German punk
Encyclopedia
Punk rock
and punk subculture
have created a popular scene in Germany
since punk music became popular in the 1970s.
and The Clash
became popular in West Germany, a number of Punk bands were formed, which led to the creation a German punk scene. Among the first wave of bands were Male, from Düsseldorf
, founded in 1976, PVC, from West Berlin
, and Big Balls and the Great White Idiot
, from Hamburg
. Early German punk groups were heavily influenced by UK bands, often writing their lyrics in English. The main difference is that German punk bands hadn't yet become political.
Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s there were new movements within the German punk scene, led by labels like ZickZack
Records, from Hamburg. It was during this period that the term Neue Deutsche Welle
(New German Wave) was first coined by Alfred Hilsberg, owner of ZickZack Records. Many of these bands played experimental post-punk
, often using synthesizers and computers. Among them were The Nina Hagen Band
, as well as Fehlfarben
and Abwärts
, from Hamburg. Both are still active, though they've changed their style several times. In response to these developments, some bands played a more aggressive style of punk rock, because they didn't consider the experimental bands Punk.
has historically been home to the Berlin punk movement as well as other alternative subcultures in Germany. The legendary SO36
club remains a fixture of the Berlin music scene, championing new artists while staying true to its punk past. It originally featured mainly punk music and was often frequented by Iggy Pop
and David Bowie
.
. Probably the most important Deutschpunk band was Slime
from Hamburg, who were the first band whose LP was banned because of political topics. Their songs "Deutschland", "Bullenschweine", and "Polizei SA/SS" were banned, some of them are still banned today, because they propagated the use of violence against the police or compared the police to the SA
and SS of Nazi Germany
. While they still had some English lyrics on their first, self-titled LP, they have concentrated on German lyrics since their second LP "Yankees raus" ("Yankees out", named after the anti-imperialist title track). Other popular bands of this phase include Razzia from Hamburg, Toxoplasma from Neuwied
, Canalterror
from Bonn
, and Normahl
from Stuttgart
. All of these bands released their records on one of the leading punk labels in West Germany: Weird System Recordings from Hamburg, Aggressive Rockproduktionen (AGR) from West Berlin, and Mülleimer Records ("Garbage Can Records") from Stuttgart. During this period also the band Die Toten Hosen
from Düsseldorf
was founded which is still active. Alongside with Die Ärzte
they became the most successful German punk band to date and also gained international success.
During this period, many bands have been influenced by U.S. hardcore punk with bands like Black Flag
or The Adolescents
. Those bands were also known for their extremely left-wing attitude and aggression in their songs. Some of the most important German hardcore punk bands, who are also often labeled "Deutschpunk", included Vorkriegsjugend
from West Berlin, Chaos Z from Stuttgart, Inferno from Augsburg
and Blut + Eisen from Hannover. Some bands tried a slower, more elaborate style, inspired by bands like The Wipers, the most popular ones being Torpedo Moskau from Hamburg and a number of singer Jens Rachut's bands, like Angeschissen (1986), Blumen am Arsch der Hölle (1992), Dackelblut (1994) and Oma Hans (2000), also from Hamburg.
Popular compilations of this period were "Keine Experimente!" (Vol. 1-2) (Weird System Recordings) and "Soundtracks zum Untergang" Vol. (1-2) (AGR).
In the mid-1980s, many of the former popular Deutschpunk bands disbanded, which resulted in a new phase, when so-called "Fun punk" got popular in Germany. Bands like Abstürzende Brieftauben from Hannover, Die Mimmi's from Bremen, Die Ärzte from West Berlin or Schließmuskel ("sphinkter") from Hamminkeln
had a left-wing attitude, but had no (directly) political lyrics. Some of them got popular outside the punk scene, but were often criticized by the punk scene for being too trivial. Around the same time, more German hardcore bands started singing in English and got popular outside of Germany, like the Spermbirds
from Kaiserslautern
or Jingo de Lunch
from West Berlin.
, the government allowed some bands like Feeling B
or Die Skeptiker
from East Berlin
, but those bands were criticized in the scene for cooperating with the government.
in 1990, the political situation in the east of Germany changed dramatically, and several groups of neo-nazis
were founded. There were attacks against immigrants, like in Rostock-Lichtenhagen
, Mölln
or Solingen
in the west of Germany. This new wave of neo-Nazism in Germany led many punk bands from the 1980s to reunite and release new albums, for example Slime, who released their final LP "Schweineherbst" in 1994, of which the title track is a furious rant against politicians and citizens who ignore the new dangers of neo-Nazis in Germany. Other popular bands like Toxoplasma also got active again, and newer political bands like WIZO
or ...But Alive
got popular, along with other "fun punk" influenced bands like Die Lokalmatadore
from Mülheim an der Ruhr and Die Kassierer
from Bochum
. Also, many bands of eastern Germany got popular in the west.
In the following years, the punk scene stayed active in Germany and spawned many popular new bands like Terrorgruppe
from Berlin or Knochenfabrik
from Cologne
. Some bands were influenced by heavy metal music
, like Dritte Wahl
from Rostock
or Fahnenflucht. The most popular compilation of this period is probably "Schlachtrufe BRD" (Vol. 1-8).
Labels like Weird System are still active and release reissues of classic German punk records. Weird System have made an attempt of documenting the history of German punk with their compilation series "Punk Rock BRD" (Vol. 1-3). Today, there are many punk rock concerts and big festivals in Germany, like the "Force Attack" festival in Rostock
, the "Punk im Pott" festival in Essen
/ Oberhausen
or the "Punk and Disorderley" festival in Berlin
. There are also a number of fanzine
s, for example "Plastic Bomb", "Trust" and "Ox".
and were meetings of punks from all over Germany. Along with those chaos days, the Anarchist Pogo Party of Germany
(APPD) was founded as a party for punks and "social parasites", but got more popular in the 1990s, when the most legendary chaos days took place in Hannover in 1994 and 1995 and resulted in huge riots and the destruction of cars and buildings. A whole supermarket was depredated and alcoholic beverages were stolen by punks. These chaos days were the main topic of TV debates and newspapers for several weeks then. Popular bands like WIZO spontaneously played a show there, and Terrorgruppe wrote a classic song about it ("Wochenendticket", named after a train ticket that most punks used in order to get to Hannover from all across the country). The APPD participated in the Bundestag
elections of 1998 and 2005, but although they had only regional successes, like in Hamburg-St. Pauli
, they got famous for their advertising on TV, starring Wolfgang Wendland, singer of Die Kassierer.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and punk subculture
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
have created a popular scene in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
since punk music became popular in the 1970s.
The beginning
When bands like the Sex PistolsSex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
and The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
became popular in West Germany, a number of Punk bands were formed, which led to the creation a German punk scene. Among the first wave of bands were Male, from Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, founded in 1976, PVC, from West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, and Big Balls and the Great White Idiot
Big Balls and the Great White Idiot
Big Balls and the Great White Idiot was one of the first and best known German punk rock bands. They were founded in Hamburg in 1975 by Peter Grund , "Baron Adolf Kaiser" ,Wolfgang Lorenz and the Grund brothers, Alfred and Atli...
, from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. Early German punk groups were heavily influenced by UK bands, often writing their lyrics in English. The main difference is that German punk bands hadn't yet become political.
Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s there were new movements within the German punk scene, led by labels like ZickZack
ZickZack
ZickZack is a German record label based in Hamburg. Founded by former "Sounds" magazine journalist Alfred Hilsberg in 1980, it mainly distinguished itself by releasing acts from the underground side of Neue Deutsche Welle, a term coined by Hilsberg in his Sounds article "Neue Deutsche Welle - Aus...
Records, from Hamburg. It was during this period that the term Neue Deutsche Welle
Neue Deutsche Welle
Neue Deutsche Welle is a genre of German music originally derived from punk rock and New Wave music...
(New German Wave) was first coined by Alfred Hilsberg, owner of ZickZack Records. Many of these bands played experimental post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
, often using synthesizers and computers. Among them were The Nina Hagen Band
Nina Hagen
Nina Hagen is a German singer and actress.-Early years:Hagen was born as Catharina Hagen in the former East Berlin, East Germany, the daughter of Hans Hagen , a scriptwriter, and Eva-Maria Hagen, an actress and singer...
, as well as Fehlfarben
Fehlfarben
Fehlfarben is a German post-punk band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The band name is from a German printing term referring to erroneous colors in prints: singer Peter Hein was in this line of work at Xerox while in the band...
and Abwärts
Abwärts
Abwärts is a West German post-punk group from Hamburg. Members Mark Chung and FM Einheit would leave the group in the early 1980s to join the Berlin-based band Einstürzende Neubauten....
, from Hamburg. Both are still active, though they've changed their style several times. In response to these developments, some bands played a more aggressive style of punk rock, because they didn't consider the experimental bands Punk.
The 1970s
KreuzbergKreuzberg
Kreuzberg, a part of the combined Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte since 2001, is one of the best-known areas of Berlin...
has historically been home to the Berlin punk movement as well as other alternative subcultures in Germany. The legendary SO36
SO36
The SO36 club, is a music club on Oranienstrasse near Heinrichplatz in the district of Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany.It takes its name from the historic postcode of that area SO36, in which the SO stands for Südost...
club remains a fixture of the Berlin music scene, championing new artists while staying true to its punk past. It originally featured mainly punk music and was often frequented by Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
and David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
.
The 1980s
In the 1980s, lots of new punk bands became popular in the scene and developed the so-called "Deutschpunk" style, which is not a generic term for German punk rock, but an own style of punk music that included quite primitive songwriting, very fast rhythms and politically radical left-wing lyrics, mostly influenced by the Cold WarCold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Probably the most important Deutschpunk band was Slime
Slime (band)
Slime is a German punk rock band, founded in 1979 and disbanded in 1994. The pre-Slime band was called Screamer, and the post-Slime band is – contrary to the occasional rumors – not Emils , but Rubberslime, with the member Elf...
from Hamburg, who were the first band whose LP was banned because of political topics. Their songs "Deutschland", "Bullenschweine", and "Polizei SA/SS" were banned, some of them are still banned today, because they propagated the use of violence against the police or compared the police to the SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
and SS of Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. While they still had some English lyrics on their first, self-titled LP, they have concentrated on German lyrics since their second LP "Yankees raus" ("Yankees out", named after the anti-imperialist title track). Other popular bands of this phase include Razzia from Hamburg, Toxoplasma from Neuwied
Neuwied
Neuwied is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the right bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne...
, Canalterror
Canalterror
Canalterror is a German hardcore punk band from Bonn. The group was founded in 1980....
from Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, and Normahl
Normahl
Normahl is a German punk band formed in 1978 in Winnenden near Stuttgart by four high school students. Their first major entry into the U.S. was with the song Keine Überdosis Deutschland featured in the hit movie Euro Trip.- Albums :...
from Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
. All of these bands released their records on one of the leading punk labels in West Germany: Weird System Recordings from Hamburg, Aggressive Rockproduktionen (AGR) from West Berlin, and Mülleimer Records ("Garbage Can Records") from Stuttgart. During this period also the band Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen is a German punk band from Düsseldorf. They have enjoyed decades-long mass appeal in Germany.The band's name literally means "The Dead Pants" in English, although the phrase "tote Hose" is a German expression meaning "nothing going on" or "boring"...
from Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
was founded which is still active. Alongside with Die Ärzte
Die Ärzte
Die Ärzte is a punk band from Berlin. Die Ärzte are one of the best-known German punk rock bands and have released over 20 albums. The band consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B. and bass player Rodrigo González...
they became the most successful German punk band to date and also gained international success.
During this period, many bands have been influenced by U.S. hardcore punk with bands like Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
or The Adolescents
The Adolescents
The Adolescents are an American punk band formed in 1980 in Fullerton, California. It is a punk supergroup, made up of early members of Agent Orange and Social Distortion. They are often credited as one of the leading bands of the 1980s hardcore punk scene....
. Those bands were also known for their extremely left-wing attitude and aggression in their songs. Some of the most important German hardcore punk bands, who are also often labeled "Deutschpunk", included Vorkriegsjugend
Vorkriegsjugend
Vorkriegsjugend were a very influential cult hardcore punk band from Germany. The band only existed for 4 years . However, they are considered to be one of the most notable and influential German bands of the period....
from West Berlin, Chaos Z from Stuttgart, Inferno from Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
and Blut + Eisen from Hannover. Some bands tried a slower, more elaborate style, inspired by bands like The Wipers, the most popular ones being Torpedo Moskau from Hamburg and a number of singer Jens Rachut's bands, like Angeschissen (1986), Blumen am Arsch der Hölle (1992), Dackelblut (1994) and Oma Hans (2000), also from Hamburg.
Popular compilations of this period were "Keine Experimente!" (Vol. 1-2) (Weird System Recordings) and "Soundtracks zum Untergang" Vol. (1-2) (AGR).
In the mid-1980s, many of the former popular Deutschpunk bands disbanded, which resulted in a new phase, when so-called "Fun punk" got popular in Germany. Bands like Abstürzende Brieftauben from Hannover, Die Mimmi's from Bremen, Die Ärzte from West Berlin or Schließmuskel ("sphinkter") from Hamminkeln
Hamminkeln
Hamminkeln is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Issel, approximately 10 kilometers north of Wesel. It is twinned with Sedgefield, United Kingdom...
had a left-wing attitude, but had no (directly) political lyrics. Some of them got popular outside the punk scene, but were often criticized by the punk scene for being too trivial. Around the same time, more German hardcore bands started singing in English and got popular outside of Germany, like the Spermbirds
Spermbirds
Spermbirds are a German punk band from Kaiserslautern. Formed in 1982, by the members of the melodic punk rock band Die Walter Elf among American G.I. stationed in Germany, they created a fast hardcore punk group that gained popularity inside as well as outside of Germany...
from Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
or Jingo de Lunch
Jingo de Lunch
Jingo de Lunch is a German punk band from Kreuzberg, Berlin. Most members had already a solid musical background, for instance Sepp Ehrensberger had played in the Berliner cult punk rock band called Vorkriegsjugend , and also in Zerstörte Jugend with Tom Schwoll. Yvonne Ducksworth had previously...
from West Berlin.
Punk in East Germany
Because of repressions by the state of East Germany, there was only a secret punk scene that could develop there. One of the most popular bands were probably Schleim-Keim, who also got popular in West Germany. Only in the last years of the German Democratic RepublicGerman Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
, the government allowed some bands like Feeling B
Feeling B
Feeling B was a German punk rock band.The band was founded in Berlin in 1983 and started out firmly grounded in the underground punk scene. Over time, Feeling B's popularity grew greatly and at the end of the German Democratic Republic....
or Die Skeptiker
Die Skeptiker
Die Skeptiker is a German punk band, founded in 1986 in East Berlin.Die Skeptiker were part of the so called Die anderen Bands which played political lyrics that criticised life in the GDR.In 2000, their singer, Eugen Balanskat, founded Roter Mohn...
from East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
, but those bands were criticized in the scene for cooperating with the government.
The 1990s
After the German reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
in 1990, the political situation in the east of Germany changed dramatically, and several groups of neo-nazis
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
were founded. There were attacks against immigrants, like in Rostock-Lichtenhagen
Rostock-Lichtenhagen
Lichtenhagen is a borough of Rostock in the federal state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.It is a Plattenbau housing estate built from 1974 to 1976. It derives its name from the adjacent village of Elmenhorst/Lichtenhagen...
, Mölln
Molln
Molln is a municipality in the district of Kirchdorf an der Krems in Upper Austria, Austria.-References:...
or Solingen
Solingen
Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
in the west of Germany. This new wave of neo-Nazism in Germany led many punk bands from the 1980s to reunite and release new albums, for example Slime, who released their final LP "Schweineherbst" in 1994, of which the title track is a furious rant against politicians and citizens who ignore the new dangers of neo-Nazis in Germany. Other popular bands like Toxoplasma also got active again, and newer political bands like WIZO
WIZO
Wizo is a punk rock band from Sindelfingen, Germany. The band was formed in 1985. Their messages run from political to humorous, and they are strongly opposed to Nazism, fascism, racism, and "all of that crap"...
or ...But Alive
...But Alive
...But Alive was a German punk rock band, which was founded in 1992 in Hamburg. Most of their lyrics were very political. When they announced their breakup in 1999, because of musical and personal differences, they consisted of the following members:...
got popular, along with other "fun punk" influenced bands like Die Lokalmatadore
Die Lokalmatadore
Die Lokalmatadore is a German punk band from Mülheim an der Ruhr, Lower-Rhine region in Germany Northrhine-Westphalia.- Albums :* Ein Leben für die Ärmsten * Arme Armee * Heute ein König .....
from Mülheim an der Ruhr and Die Kassierer
Die Kassierer
Die Kassierer , also Die mächtigen Kassierer , are a satirical punk band from Bochum-Wattenscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany...
from Bochum
Bochum
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
. Also, many bands of eastern Germany got popular in the west.
In the following years, the punk scene stayed active in Germany and spawned many popular new bands like Terrorgruppe
Terrorgruppe
Terrorgruppe was a German punk band from Berlin which was founded in 1993 and split up in 2005.The band are notorious for their live performances, involving various on-stage gags and audience participation.-Studio albums:...
from Berlin or Knochenfabrik
Knochenfabrik
Knochenfabrik was a German punk band that existed between 1994 and 1998.Knochenfabrik formed in its earliest lineup in Cologne, Germany in early 1994 with Claus Lüer , Achim Lauber and Gagi Ilic ....
from Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Some bands were influenced by heavy metal music
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, like Dritte Wahl
Dritte Wahl
Dritte Wahl is a German Punk rock Group from Rostock in Germany.Dritte Wahl first performed in 1988. Back then Holm was on the bass, but he left the band in 1991. The rest of the group were Busch´n , Gunnar and Krel...
from Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
or Fahnenflucht. The most popular compilation of this period is probably "Schlachtrufe BRD" (Vol. 1-8).
Labels like Weird System are still active and release reissues of classic German punk records. Weird System have made an attempt of documenting the history of German punk with their compilation series "Punk Rock BRD" (Vol. 1-3). Today, there are many punk rock concerts and big festivals in Germany, like the "Force Attack" festival in Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
, the "Punk im Pott" festival in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
/ Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Oberhausen is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen . The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the...
or the "Punk and Disorderley" festival in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. There are also a number of fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
s, for example "Plastic Bomb", "Trust" and "Ox".
Phenomena of German punk
A phenomenon of the punk scene in West Germany were the Chaostage (chaos days), which took place in the mid-1980s in Hannover and WuppertalWuppertal
Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
and were meetings of punks from all over Germany. Along with those chaos days, the Anarchist Pogo Party of Germany
Anarchist Pogo Party of Germany
The Anarchistic Pogo Party of Germany is the self-declared party of the Pöbel and "social parasites". It was created in 1981 by two punks in Hannover and took part in the 1998 election to the Bundestag with the promise to pay the voters with free beer...
(APPD) was founded as a party for punks and "social parasites", but got more popular in the 1990s, when the most legendary chaos days took place in Hannover in 1994 and 1995 and resulted in huge riots and the destruction of cars and buildings. A whole supermarket was depredated and alcoholic beverages were stolen by punks. These chaos days were the main topic of TV debates and newspapers for several weeks then. Popular bands like WIZO spontaneously played a show there, and Terrorgruppe wrote a classic song about it ("Wochenendticket", named after a train ticket that most punks used in order to get to Hannover from all across the country). The APPD participated in the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
elections of 1998 and 2005, but although they had only regional successes, like in Hamburg-St. Pauli
St. Pauli
St. Pauli , located in the Hamburg-Mitte borough, is one of the 105 quarters of the city of Hamburg, Germany. Situated on the right bank of the Elbe river, the Landungsbrücken are a northern part of the port of Hamburg. St. Pauli contains a world famous red light district around the street Reeperbahn...
, they got famous for their advertising on TV, starring Wolfgang Wendland, singer of Die Kassierer.