Hansa Tonstudio

The Hansa Tonstudio is a recording studio, since 1974 located in a former builders' guild hall at Köthener Straße No. 38 in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. Famous for its Meistersaal recording hall and situated approximately 150 metres from the former Berlin Wall, it used to be known as "Hansa Studio by the Wall", or "Hansa by the Wall".

Facade on Köthener Straße

The Meistersaal known as "The Big Hall by the Wall" has been fully restored and is now used for concerts and other events as well as recording.

History

The Hansa Records label was founded in 1962 (one year after the building of the Berlin Wall) by brothers Peter and Thomas Meisel in the Wilmersdorf quarter of West Berlin. From 1965 they temporarily rented the Ariola production facilities in the Meistersaal location, but also built up their own Studio I on Nestorstraße in the Halensee neighbourhood, which opened in 1973. Nevertheless, Hansa had to abandon its own production facilities the next year, and from 1974 again rented the Meistersaal location on Köthener Straße (now called Studio II).

Meanwhile, the Meistersaal, noted for its outstanding acoustics, was used not only for light music productions but also for classical music recordings. In the early and mid-1980s, all productions were overseen by English record producer Michael Blakey. The studios played host to many well-known acts, including Tangerine Dream, David Bowie,[1][2] Brian Eno,[3] Iggy Pop,[4] U2,[2] Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds,[3] Claw Boys Claw,[5] Depeche Mode,[6] Marillion,[6] Siouxsie and the Banshees, Killing Joke, Boney M. and most recently Manic Street Preachers, R.E.M., Snow Patrol, Kent, Living Things and Go Go Berlin. The roll of notable recordings and the acoustic quality, especially that of the Meistersaal, have given the studio near legendary status, especially within the post-punk and synthpop genres. In 2018, the studio was the subject of a documentary feature by filmmaker Mike Christie titled 'Hansa Studios: By The Wall 1976-90' which aired across Europe on Sky Arts and Sky Arte.

Selected recordings
Meistersaal

References
  1. "Frei gefühlt: David Bowie in Berlin". Die Tageszeitung (in German). 2006-07-10. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  2. Susan Fast, "Music, Contexts, and Meaning in U2," in Everett, Walter (ed.) (2000). Expression in Pop-rock Music: A Collection of Critical and Analytical Essays. Taylor & Francis. pp. 33–76. ISBN 978-0-8153-3160-5.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link) p. 45
  3. Connell, John; Chris Gibson (2003). Sound tracks: popular music, identity, and place. Routledge. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-415-17028-4.
  4. Trynka, Paul (2008). Iggy Pop: Open Up and Bleed. Random House. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-7679-2320-0.
  5. "Claw Boys Claw: Biografie". Popinstituut Encyclopedie. Muziek Centrum Nederland. Archived from the original on 2009-07-03. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  6. Miller, Jonathan (2004). Stripped: Depeche Mode. Omnibus Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-84449-415-6.
  7. "Chvrches announce new 'Hansa Session' EP, out this Friday". NME. Retrieved 30 January 2020.

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