After watching Nick Cave in Berlin in the Dutch documentary Stranger in a Strange Land, I started wondering where was the apartment where Bram van Splunteren interviewed the artist. This act of wonder became comprehensive research online, comparing Google Street View pictures with screenshots of videos.
But, in the end, I think I finally managed to find out where Nick Cave lived in Berlin.
Based on Stranger in a Strange Land, it seemed that Nick Cave was living in Kreuzberg based on the presence of the Berlin Wall so close to the opening shot in the video. What should make sense since he used to hang out at Risiko and SO36, both bars/clubs were located in the same neighbourhood.
But the street in the movie looks a little bit different from the ones close to Kottbusser Tor.
That was the first issue that I found in my research about where Nick Cave lived in Berlin. Finding a street from a 30-year-old video in an ever-changing city like Berlin is challenging.
So, I started looking for anything related to Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld, and I found an online archive filled with videos from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. There was one there that caught my eye: Dandy by Peter Sempel.
Dandy is a film released in June 1988, and it stars Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld. The recording info shows that the movie was shot in April 1986 at Thomas Wydler‘s house on Yorckstrasse.
And, in November 1986, Christophe Dreher’s home in on Dresdenerstrasse 11, Kreuzberg. Both of these guys played in the experimental German band Die Haut and were friends with Nick Cave.
Based on this address, Dresdenerstrasse 11, I went to Google Street View, and the building looked exactly like the one from Stranger in a Strange Land. But could it be? A couple of days later, I went to Kreuzberg, and I believe the address is right. Nick Cave used to live at Dresdenerstrasse 11, in Kreuzberg, when he used to live in West Berlin, back in the 1980s.
The only confirmation that I have of this, besides the fact that I went there I believe that the building on Dresdenerstrasse 11 is the same one from the documentary Stranger in a Strange Land is a German page from the Berlin City Portal that mentions a loft in Dresdenerstrasse. According to the page, Nick Cave first stayed there, at his friend Christophe Dreher’s home, in 1982 when he first came to West Berlin.
After collecting all this information, I can believe that I found where Nick Cave used to live in Berlin. Dresdenerstrasse 11 in Kreuzberg is the apartment where he used to stay.
Now, I just need to find out which floor, ring the bell, and see If I can visit the studio to further improve my research.
After revisiting the location today, I believe this is the apartment where Stranger in a Strange Land starts. If everything I discovered above makes sense, this is where Nick Cave used to live while in Berlin.
Look at the video on the link above and compare it, too.
Where did Nick Cave live in Berlin?
Dresdenerstrasse 11 in Kreuzberg
