Rosenstolz () was a German pop duo from Berlin that was active between 1991 and 2012 and had chart hits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The duo consisted of singer AnNa R. and musician Peter Plate, who occasionally provided vocals. Rosenstolz achieved major chart success after the nineties, with five studio albums going to No. 1 in the German albums chart. Although the duo split up to pursue separate music careers, they left open the possibility of a future reunion. AnNa R. died unexpectedly in March 2025, at the age of 55.""Rosenstolz-Sängerin AnNA R. (55): Todesumstände geklärt – Staatsanwaltschaft mit neuem Statement" (in German). Frankfurter Rundschau. 24 March 2025.
Rosenstolz's music was described by critics as containing elements of various genres, including pop and chanson. However, comparisons with Schlager were strongly disputed by the duo, who defined themselves simply as a pop group. Rosenstolz's repertoire included ballads and quirky pop songs, though later years saw the duo eschewing their quirky side. Common themes in the songs written by Rosenstolz were sex, love and emotions.
History
1991: Formation Prior to the formation of Rosenstolz, native Berliner AnNa R. had ambitions of becoming a bar singer, whereas Plate was a member of a short-lived band while living in Braunschweig. The duo first met shortly after Plate had moved to Berlin in December 1990. They were put in contact with each other by the landlord of Plate's flat, who knew that singer AnNa R. was looking for a pianist and that keyboard player Plate needed a singer. The duo first met in AnNa R.'s flat and went on to Plate's flat the same evening, where they recorded a song together.Rosenstolz (1997). Lieb mich, wenn du kannst, nimm mich, nimm mich ganz (3rd ed., July 1998) (in German). Munich, Germany: dtv. .
The duo began to meet regularly to work on new songs despite their different music tastes – AnNa R. had a preference for singing chanson, while Plate's interests lay in making English-language pop music. They initially attempted to work with English songs, but they were not satisfied with the results and consequently turned to German, their mother tongue. Within about four months, they had enough material to produce their first cassette and were eager to give their first concert. They considered various possibilities for the name of their band, one of the early favourites being A & P, but eventually settled on Rosenstolz, a made-up name which somehow occurred to them and which immediately appealed to them.
The first Rosenstolz concert took place on 4 October 1991 in Berlin at the Galerie Bellevue, where most of the people present were friends of the duo. The next concert at the SchwuZ gay club in Berlin on 7 December 1991 was in front of an audience of 400 people. However, the members of the audience, who were waiting for the main act, became restless after Rosenstolz had played a few songs and eventually shouted at the duo.
1992–1995: Soubrette werd' ich nie, Nur einmal noch and Mittwoch is' er fällig
Rosenstolz continued to perform live following the initial concerts and was soon discovered by record producer Tom Müller, who had previously worked with German singer Nina Hagen. Recording began on the band's debut album, Soubrette werd' ich nie, which was released towards the end of 1992 by indie label Pool. However, the album received little attention and was not a commercial success. Müller was not concerned whether the album would be a hit or not and provided AnNa R. and Plate with temporary financial support so that they could devote more time to writing new songs for the next Rosenstolz album and to performing live.
Eventually, Rosenstolz was giving around 10 concerts per month, mostly in the eastern states of Germany. By 1993, the band was able to hold – according to Plate – its first proper concert, which took place at the WABE culture centre in Berlin and had 600 fans attending. Two years later, the band's planned concert at the Metropol in Berlin quickly sold out, resulting in the band deciding to hold an additional concert at the same venue. The audience of 1500 people at the Metropol was the band's largest to date.
An article in Berlin newspaper Berliner Zeitung gave a preview of the Metropol concerts, one of the comments being: "Ihre Musik lebt von wohldosierten Stilbrüchen – von perlendem Sopran zu Synthesizerklängen, von Elektropopgedudel zu Texten von milder Melancholie und von AnNa R.s Rollenspielen zwischen göttlicher Garbo und Großstadtschlampe." ("Their music lives on well measured changes in style – from sparkling soprano to synthesizer sounds, from electropop racket to lyrics of mild melancholy, and on AnNa R.'s role plays from divine Garbo to big-city tart.")
Rosenstolz also recorded two further studio albums: Nur einmal noch (1994) and Mittwoch is' er fällig (1995)."ROSENSTOLZ – NUR EINMAL NOCH – CD – musicline.de" (in German). PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2014."ROSENSTOLZ – MITTWOCH IS'ER FÄLLIG – CD – musicline.de" (in German). PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2014. Both were released by Traumton Records, a small record label to which the band had moved following a disagreement with Pool. The first single from Nur einmal noch, also of the same name, received frequent airplay on local radio in Berlin, helping to give the band more exposure. At the same time, the discos in Berlin started to play Rosenstolz's music.
1996–1999: Objekt der Begierde, Die Schlampen sind müde and Zucker
By the mid-nineties, major record labels were starting to show an interest in Rosenstolz. After considering various offers, AnNa R. and Plate decided to switch to Polydor Records, where they were able to retain their artistic independence. The move to a major label meant that the costs of producing Rosenstolz's albums were no longer borne by Müller, but instead by the record label. In addition, more resources were now available to Rosenstolz, such as the use of a 20-piece string ensemble for the production of the song "Der Moment". The song was part of Rosenstolz's next studio album, Objekt der Begierde, which was released in 1996 and coincided with a tour that took place between May and December, with a break for the summer. During the tour, Rosenstolz saw increased audience numbers in the western states of Germany and performed in front of over 4000 people at the final concert in Berlin."ROSENSTOLZ – OBJEKT DER BEGIERDE – CD – musicline.de" (in German). PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
In 1997, Rosenstolz was invited by the Goethe-Institut to perform at a concert in Novosibirsk, Russia. The audience of about 10,000 people was the band's largest so far.Grieger, Frank. "Rosenstolz: Bonjour Tristesse" (in German). DerWesten. 24 September 2008. Towards the end of the year, Rosenstolz went on a concert tour and entered the German charts for the first time with Die Schlampen sind müde, the band's fifth studio album. Despite the lack of airplay, the album remained in the charts for several weeks, peaking at No. 31."Rosenstolz Magazin – 20 Jahre Rosenstolz" (in German). Official Rosenstolz website. Retrieved 10 November 2013."Chartverfolgung / Rosenstolz / Longplay" (in German). musicline.de. PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
Rosenstolz gained more exposure in 1998 by participating in the televised competition to find Germany's next representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. Although Rosenstolz did not win and came second, the song performed by the band, "Herzensschöner", was the first Rosenstolz song to enter the German singles chart, peaking at No. 34.Buhre, Jakob and Nguyen, Binh. "Eigentlich ist Liebe ein wirklich schönes Wort" (in German). Planet Interview. 8 January 2001."Die Teilnehmer am Vorentscheid 1998" (in German). Official German Eurovision website. Retrieved 10 November 2013."Chartverfolgung / Rosenstolz / Single" (in German). musicline.de. PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2014. "Herzensschöner" was included in the Rosenstolz compilation album Alles Gute, which was released in April 1998 and directly followed by a concert tour. The album itself reached No. 10 in the German albums chart."Album – Rosenstolz, Alles Gute – Das Beste von 92 bis 98" (in German). charts.de. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 1 November 2014.Kurtz, Andreas. "Die geplante Sensation" (in German). Berliner Zeitung. 22 April 1998.
Also in 1998, Rosenstolz parted ways with Müller.Westphal, Dirk. "Zwischen Ohrwürmern und Schwarzbierkästen" (in German). Berliner Morgenpost. 31 March 2007. Rosenstolz's next studio album, Zucker, was produced by Plate and released in 1999. It charted more highly than the band's previous album, entering the charts at No. 2."Der Tod als Motor" (in German). stern.de. 26 September 2008. (in German). musicline.de. PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2014. Rosenstolz toured the same year and released the band's first live album, Zuckerschlampen:live, which also charted highly, entering the charts at No. 5."Rosenstolz | Chartverfolgung | Zuckerschlampen: Live (Longplay)" (in German). musicline.de. PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
Rosenstolz additionally released the song "Ja, ich will" in 1999, which was in support of the introduction of same-sex marriage. At the time, Germany had not yet legalized registered partnerships for same-sex couples. The song was a collaboration with German comedian Hella von Sinnen, who sang a duet with Plate in the song."Rosenstolz mit Bundesverdienstkreuz ausgezeichnet" (in German). queer.de. 1 September 2011.
2000–2004: Kassengift, Macht Liebe and Herz
The start of the new millennium saw Rosenstolz topping the German albums chart for the first time with Kassengift, the band's seventh studio album. Released in September 2000, Kassengift was the first Rosenstolz album to credit Ulf Leo Sommer, Plate's partner since 1990, as both co-songwriter and co-producer."Rosenstolz | Chartverfolgung | Kassengift (Longplay)" (in German). musicline.de. PHONONET GmbH. Retrieved 5 January 2014.CD insert notes (2000) (in German). Kassengift. Rosenstolz. Universal Music Group. 0653772. The release of the album coincided with Rosenstolz starting to receive airplay on music television stations through the music video for "Amo Vitam", a song from the album sung entirely in Latin. Immediately following the release of Kassengift, Rosenstolz went on a concert tour which included four concerts in the Columbiahalle in Berlin.Kosel, Felix. "Rosenstolz – vom Erfolg zum Kommerz?" (in German). bloom. 16 August 2000.
Two songs from Kassengift – "Total Eclipse" and "Die schwarze Witwe" – were re-recorded with guest singers Marc Almond and Nina Hagen, respectively, and released as a double single in March 2001.""Wir hassen Schlager"" (in German). Rhein-Zeitung online. 8 October 2001."Single – Rosenstolz – Marc Almond – Nina Hagen, Total Eclipse" (in German). charts.de. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 1 November 2014. Later that year, Rosenstolz went on another concert tour and released the single "Es könnt' ein Anfang sein", which became the band's first top 10 hit in the German singles chart.