A little over 23 years ago, the idea of Germans wanting to stop the demolition of the Berlin Wall would’ve been unheard of for the most part.  In 1989 when the demolition of the wall began, Germans came with sledgehammers and other destructive tools to tear down the miles of concrete that once divided the city in two.  As time passes though, remnants of the past that once brought on feelings of hatred and pain become reminders of what once occurred and serve as a lesson of where things went wrong.  That is why thousands in Germany have taken to the streets to protest the removal of the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall and David Hasselhoff, who performed at the wall in support of tearing it down in 1989, has vowed to do what he can to help keep this section in place.

The 1.3 kilometer (0.8 mile) section of the Berlin Wall under threat of removal, which is referred to as the East Side Gallery, was approved to be removed to make room for a luxury high-rise apartment complex despite it being a protected landmark.  Every year nearly 800,000 visitors from around the world make the journey to this section of the Berlin Wall covered in graffiti art in remembrance of what it once was.  While the initial plan was to move this section of the wall to a new site nearby, many have argued that a move like that would alter and diminish the impact of what it signifies.

David Hasselhoff sat down for an interview with the Huffington Post last Friday to talk about the protest and mentioned that he would be more than willing to perform another concert at the wall, except this time it would be in support of it.  He told the Huffington Post that ”I think the best way to do this is to fight capitalism with capitalism… If you get the whole world behind it, I’d be happy to come over and help and do what I can and do a concert. If you’re gonna fight money, you gotta fight money with money.”

Towards the end of Hasselhoff’s interview he touched upon the need to preserve history whether it is a remembrance of good or evil by relating it to the 9/11 attacks in the United States.  He summed it up by saying ”If this did happen in Manhattan and you tried to tear down something about 9/11, you’d have a hell of a lot of problems… This is about history.”

So far the protesters have been able to stop the initial removal that was scheduled for March 1 after the development firm behind the high-rise project, Living Bauhaus, agreed to put it off until at least March 18.  Living Bauhaus feels that they have been unfairly abused during the last several weeks but has agreed to hold a public forum to discuss the matter.