Berlin to honour Bowie with plaque outside old flat
Berlin-based fans wanted a street named after pop legend David Bowie, but for now they’ll have to settle for a plaque placed outside the flat where he lived in the 1970s instead.
The plaque will be fitted at the house at Hauptstraße 155 where David Bowie shared an apartment with singer Iggy Pop in the Schöneberg neighbourhood, the Berlin cultural authority announced last week.
It remains to be agreed when and where exactly the plaque will be installed, but the memorial should be complete by the end of the year, broadcaster RBB reports.
Fans had wanted the city to rename Hauptsstraße, the street where the pop chameleon lived, after him, and an online petition on change.org has so far collected over 12,000 signatures.
But a spokesperson for the district council in Schöneberg warned RBB that fans’ hopes were likely to be dashed - at least in the short term.
In Berlin there is a law on street names which means that someone can only be honoured with a street named after them five years after their death, the spokesperson explained.
Reinhold Kleber, who runs the David Bowie fanzine davidbowie.de, told The Local “I’ve been a fan since 1970, and I live in Schöneberg near his former flat. Naturally everyone who has lost a hero wants to see him suitably honoured.”
“One can be satisfied with the plaque at first and stay focused for the street street name [if it can happen at a later point.]” he said.
Bowie died at the age of 69 of cancer in January, just days after releasing the album Black Star. Fans later gathered for an emotional memorial service at the Hansa studios where he worked on his music.
His Berlin years were some of the most productive in the British singer’s life. While living in the then western part of the divided city, he released a trilogy of albums including the seminal Heroes, produced with Brian Eno.
Another stumbling block on the road to creating David Bowie Straße is the fact that Schöneberg has a policy of only naming streets after women, Berlin daily Morgenpost reports.
The policy is contentious within the district administration, but a specific policy guide for Schöneberg and other districts in the capital says that women should always be given preference when it comes to awarding the honour of a street name.
DON'T MISS: David Bowie's Berlin in pictures
Comments
See Also
The plaque will be fitted at the house at Hauptstraße 155 where David Bowie shared an apartment with singer Iggy Pop in the Schöneberg neighbourhood, the Berlin cultural authority announced last week.
It remains to be agreed when and where exactly the plaque will be installed, but the memorial should be complete by the end of the year, broadcaster RBB reports.
Fans had wanted the city to rename Hauptsstraße, the street where the pop chameleon lived, after him, and an online petition on change.org has so far collected over 12,000 signatures.
But a spokesperson for the district council in Schöneberg warned RBB that fans’ hopes were likely to be dashed - at least in the short term.
Reinhold Kleber, who runs the David Bowie fanzine davidbowie.de, told The Local “I’ve been a fan since 1970, and I live in Schöneberg near his former flat. Naturally everyone who has lost a hero wants to see him suitably honoured.”
“One can be satisfied with the plaque at first and stay focused for the street street name [if it can happen at a later point.]” he said.
His Berlin years were some of the most productive in the British singer’s life. While living in the then western part of the divided city, he released a trilogy of albums including the seminal Heroes, produced with Brian Eno.
Another stumbling block on the road to creating David Bowie Straße is the fact that Schöneberg has a policy of only naming streets after women, Berlin daily Morgenpost reports.
The policy is contentious within the district administration, but a specific policy guide for Schöneberg and other districts in the capital says that women should always be given preference when it comes to awarding the honour of a street name.
DON'T MISS: David Bowie's Berlin in pictures
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.