Beginning in 1965, Hansa rented Ariola Records' production facilities at the historic Meistersaal located within the building at Köthener Straße 38.

[6][7] Bowie is said to have written Heroes at a window of the studio, from which he saw Visconti kiss backing vocalist Antonia Maass, an image that made it into the song's lyrics.

[4] The studios hosted numerous notable acts in the late 1970s through the 1980s, including Tangerine Dream, Nina Hagen Band, Killing Joke, David Sylvian, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds,[2][7] Marillion,[11] Siouxsie and the Banshees, Wire, and The Psychedelic Furs, firmly establishing the studio's reputation in the post-punk and synthpop genres.

In 1983, Depeche Mode, Daniel Miller, and Gareth Jones mixed Construction Time Again at Hansa, and returned to the studio to record the band's breakthrough single "People Are People" and subsequent album, Some Great Reward, with band member Martin Gore recording "Somebody" in the Meistersaal in the nude.

[15][2][16] More recently, Hansa Studios has been utilized for projects by Manic Street Preachers, R.E.M., Snow Patrol, Kent, Living Things and Go Go Berlin.