David Hasselhoff In Huff Over Berlin Wall Threat

David Hasselhoff has thrown his weight behind a campaign to stop one of the few remaining sections of the Berlin Wall from being demolished.

The former Baywatch and Knight Rider star said a developer's plan to move part of the wall to make way for a new housing block was "like tearing down an Indian burial ground" because of the great historical importance it has.

Speaking to journalists in a music club next to the former barrier that divided East and West Germany, Hasselhoff said as soon as he first heard about the campaign to save the wall, he decided to join.

"My children came over here and walked the wall. They know people will share the stories and they realise the severity of it," he said.

He added that the wall "keeps the memories of all the families, the thousands and thousands of families that were torn apart alive".

Cheered on by thousands of young Berliners, Hasselhoff performed his former hit song Looking For Freedom from the back of a van, singing into a megaphone.

The 60-year-old actor first performed the song on top of the wall just before it came down in 1989.

Recalling the occasion, Hasselhoff said: "I was honoured in 1989 to sing on the wall.

"It was a big surprise to me when they called and asked if I could sing on New Year's Eve and I said 'Only if I can sing on the wall', knowing they would say no.

"And they said 'We need to get (then West German Chancellor) Helmut Kohl and (then East German leader Erich) Honecker to say yes'. Both chancellors had to say yes. They called back two days later and they said yes! "

Berliners have rallied against the developer's plan.

They say it is part of a wider trend of steamrolling Berlin's tumultuous history to make way for gleaming developments in the now unified German capital.