David Bowie performed the 1987 concert near the Berlin Wall that became a Cold War symbol.
Bowie played three concerts in West Berlin in June 1987 as part of his Glass Spider Tour. The final performance took place at the Platz der Republik, near the Reichstag and close to the Wall. Speakers faced toward East Berlin, and people on the eastern side reportedly gathered to listen.
The event became associated with the political atmosphere of divided Berlin, although its exact direct effect on the Wall’s fall is difficult to measure. Bowie later described the concert as emotionally important because East Berliners could hear it from across the border.
Bowie returned to the subject in 2016, when he mentioned the Berlin concerts in connection with the city’s history. The performance is sometimes confused with Bruce Springsteen’s 1988 East Berlin concert, which was also politically significant but took place on the eastern side.