They were tentative at first, but the crowd steadily grew larger. Only with the perspective of history can we now understand how terribly different this all could have gone.
Perhaps the Hasselhoff legend sprang from the fact that during this time "Looking for Freedom" was climbing the charts in Germany and Austria. It still stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate separating east from west.
The year ahead was full of hope, promise and uncertainty. Amid those emotions, dressed in a black jacket with blinking lights and a keyboard scarf, The Hoff stood in the bucket of a crane overlooking the crowd and sang "Looking for Freedom.
The crowd swayed, sang along and shot fireworks in the air, some narrowly missing Hasselhoff. Many more Germans watched the show from home.
His performance became part of the nation's shared memory of that historic year. Red swim trunks, bare chests and swim buoy accessories peppered the crowd, as did black leather jackets covered in Christmas tree lights. As it did in , the crowd lost its collective mind when Hasselhoff launched into "Looking for Freedom. His obsession with reunification is gauche — but his message of hope is still necessary.
F reedom! The date is no coincidence. As the Knight Rider star mugged for the camera, Germans from both sides of the border sat astride the hated barricade.
Some tossed fireworks dangerously close to Hasselhoff, his leather jacket illuminated by the sparks. Nonetheless, the building went ahead. Songs from the new album, as well as his hits, play over the PA while most people are still coming through the doors. A replica of KITT, his talking-car co-star, stands behind the sound desk, and clips of Knight Rider and Baywatch — as well as videos for his many German pop hits — are beamed behind the stage before his show gets under way.
The latter show may have been experiencing a boost because the Baywatch film starring Dwayne Johnson — and featuring a Hasselhoff cameo — was released in December and people in both countries were likely inspired to revisit the original show, but it is still more popular with German audiences.
While Germany clearly has much more affection for Baywatch and Knight Rider than America does, we looked at the numbers for every country in the world to see if German audiences still lead the world in demand for David Hasselhoff action shows. For Knight Rider, there is stiffer competition. After a four-year gap, Germany's biggest pop star is back with a single featuring Luis Fonsi of "Despacito" fame. Is Fischer eyeing the international market?
The catchy pop tunes known as schlager have brought masses of partying Germans together for decades. But a closer look at some lyrics reveal outdated views. Visit the new DW website Take a look at the beta version of dw.
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