always wanted to play in, however, sadly enough, a visit in Moscow was cancelled due to officials who took the view that the band „could behave badly and cause riots“. Therefore the band was forced to add extra dates in Leningrad, this fact made the band dissatisfied, but in the long run, the band was somewhat pleased and it was almost sure that good things will happen even in Soviet Union.

The Scorpions were extremely happy that they could play in Russia. They aware of the fact that Germans did lots of atrocities and war crimes in Russia during the WWII. The band wanted the Russians to learn that new generation of young Germans was born and they do not want to come to Russia with machine guns, tanks, panzerfausts etc. The Scorpions wanted to come to Russia with songs, guitars and message that music can unite people all over the world.

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When The Scorpions came back the following year, the whole USSR underwent plenty of changes. Klaus Meine, the singer was surprised in a good way, he did not expect sudden changes like this. Then Klaus Meine says that changes from Leningrad in ´88 to Moscow in´89 were the greatest inspiration for the song of Wind of Change. (Giles, 2015)

German television broadcasting company ZDF voted in 2005 Wind of Change as a „Song of Century“. This song is probably the best selling single in Germany of all time, its video of the Berlin Wall as it came down contributed to the popularity of this song. For German people Wind of Change is closely associated with reunification of West Berlin and East Berlin (the fall of the Communist regime in East Europe followed shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall). (LivingDedGrrl, 2008)

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3.2 Pink Floyd-Live in Berlin (1990)

Pink Floyd was a British band which was originally known as Sigma 6. The band consisted of Roger Waters, Richard Wright, Nick Mason, David Gilmour and Syd Barrett. The band had several line-ups and names over the years of their existence. The original name of the band was The Pink Floyd Sound in 1965, later it was shortened just to Pink Floyd. (Ellison, 2018)

Roger Waters is generally considered to be the most significant member of the band. He was the singer, songwriter and bassist for Pink Floyd. Moreover, his solo career is also remarkable.

Waters was born in Surrey, England on September 6, 1943. During the period when he was a member of Pink Floyd, he enjoyed huge success with albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and The Wall (1979). In 1985 Waters left the band in order to start his solo career. Roger Waters turned 75 in 2018 and still continues to tour and record studio albums. (Biography, 2018)

When Roger Waters was asked back in the 1980s if he will ever perform The Wall again, he was adamant that he will do it only when The Wall will be torn down. In September 1989, when nobody could have expect that, performance of The Wall was almost unreal. Sudden and unexpected political changes were happening in East Germany, however, nobody thought that it will lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall. An interesting fact is that even The United States of America could have been the venue of The Wall performance. Fortunately, the Berlin Wall was torn down in November 1989 and The Wall could take place in Berlin.

Roger Waters held a concert on July 21,1990 in Berlin on the occasion of celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Apart from Roger Waters, lots of other guests appeared on stage together with former Pink Floyd major member. The concert took place on the death strip which was actually the borderline between East Berlin and West Berlin. This concert was extraordinary in many ways: it was written in the Guiness World Records Book as the greatest concert that has ever been held so far. Roger Waters played The Wall Live in Berlin for the first time since he stopped being a permanent member of Pink Floyd.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall Roger Waters flew to Berlin and was looking for the right place where the concert could be held. He chose the death strip which was a big place between the two walls. Some people called it also no man´s land since there was not anything out there. In the long run, the concert took place at the same place as Roger Waters wanted-death strip. There

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were long negotiations between the two mayors of both sides of the city of Berlin. Nobody knew if the concert will happen eventually, but it happened, as everyone wanted. As a matter of fact, the meaning of playing The Wall live was to celebrate the end of the Communist Regime in Germany and in the whole East Europe. By 1990, due to break up between Roger Waters and the rest of Pink Floyd, both Roger and the rest were different artists. The main concern of Roger Waters was to bring his amazing music back to light (not only for East Berlin citizens who could not see Pink Floyd live due to The Iron Curtain). Potsmer Platz (where the concert took place) was the most significant square in Berlin before the WWII. It was heavily bombed towards the end of the WWII since there was headquarters of Nazis in the vicinity. It is needless to say that it was outstanding and broke all the records in terms of live performances. There was a 25 meter tall wall that was used for Roger Waters and his guests, it was something like the background. The Scorpions, Cindy Lauper, Sinead O´Connor, Brian Adams or Marianne Faithful had the honour to be invited as main music guests for this concert. Unofficial numbers say that 250,000 tickets were sold, nonetheless it is believed that many more people were allowed to see this concert.

For Pink Floyd fans (and naturally not only for them) it was a historical event which can be never repeated again. (Tofani, 2016)

Mark Blake, author of Pigs Might Fly: The Inside Story of Pink Floyd states in his book that in 1989 composer Leonard Bernstein conducted a concert on both sides of the Berlin Wall. Roger Waters decided that he will do a celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall in July 1990. One of the reasons was, by the way, that he wanted to make it clear that The Wall has always been his own work. Unfortunately, money for the tickets were not sufficient for covering 8 million dollars which were needed to stage the show, so producer Hollingsworth was asked to promote the show also for TV. With his help, live show was finally brodcasted via satellite up to thirty- five countries. Waters chose to cast a group of special guests instead of Pink Floyd members for performing The Wall. All the participants who made their contribution to the album and video agreed that they will not receive any salary and all the money will be donated to the fund.

In terms of its splendour and magnificence, thus Pink Floyd performance was just one of a kind. The whole area around the Potsdamer Platz where the show was supposed to happen had to be carefully examined if there were no unexploded mines and other weapons from the WWII. The only group that promised to be a guest for this show were the German rock band called The Scorpions. This band had a huge hit named Wind of Change which is also closely related to the fall of the Berlin Wall. (Blake, 2013, p. 342-347). 37

Leonard Cheshire, most decorated bomber pilot from the WWII could be honoured as a Rock Star as well. When the performance took place, he blew the whistle from the WWII in order to signal the beginning of this show called The Wall. Cheshire as a wartime veteran survived more than 100 bombing missions during the WWII and when the WWII ended he came back to England and founded homes for disabled people. To date, there are 265 Cheshire homes in 48 countries all around the world.

Coincidentally, The Wall is supposed to represent the different approach between star and audience. In addition to that, The Wall has also autobiographical aspect since Waters lost his father in the WWII who died during the air raid attack. Also, The Wall should mean the barrier between his mother, teachers and his ex-wife. It is necessary to say that Roger Waters did not have a good life before the Berlin Wall show. He left the band and tried to start his solo career which was not as successful as his career in Pink Floyd. Moreover, he had lots of lawsuits and other arguments with other band members due to the copyright of Pink Floyd. Strangely enough, other band members had no idea why Roger left the band, he only sent a letter to CBS where he stated that he had left Pink Floyd.

When the stars who were present on the stage were asked what they thought about the show tScorpions answered even when the real Wall was torn down, there are still walls between people. Roger Waters answered that the Wall between people are basically the same as the walls between nations. (Steel, 2011)

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3.3 Pink Floyd- A Great Day For Freedom (1994)

Pink Floyd were a psychedelic/art rock band which came from Cambridge, United Kingdom and was founded in 1965. Generally Pink Floyd are considered to be one of the greatest and most successful bands of all time, they sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.

In 1994 Pink Floyd released album named The Division Bell. In contrast to Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987), The Division Bell is considered more as a team work. The Division Bell was another concept album, David Gilmour deals with the same themes, as Roger Waters did on The Wall (1979). (Last.fm Ltd, 2018)

A Great Day For Freedom is a song which appeared on Pink Floyd´s final album The Division Bell. The song was originally supposed to be called In Shades of Grey (a part taken from the lyrics of this song). This song tells about the significant events that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall on the 9th November 1989. (Songfacts, 2018)

According to David Gilmour who gave an interview to The Sun in 2008 and is a co-writer of this song together with his wife Polly that song is really about the events that were caused by the fall of the Berlin Wall. First, joy and happiness came since finally freedom was for everyone however afterwards horrible atrocities happened especially in Yugoslavia.

A Great Day For Freedom- lyrics

On the day the wall came down

They threw the locks onto the ground

And with glasses high we raised a cry for

Freedom had arrived

On the day the wall came down

The Ship of Fools had finally run aground

Promises lit up the night like paper doves in flight

I dreamed you had left my side

No warmth, not even pride remained

And even though you needed me

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It was clear that I could not do a thing for you

This is Verse 1 and Chorus 1 taken from A Great Day For Freedom track.

(Genius Media Group Inc., 2018)

According to Mark Blake, author of Pigs Might Fly- The Inside Story of Pink Floyd states that the lyrics on The Division Bell were much clearer and understandable than those on A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987). First, David Gilmour, author of the lyrics did not want to reveal the meaning of the songs on the album, but his partner made him elaborate on feelings in depth. At first sight, if we take a look at the meanings of A Great Day For Freedom we see it is obviously about the fall of the Berlin Wall and end of communist era in East Europe. Nonetheless, another message is loss of optimism and marred hopes. In fact, this pattern with optimistic beginning and rather sad and unexpected ending is common for the whole album. (Blake, 2013, p. 359).

As time went by, the Wall was gradually demolished and authorities and citizens dismantled the wall piece by piece. Some of them took pieces of the wall home in order to have a souvenier which should be remembered for the days when freedom was absent in East Berlin. If we want to learn more about the history of the Berlin Wall, we have to go a few decades back. The decision of building the wall was ruled by Soviets who ruled Germany in the East, whilst West Sector was run by the British and USA. Sovietization was increasingly bigger and bigger, the climax of it all came when the wall was built in order to control movement of ordinary people. On 12 th August 1961, Soviet Army built the wall along the inner German border which should divide the Communist East Bloc from the Capitalist democratic West Bloc. In the years to come, communist regime made it really hard for people who lived in the East Germany. The population was treated cruelly, students could not study what they wanted, intimidation was used against those who were against the regime.

Pink Floyd´s comment on the situation when the Berlin Wall was torn down and what happened afterwards is really smart. In this song they want to say that absolute freedom which should have followed logically as a result of bringing down the wall actually did not happen. As a matter of fact, many countries (including Czechoslovakia, by the way) was exposed to instability and sudden unexpected changes. The best example are ethnic conflicts in former Yugoslavia. For lots of people War in Bosnia became a synonym with hell due to the fact that

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horrible atrocities were committed on citizens. Thousands of people lost their lives, thousands of women were victims of sexual assaults. In short, Bosnian War (1992-1995) was something like a form of ethnic cleansing. A short mention about this war conflict also appear in the lyrics of A Great Day For Freedom because it was often publicised in the British media. It made Gilmour and his wife react in their artistic manner. (Songfacts, 2018)

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4. Berlin Wall and Pop Culture in the 2000s

4.1 Tunnel film (2001) and Some Remarkable Escapes Across The Berlin Wall

Tunnel (2001) is a German drama from recent history which deals with escapes from East Berlin. It is directed by Roland Suso Richter and stars Heino Ferch, Nicolette Krebitz and Sebastian Koch. (IMDb, n.d.)

As a matter of fact, the city of Berlin, a fantastic city with riveting history and a great deal of sights has always been a great inspiration for plenty of films not only those associated with history. Despite the fact that Berlin was severely damaged during the World War II, it is one of the most visited cities in the world. There are lots of quotes about Berlin and its beauty, it is a common knowledge that Berlin has been and still it is a „mecca“ for writers, actors and intellectuals.

A good tunnel is always attractive for movie fans. In most cases the tunnel is a road to freedom: clever way how to escape police after bank robbery or if war prisoners want to escape from prison camp. (Admin, 2011)

Throughout the 28 years (1961-1989) there was a great deal of escapes from East Berlin. Roland Suso Richter, director, made his film which is based upon real events.

The main protagonist of the movie is Harry Melchior (Heino Ferch). He was put in prison in 1953 when he participated in uprising in East Germany. In 1961 he became a champion in swimming but he is decided that he is going to escape from East Berlin since communist regime was unjust to him. Thanks to false passport he can get to West Berlin and start a new life there. His best friend Matthis (Sebastian Koch) is lucky and managed to get to West Berlin as well, but his pregnant wife Carole is forced to stay in East Berlin. Lotte (Alexandra Maria Lara) and her daughter are not sure if they want to leave East Berlin. Both Harry and Matthis really want to help their friends and their relatives and want to get them out of East Berlin. Since this area is guarded, they decided to go through tunnel. If they were only two, they would not manage to carry it through, so they took other people with them-Vittorio „Vic“ Constanza (Mehmet Kurtulus) and Fred von Klausnitz (Felix Eitner), later, Fritz Scholz (Nicolette Krebitz) whose partner is in East Berlin joined them.

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Since digging the tunnel is quite demanding, more people are called. When the diggers discovered a film crew from NBC, they asked them to support their effort financially and the diggers promised them to give the footage from the underground in return.

As time went by, Vic (who is of American origin) is allowed to cross the borders without problems. Lotte and Carola stays in contact with him. Stasi (official state security service of the German Democratic Republic) blackmailed Carola in terms of telling more about those who fled to West Berlin, if she refused to tell her small baby would be taken from her. Whilst Carola tells Stasi about Vic, Fritz´s lover Heiner was shot dead in an attempt to cross the Wall-this is a similarity to Peter Fechter (one of the first and youngest victims who died in 1962 when crossing the Wall). (Admin, 2011)

A breathtaking sequence occurs when a young East German soldier guns down another young man as he attempts to hop the wall. The soldier´s hesitation is prolonged by imminent regret, and the horror of his savage act is so burdensome that it can only be released with further aggression. Richter depicts this scene metaphorically, from both sides of the Wall as well as above it, looking down. (Tinkham, 2005)

Colonel Kroger (Uwe Kockisch) is the negative character in the movie whose main aim is to get those who escaped back to East and punish them appropriately. Towards the end of the story, Carola confessed that she was cooperating with Stasi and she falsely took Stasi to a location which was not the real escape site. Finally Fritzi got to the other side of Berlin with fake passport and Harry got there through the tunnel. (Revolvy, n.d.)

The film Tunnel (2001) is based upon the real story of Hasso Herschel (born in 1935 in Dresden, Germany). Herschel was only 18 years of age when he participated in the uprising on June 17, 1953 on the Dresden Altmarkt. He was arrested in detention for six weeks in a cell with many other teenagers. When he turned 18, he was not allowed to finish his studies at the university and had to look for a job (at the railroad). Shortly after that, he got a stipend, found a flat in West Berlin and became a student at the German College of Politics in West Berlin. Nevertheless, one year later Herschel was arrested again when he visited his parents in Dresden, the reason was that he broke the law which was valid at that time in East Germany. After serving four and a half years, he came back to his home town Dresden. Herschel had enough of East Germany and in 1961 he decided to flee to West Berlin since he was still a student at the

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university. On October 21, 1961 Hasso Herschel got a Swiss passport from a West Berlin student and began thinking how to get to West his sister and his whole family.

Hasso Herschel dug a tunnel with other people under the Wall. Apart from this he was the man who delivered the information to those who were on the other side of the wall and who were about to flee to West. On September 14 and 15, 1962 29 people could escape through this tunnel to West Berlin including his close family. Hasso Herschel was active in helping other people to get from East Berlin to West Berlin until 1972. (Von Arnim, 2018)

More than 2,5 million East Germans fled to West Germany after the World War II. Thus East Germany was losing a great deal of its population and the communist government decided to put a barrier so that people could not escape it was so called The Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall was a great thing since it was heavily guarded day in day out. Despite this fact a large number of people wanted to escape from the communist regime in order to get to West Berlin. Here are some examples of those who made attempts in crossing the Wall in a remarkable way:

1. Peter Strelzyk and Gunter Wetzel

Peter Strelzyk and Gunter Wetzel were thinking for a long time how to get to West Berlin. Suddenly Wetzel´s sister brought a magazine and there was an article about balloons so since then the idea was to escape in a balloon. After two unsuccessful attempts fortunately the third attempt was successful. When the coworker´s families got on the balloon, it came up in the air and lost its right direction. When the balloon was out of gas it crashed and fell to the ground. Even though the families first did not know if they escaped from East Berlin, after asking the police they knew that they really made it.

2. Joachim Neumann

Joachim Neumann was a student who never was interested in doing what a real student should do, he was a rebel in a way. After he refused to sign a document to defend his country with weapons he chose to flee from East Berlin to West Berlin. When he received fake Swiss passport, he wanted to convince the guards that he is a real Swiss. However, he failed to realize that he lacks Swiss accent. Therefore he did not utter a word and pretended to be an arrogant tourist. In the long run, he managed to cross the border when the guards only waved their hands. Neumann was successful in escaping later together with his girlfriend and his friends. They

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were digging a tunnel for five months and finally helped 57 people in getting to West Berlin. (Dunsmore, 2017)

3. Horst Klein

Horst Klein´s attempt in escaping was probably the bravest and most dangerous of all attempts. As he was a trapeze artist who lived in East Germany and was an anti-communist he had to escape to West Berlin on a tightrope in December 1962. From the moment when he got on an electricity pole he went across the cable through the Death Strip and finally to the West Berlin area. Most importantly, he managed to get there. (Cooper, 2016)

Apart from Peter Fechter (1944-1962) who was one of the first and youngest victims of the escapes over the Berlin Wall, Chris Gueffroy (1968-1989) was the last victim of the escape over the Berlin Wall, though he was almost as young as Peter Fechter.

On February 5, 1989, Chris Gueffroy and his friend wanted to flee from East Berlin to West Berlin. They believed that the guards do not shoot people who plan to cross the Wall. However, sadly they were wrong. When they climbed the inner wall and the signal fence the guards suddenly saw and started shooting them. Chris was shot in the heart and collapsed at the fence close to the border. His friend survived, nevertheless he was injured and sentenced to three years in prison. In October 1989 he was released to West Berlin. (Berlin.de, n.d.)

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4.2 Good Bye, Lenin! (2003)

Good Bye, Lenin! is considered to be the most commercially successful German movie of all time. The film depicts one of the most significant events in the recent history in Europe-fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. The movie indirectly highlights aspects of German reunification, it is reflected in common situations. (Becker, 2016)

Good Bye, Lenin! is a movie directed by Wolfgang Becker. Those who are familiar with Washington Irving Rip van Winkle story, can see in Good Bye, Lenin! a kind of analogy. In short, this movie tells about a man who wanted his mother not to know about sudden political changes in Germany in 1989 when she was in a coma after the moment when she had collapsed during a demonstration.

The film starts when the Kerner Family celebrated 40th anniversary of former German Democratic Republic. The main protagonist, Alex (Daniel Bruhl) shared a flat with his mother and his sister. Since Alex´s mother was a devoted Communist and a political activist, she collapsed and fell into a coma when she saw her son in a demonstration against the Communist regime. Within eight months a great number of political upheavals happened, such as Communist regime was defeated, Capitalism started to develop from the West and most importantly the Berlin Wall as a symbol of Cold War was torn down.

Alex and Ariane wanted their mother to stay away from these unexpected things. If their mother would know about this, she would probably die from enormous shock according to the doctors.

From this moment on, they took the pains to make everything seems as it was before the fall of the Berlin Wall. As a matter of fact, mother is in total ignorance until the very end of the film. (Dugdale, 2003)

Alexander Kerner:

My mother outlived the GDR by three days. I believe it was a good thing she never learned the truth. She died happy. She wanted us to scatter her ashes to the winds. That´s prohibited in Germany, both East and West. But we didn´t care. She´s up there somewhere now. Maybe looking down at us. Maybe she sees us as tiny specks on the Earth´s surface, just like Sigmund Jahn did back then. The country my mother left behind was a country she believed

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in, a country we kept alive till her last breath, a country that never existed in that form, a country that, in my memory, I will always associate with my mother. (IMDb, n.d.)

Those who remember the good times can look back in the past and think about the good and the bad before the year of 1989. In fact, Berlin is one of the cities that experienced history with such rapid changes through the years. „The Potsdam Treaty“ was the main document that defined the borders of Germany and Berlin itself. The Soviet Union was the dominant country for East Germany and the Great Britain, USA and France were dominant for West Germany.

In 1961 the Berlin Wall was constructed. It divided Berlin into two parts-West Germany and East Germany.

The director Wolfgang Becker, scriptwriter Bernd Lichtenberg and lead actor Daniel Bruhl had strong emotional ties to East Berlin. They searched cars, clothes and other stuff from that period which was before the Wall was torn down. Becker states that it was quite expensive to completely rebuild Berlin in order to look like it was before 1989.

One of the funniest scenes is when Alex was trying to buy products which were common in GDR like Spreewald Pickles and Globus Peas. In the long run it was impossible to find it in the „new era“.

Now when the new era started and the reign of Erich Honecker is over, Alex and Ariane as young and modern people could enjoy all the new possibilities which the new regime offers. When their mother was confined to bed, Alex and Ariane could enjoy what they wanted in terms of the new regime. In short, Alex and Ariane were free to do whatever they wished and what was not allowed during Honecker´s government. (Dugdale, 2003)

Concerning the movie locations, the flat where the family lived is situated in 21 Berolina Strasse just below the Berliner Fernsehturm, a famous television tower close to Alexanderplatz. This television tower used to be a symbol of „prosperity“ of communist regime. When Alex´s mother was in a coma, she was in the Campus Charitte Mitte Hospital in the Mitte district. Alex and Sara started their romantic relationship at Eimer Nightclub, located at Rosenthaler Strasse 68. World Clock (the Weltzeituhr) are seen when Alex´s mother birthday was coming near. World Clock was another great symbol of communist regime located at Alexanderplatz. (Movie- Locations, n.d.)

IndieWire made an interview with director Wolfgang Becker and lead actor Daniel Bruhl.

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When Wolfgang was asked how many people have seen the movie so far, he answered 6,5 million at the time when the interview was made. He believes that 7 million people is not impossible. By the way, this movie was more successful than Run, Lola, Run. Another great German comedy.

When Wolfgang was asked for what age groups is this film for, he answered that lots of tickets were sold to 12-25 year olds. Nevertheless, this movie has many cinemagoers who go to the cinema very rarely, so cinemagoers in their 40s or 50s were no exception. Basically, the whole families went to see this movie in East Berlin.

When Daniel Bruhl was asked if he learned something new from making the movie, he answered definitely yes. For him it was like a wonderful history lesson where he came to know plenty of new information for him. Interestingly enough, this film is shown in history classes. Apart from Goethe or Schiller, German students have to see this film as a part of history education. (Thomson, 2004)

Ostalgia is a term used for the good old days when East Germany existed. German film Good Bye, Lenin! present Ostalgia in their own way. Perfect example of Ostalgia is Alex´s mother, a loyal supporter of GDR and Communist regime in general. After falling into a coma, Alex and his girlfriend do anything to hide the truth after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

However, not many people know that Ostalgia is not mainly related to those who yearn to get back to the good old days (when the former GDR represented East Germany). In fact Ostalgia refers to those who were too young to remember GDR and cannot have any memories what happened when the Berlin Wall divided Berlin into two cities. Especially car named „Trabant“ is related to Ostalgia. It has become a phenomenon, now it has a reputation as a cult car. U2 has used a Trabant on the cover of their album Achtung Baby. (Drew, n.d.)

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4.3 Rabbit a la Berlin (2009)

Rabbit a la Berlin is a documentary from 2009 directed by Bartosz Konopka. In fact, it is practically unknown story about rabbits who lived between the walls of the Berlin Wall (1961- 1989). (IMb, n.d.)

Thanks to this documentary we can examine history of the Berlin Wall from a diferent point of view. It is a common fact that the Cold War (cca 1947-1991) has been closely watched in a lot of documentaries, books, various documents or feature films. The director Bartosz Konopka and the scriptwriters Piotr Rosolowski and Mateusz Romaszkan took a different approach in terms of the history of the Berlin Wall. They focused on thousand of rabbits who lived freely in the area where the Berlin Wall was standing.

Piotr Rosolowski, the scriptwriter of this documentary says about Rabbit a la Berlin:

First we searched for original archives with real rabbits from the wall, but after a couple of months of research we didn´t find much, so the next stage was to search for shots which could be used as the rabbit´s perspective, like low angle 5 shots of the death zone, but there wasn´t much either. The real change came when we decided that we didn´t have to be so orthodox, if you establish the right narration in the film, you can even show J.F.Kennedy or Fidel Castro at the wall and tell that the rabbits had seen them. The problem was we still hadn´t have enough takes with real rabbits from the wall (frankly speaking, almost no one filmed them), so we decided to use archive material from Scotland, Australia (some of the takes were found on Youtube), and mix this footage with archives from the wall. (VisegradFilmForum, 2018)

It took four years to Bartosz Konopka (director) and Piotr Rosolowski (scriptwriter) to make this documentary. Both makers had to go through lots of documents in Polish and other archives, they had to see many historical photos from the years when the Berlin Wall was still standing. The result was outstanding- it was nominated for the Academy Awards in 2010 as the only European film in the Short Documentary Category. Moreover, in December 2011 it had its official American premiere in New York and distribution all around the world. The voice of Krystyna Czubowna, who is known for presenting educational film documentaries says that this is an ordinary film about rabbits who live close to people. However, when the film goes on and on, it is evident that these rabbits are not common rabbits, these are the rabbits which lived in the so called no man´s land (an area where nobody lived)- thin place which divided the two walls of the Berlin Wall for 28 years.

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Homo sovieticus is a satirical term for people who were heavily influenced by the Communist regime, Rabbit a la Berlin refers to this. Berlin rabbits were caught in a very small space that divided the Berlin Wall in the year of 1961. Soldiers and guards along the wall kept their eyes if the rabbits are safe and if there is enough grass to feed the rabbits so they are not hungry. As time went on and on, the rabbits had enough of food and became inactive in their behaviour and wanted to know what is beyond the walls, that means they wanted to see and experience something new what they haven´t experienced before.

When the wall was torn down in November 1989, all of a sudden the rabbits were free and they could escape from their „prison“ inside the Berlin Wall. Thousands of rabbits could be seen at the Potsdamer Platz running happily from one place to another.

This documentary won several significant prizes at film festivals, e.g. in Krakow (Grand Prix Zloty Lajkonik and Best Producer Award) or in Warsaw (Planet Doc Review Best Mid-length Documentary) etc.

According to Konopka who gave an interview to Gazeta Wyborcza, Berlin Wall has appeared in many documentaries, but this one is really special because it deals with the Berlin Wall from a different position. He thinks that Polish way of making movies is one of a kind: Polish people are very linked with their history (which was quite complicated throughout the years). This documentary fulfils all the criteria which was needed, it is witty, humorous and full of funny allusions to the history of the Berlin Wall. In a way, rabbits are supposed to symbolize people, who find themselves in awkward situations, are manipulated by politicians, media and current state of affairs. (Zarebski, 2009)

IDA (International Documentary Association) makes interviews with various filmmakers so that the viewers are more familiar with the films which are going to be presented in the cinema. Bartek Konopka was one of those filmmakers who was called for an interview:

When IDA asked Konopka how he started in documentary filmmaking, Konopka answered that he started working 12 years ago as a reporter. Then he had the opportunity to shoot short documentaries for various programs, which was the starting point for continuing with that. Enrolling in film school was then a logical step, as a matter of fact.

IDA then asked what was the inspiration for Bartek to make this documentary. Bartek answered at first he had this kind of information that there exist several thousands of rabbits along the

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wall. He felt it was a golden opportunity for him to use this as a way of expressing part of history of communist era.

IDA asked what were the major problems and obstacles during making this film. Bartek answered that this sort of documentary has never been done before, first he had to take it as a fairy tale- tale about rabbits who lived somewhere in the nature. It took him four years to finish it.

IDA asked how he changed the film idea during different phases of shooting the documentary. Bartek says that the very first idea was to make a documentary something like a fairy tale which would be narrated by a cartoon figure known especially in Germany. Later on, as a final version, it was changed about a story of East Germany, more precisely, about East Berlin. Rabbits and the grass inside the two walls should serve as a tool for showing the miserable conditions of people living behind the Wall.

Since Bartek screened his documentary Rabbit a la Berlin at many places such as film festivals, screening rooms etc. IDA asked him how the viewers reacted to the film and if there were any reactions from the audience. Bartek answered surprisingly enough that older people both in Poland and in Germany saw it as their lives. They lived like rabbits stuck in the Communist regime. Audience was very surprised about this film since they did not know that it is possible to make a film this way. They thought that rabbits are smarter and more sensible than those people in the GDR since they could live peacefully and calmly in the communism.

IDA then asked what documentaries and documentary makers were influential for Bartek. He answered that Werner Herzog-Lessons of Darkness, Wild Blue Yonder, March of the Penguins, Microcosmos and Zelig by Woody Allen. (White, n.d.)

The documentary includes pictures of rabbits from both sides of the Wall, local people, guards and other stuff provided relevant interviews. Rabbits could not be killed for years so that they could not die out and keep the grass growing along the wall. If the viewer looks more carefully at the faces of rabbits, it is possible to see that their reactions are totally confused since they do not know what they should do when they are trapped inside the walls.

All in all, Rabbit a la Berlin is somewhat interesting, meaningful and pretty smart documentary. In this documentary Konopka found a new angle how to look at the absurdity and complete nonsense of totalitarian regime, he found a new way how to judge lives of people under the

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Communist regime. It does not matter, if it is a human or animal, any living creature deserves freedom, since this is perhaps the most significant for us all. (Gramas, 2010)

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Conclusion

Significance and impact of the Berlin Wall and Pop culture is still evident even these days. Paradoxically, the Cold War and the years when the Berlin Wall was standing and the years after demolishing the Berlin Wall led to a great number of various wondeful feature films, documentaries, songs and other pieces of art.

Hansa Studios by The Wall are studios which are located on Kothener Strasse close to Potsdamer Platz in the centre of Berlin. They are considered to be one of the most significant music studios to date. They are worldwide known thanks to David Bowie especially. Heroes, Low and Lodger are albums which are commonly known as Berlin Trilogy, the first two albums were recorded in the Hansa Studios by the Wall. Approximately 3 km from Potsdamer Platz is located Zoo Station. Zoo Station is a place where We Children from Bahnhof takes place. The movie which was made in 1981 is based upon the facts which are written in the book of the same name. It is a notorious story of a young girl named Christiane F. who became a junkie at the age of 14 and due to her drug abuse she is forced to prostitute herself. Pink Floyd was a British band which had a huge impact on the music of the 20th century. They are considered to be one of the greatest bands of all time, their cult album The Wall (1979) is a masterpiece. The Wall (1982) is a musical drama film based upon the album of the same title. The Wall live (1990) was a live performance of Roger Waters on the occassion of celebration of demolishing the Berlin Wall. Last but not least, A Great Day For Freedom (1994) is a track from The Division Bell album. This song is about freedom and hopes but also about disappointment which followed the Fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin and in other East Europe countries. Next band which has a close relation to the Fall of the Berlin are The Scorpions. They had a megahit Wind of Change which was basically „an anthem“ of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and political changes in East Germany and other East Europe countries. Wings of Desire (1987) is a romantic fantasy film about two invisible and immortal angels who float above Berlin. One of them, Damiel (played by Bruno Ganz) was tired of being an angel and decided to become a human being in order to be with a woman who was a trapeze artist. Der Tunnel (2001) is a movie about a man named Harry Melchior. He plans to escape from communist regime just after the Berlin Wall is completed and together with his friends he wants to save his sister who had to stay in East Berlin. Good Bye, Lenin! (2003) is a German drama about a young man who wants to protect her from a fatal shock after she had fallen into a coma during the demonstration in 1989. Rabbit a la Berlin is a documentary about rabbits who lived in the area very close to the Berlin Wall. This movie wants to show absurdity of the Berlin Wall and the way the rabbits were kept. The

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director states that there is a paralell to people who were stuck in the Communist regime like these rabbits.

Berlin as one of the most significant cities in the world in terms of cultural life has alway been an epicentre of film and music which is related to the recent history. Berlin as a city itself has gone through rapid transformations: first, after the end of the WWII (division of Germany into West Germany and East Germany), second, after the fall of the Berlin Wall (reunification of both German republics into one country).

Concerning the Berlin Wall, a great number of feature films, documentaries, studio albums or live albums were recorded. Both film and music are artistic forms whose aim is to deliver the message either through pictures or through sound.

Both films and albums which are related to the Berlin Wall in a certain way express disillusionment with respect to political affairs which happened in East Germany in early 1960s. Films and studio albums with relation to the Berlin Wall have a few aspects in common: all of them call for freedom (get out of heavily guarded East Berlin), wish to break the wall and at the same time they show a complete absurdity of the Wall itself, total relief when the Wall was down but also certain feelings of dissatisfaction. The reason for dissatisfaction was that not anybody in East Germany agreed with tearing down the wall. It is a general knowledge that Berlin is a unique city in this respect: there is no other city in the world which was divided by the wall and at the same time Berlin was as a matter of fact an exclave in East Germany.

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List of References:

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Blake, M. (2013). Pigs Might Fly. London: Quarto.

Buckley, D. (2015). Strange Fascination David Bowie: The Definitive Story. London: Virgin Books.

Christiane F. (2013). Zoo Station. San Francisco: Zest Books.

Christiane F., Vukovic S. (2013). Můj druhý život. Ostrava: Oldag.

Ciment, M. (2016). Pas do Hollywoodu. Praha: Limonádový Joe.

Egan, S. (2015). Bowie on Bowie. London: Souvenir Press.

Kolker, R.P., Beicker P. (1993). The films of Wim Wenders. Retrieved 13 October, 2018 from Cinema as Vision and Desire, London: Camridge University Press.

McCormick, R.W., Guenther A. (2004). German Essays on film. London: Continuum.

Seabrook, T. J. (2008). A New Career in a New Town. London: Jawbone Press

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Allen, M. (2010). Detlev Lives! Retrieved October 10, 2018 from VICE: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7bkwmd/detlev-lives-447-v17n6

Allreaders. (n.d.). Wings of Desire Review Summary. Retrieved November 2, 2018 from AllReaders.com: http://allreaders.com/movie-review-summary/wings-of-desire-17803

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Alpha History. (2018). The Scorpions: „Wind of Change“ (1990). Retrieved September 11, 2018 from Alpha History: https://alphahistory.com/coldwar/scorpions-wind-of-change-1990/

Armin, von A. (n.d.). Hasso Herschel- Escape Agent with Prison Experience. Retrived November 19, 2018 from Berlin Wall Memorial: https://www.berliner-mauer- gedenkstaette.de/en/hasso-herschel-789.html

Belinky, B. (2018). The Bowie- soundtracked teen drug film that inspired Raf Simons. Retrieved October 30, 2018 from Dazed: http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/38956/1/christiane-f-bowie-soundtracked-teen- drug-film-that-inspired-raf-simons

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Films:

Christiane F. (1981). We Children from Bahnhof Zoo. Film

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