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 their own Studio I on Nestorstrasse in the Halensee neighborhood, which opened in 1973. Nevertheless, Hansa had to abandon its own production facilities the next year, and from 1974 again rented the Meistersaal location (Studio II) on Köthener Strasse.
The number of notable recordings and the acoustic quality of Hansa Tonstudio, especially that of the Meistersaal, have given the studio near legendary status, especially within the post-punk and synthpop genres. The studios famous clientele include U2, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, R.E.M., Pet Shop Boys, Nick Cave and Iggy Pop.