Popp Culture

Looking for freedom — and a chunk of the Berlin Wall— in Houston

The fall of the Berlin Wall drew crowds and the attention of the world.
Photo by Sue Ream
Construction of the Berlin Wall, 1961
President Ronald Reagan calls for the fall of the Berlin Wall at a conference atBrandenburg Gate in June 1987.
A graffiti-covered portion of the Berlin Wall, seen at Potsdamer Platz in Marchof this year
Photo by Jorge Lascar
From left: Charles Powell, who served as private secretary to former BritishPrime Minister Margaret Thatcher; French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas; formerGerman Democratic Republic Foreign Minister Markus Meckel; former German FederalRepublic Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher; and former U.S. Secretary ofState James A. Baker III posed in front of a section of the Berlin Wall outsidethe Baker Institute in November 2009.
Photo by Tommy LaVergne

It's been two decades since the Berlin Wall fell, but there is no longer any debate as to whether David Hasselhoff had anything to do with it, thanks to this recent NPR piece. If you are more of a visual learner, don’t miss the video of Hasselhoff —in black motorcycle jacket and a muffler in a piano-key pattern — performing “Looking for Freedom” in 1990 in Berlin (the video is at the bottom of this column). Save it to your favorites. Share it on Twitter. And if you want to light up your office holiday party, forgo the Christmas sweater and take this wardrobe cue from the Hoff.

Hasselhoff’s sartorial choices shouldn’t blind us to the real reason to reflect on the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I recently asked a friend of mine at the Four Seasons Hotel, director of sales and marketing Holger Frehde, about his take on the wall coming down. In 1989 Frehde was a 14-year-old West German. While he thought the Hoff nailed the performance at the Brandenberg Gate, it wasn’t because of the outfit.

“While the Hoff is mostly ridiculed in the U.S. for many obvious reasons,” Frehde explained, “somehow he was able to have the perfect song at the perfect time for many East Germans.” The song “Looking for Freedom,” Frehde noted, “meant one thing that all of East Germany had been longing for, for a long time: The West!”

Fredhe’s reflections not only clarified a nagging question I had about Germany’s long standing affinity for Hasselhoff, but it reminded me of the real significance of the Berlin Wall.

A Quick History of the Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall was a haunting, 28-mile barrier. It not only divided a city from 1961 until 1989, but it became an iconic symbol of the Cold War.

For 28 years this wall, composed of 45,000 concrete slabs and fortified with watchtowers, mines and barbed wire, divided a people. Ten thousand armed soldiers and police guarded it. Hundreds died trying to get past it.

Yet in 1989, the East German government faced mounting challenges to its legitimacy. As protests grew, the East Germans made a rather hasty announcement announcing more relaxed travel restrictions. Upon hearing the news, people flooded past the checkpoints. And the Wall came tumbling down. ABC News anchor Peter Jennings reported from Berlin that during those days in November, 1989 “the European continent change before our eyes.”

And a piece of it is right here in our hometown on the Rice University campus.

Remnants of the Wall in Houston

You can find segments of the Wall all over the United States. Outside the small souvenirs that thousands of Americans may possess, 26 states have larger parts of the Berlin Wall.

My vote for the most bizarre spot for a wall memorial goes to the Main Street Station Casino in Las Vegas. Yep, there you can find a portion of the Wall holding up the urinals in the men’s room. That bathroom concept should certainly stay in Vegas.

Here in Houston, we’re a little more refined.

You’ll find the 12-foot high, 5,000-pound slab of the Berlin Wall just outside of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy on the Rice campus. The imposing, graffiti strewn portion is quite a sight to see as well it is quite a bit of history.

The Baker Institute recently hosted a roundtable discussion to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. Key dignitaries involved in the events of 1989 offered some compelling insight on the processes and individuals that caused the momentous revolution.

Truth be told, I’m a big fan of the Baker Institute. If you are on campus, and you are a political junkie, you will get a nice thrill just walking through the building itself. It houses all sorts of wonderful political memorabilia.

Better Tunes of the Times

If after reflecting about the events of 1989 you find yourself pining for some old school tunes reminiscent of Berlin, I’d recommend putting some "Achtung Baby" on your playlist. U2, which visited Reliant Stadium in October, crafted the 1991 album in Germany in an attempt to tap into the energy of the revolution.

Despite the band’s connection with the city of Berlin, their MTV concert on the Brandenburg Gate sparked a bit of a controversy. Some local Berliners were a tad displeased with the set-up. It appears that in celebration of one wall coming down, concert promoters erected another security barrier around the show.

Too bad the Hoff wasn’t there to lighten the mood.

Find more videos like this on HoffSpace

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”