23 years ago, David Hasselhoff sung a now famous rendition of his song Looking for Freedom in celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany.

Now, the former Baywatch and Knight Rider star has returned to the German capital to again lend his voice to a protest movement. However this time around, the 60-year old actor is trying to save a stretch of the Wall, not tear it down.

“I’ve come to lend my support because I believe this is a piece of history,” the actor and musician told a milling crowd of supporters, who had turned out in their droves despite the unseasonably chilly weather.

“And it’s very important to remember all the people who lost their lives in search of freedom,” he said.

Plans to provide access to a 63-metre-high residential development along the banks of the Spree river as well as access to a planned bridge require a 22-metre segment of the Wall to be dismantled.

Hasselhoff has a huge following in Germany, down mainly to his being seen as something of a hero for his performance on December 31st 1989.

Now the Hoff looks to have further entwined himself with the fates of the Wall and in particular, the 1.3 kilometre remnants of brightly muralled brick and mortar known as the East Side Gallery.

He may well be a no talent, alcoholic with a saggy old man face and a career that’s completely in the toilet, but when he sings a few bars of Looking for Freedom people stop laughing at him long enough to sing along.

Besides, the East Side Gallery is definitely something worth fighting to save.

Image: Getty