German punk includes a body of music and a subculture that have evolved since punk rock became popular in Germany in the 1970s. Within the subculture of punk in Germany, a style of music called Deutschpunk was developed; this style of music has developed distinctly from hardcore punk, and includes lyrics in German as well as a fast tempo. In the punk scene in Germany, some bands play music in the Deutschpunk style, while other German punk bands pursue various other styles of punk music.
History
1976 to 1981 (Origins of punk in Germany)
The first punk bands in Germany were strongly influenced by U.K. and U.S. bands like the Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Clash, The Stooges, and the Ramones. Among the first wave of German bands were Big Balls and the Great White Idiot (from Hamburg, founded in 1975), Male (from Düsseldorf, founded in 1976), Tollwut (from Munich, founded in 1976), PVC (from West Berlin, founded in 1977), Fred Banana Combo (from Düsseldorf, founded in 1978), Clox (from Dortmund, founded in 1977), and Pack (from Munich, founded in 1978). Early German punk groups were heavily influenced by UK bands, often writing their lyrics in English. For example, Big Balls, PVC, Clox, Pack, and the Fred Banana Combo wrote lyrics in English. Male is generally considered to be the first punk band to write lyrics in German. "The significance of the shift cannot be understated: as Male vocalist Jürgen Engler pointed out even at the time, 'German lyrics led to the development of a new genre.' " This first wave of German punk bands tended to be made up of people who were musicians before they encountered punk, rather than people motivated by political activism to form bands and learn to play instruments.
Notable early Germany punk bands also include Charley's Girls, S.Y.P.H., Mittagspause, Din-A-Testbild, Strassenjungs, Stuka Pilots, Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF), Weltaufstandsplan (der Plan), Hans-a-plast, Kriminalitaetsfoerderungsclub (KFC), the Buttocks, ZK, Materialschlacht, and Minus Delta t. Although they played music in the punk style, Big Balls and the Great White Idiot (Hamburg) and Strassenjungs (Frankfurt), were strongly promoted by the music industry as the first German new wave groups, and were not generally accepted as part of the punk scene.
The SO36 club (named for the postal code in its location in Berlin-Kreuzberg) was opened in August 1978. Its grand opening was celebrated with the "Mauerbaufestival", which included performances of The Wall, Dub-Liners, Mittagspause, Male, S.Y.P.H., Din-A-Testbild, Ffurs, Stuka Pilots, and PVC. This was associated with the LP compilation S.O.36 Sampler - Live 13.8.78. The SO36 became a well-known fixture of the punk music scene in Germany.
One of the first scandals in the German punk scene happened in 1979, when singer Nina Hagen discussed masturbation techniques during an appearance on the discussion program Club 2, produced by the radio broadcaster ORF.Bertram Küster: Der G-Punkt im Talk-Studio. In: Der Tagesspiegel, 1. November 2007. This controversial appearance quickly made her famous. Her debut album Nina Hagen Band (1978), which had just been released, achieved international recognition. This album included a German version of the classic song from The Tubes "White Punks on Dope" (published under the title: "TV-Glotzer").
At this point in history, at least in Germany, there were not many ways to release records outside of the standard music business. This included a business-run music press, and limited possibilities for performances. The only nationally distributed music journals that were inclusive of the new punk scene were Sounds (largely to the credit of music journalist Alfred Hilsberg), the magazine Spex (founded in 1980) which consisted most of photos, and Musikexpress. In fact, a letter to Sounds by the band Male in 1977 signaled the arrival of German punk to the international music scene. These first years of the punk scene in Germany were characterized by the lack of infrastructure; records were self-produced, and advertised by word of mouth. In the late 70s, a number of punk bands were founded that had roots in left-wing political movements, and that sang only in German. They were associated with protests against nuclear-power plants, as well as the squatter's movement in Germany. After early punk albums were released entirely on cassettes, the growing punk movement founded the first independent music labels. These labels included Rock-O-Rama, ZickZack Records, as well as a number of short-lived record labels. Der Ostrich from Düsseldorf is generally considered to be the first punk fanzine from Germany; its first issue was released in March 1977, and its last issue was released in 1979. The people running Ostrich also founded the band Charley's Girls.Jürgen Teipel: Verschwende Deine Jugend. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt/Main 2001, ISBN 3-518-39771-0. S. 370. Other early German punk zines from West Germany included: Heimatblatt, Der Arsch, Preiserhöhung, KZ-Rundschau, and Der Aktuelle Mülleimer.
Around 1980, several different sounds diverged in the German punk scene. Centered in Düsseldorf there was a larger movement toward electronic music. These bands originally performed alongside punk bands but became the precursors of Techno music. This included bands like DAF and Weltaufstandsplan (der Plan).
Other bands began experimenting with sound using synthesizers and computers, developing a sound that was a precursor of the Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW). This included bands like Fehlfarben, Ideal, The Nina Hagen Band, Östro 430, Abwärts, and Trio. This sound was influenced by punk but oriented toward the commercial pop-music scene. NDW would develop further and reach the highpoint of its commercial success in the 1980s.
Around 1979, people began to differentiate between the early punk sound, music that was evolving into NDW, and a sound developed by younger punk bands that had a harder, more aggressive style. Bands like S.Y.P.H., der KFC, and Mittagspause were also viewed as a different genre from more commercial bands like Hubert Kah and Nena. At the same time a new set of bands were being founded, for example ZK and Soilent Grün, that developed a sound and marketability which would lead to commercially oriented punk bands like Die Toten Hosen and Die Ärzte.
1982 to 1989 (The rise of Hardcore and Fun-Punk)
Song lyrics written by the second generation of punks differed from the contemporary German youth culture and also from Hippie culture. Politically motivated punks were often involved in the squatter scene; for example, members of Vorkriegsjugend lived in squatted houses in West-Berlin. At this time the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture lead to the foundation of many record stores and record labels, such as . Also during this period, alcohol became a central part of the punk subculture in Germany.
In 1981, the labels Aggressive Rockproduktionen (Berlin), Weird System (Hamburg), and Mülleimer Records (Stuttgart) released records that became milestones of the genre Deutschpunk. Bands such as Hass, Slime, Razzia, Neurotic Arseholes, Canal Terror, Beton Combo, Normahl, Toxoplasma, ZSD, and Daily Terror redefined punk in Germany with their engaging political lyrics, motivated by Germany's Nazi past, the anarchist movement, police violence, working-class desperation and squatter's rights, immigration issues, racism, sexism, and the Cold War. Many of these bands are still active today. Popular compilations of this period were "Keine Experimente!" (Vol. 1–2) (Weird System Recordings) and "Soundtracks zum Untergang" Vol. (1-2) (Aggressive Rockproduktionen). The Munich punk sampler "Muenchen: Reifenwechsel Leicht Gemacht" (Lächerlich! Schallplatten) was released in 1981. The Munich fanzine Upstart was founded by Peter Wacha, and other fanzines were put out by the Munich group Freizeit 81 as early as 1981. The first issue of the long-running punk fanzine "Trust" was released in July, 1986. Ox-Fanzine was founded in 1988.
Aggressive Rockproduktionen released the compilation "Soundtracks zum Untergang" volume 1 in 1980. In 1981, this compilation cd was banned and copies were confiscated and then censored because of "Verunglimpfung des Staates und seiner Symbole" (English translation: "Denigration of the state and its symbols"), a reaction to the lyrics in Slime's song "Polizei SA/SS" and Middle Class Fantasies' song "Helden". Middle Class Fantasies and Slime thus became the first bands to have their songs banned in Germany. The Slime songs "Deutschland" and "Wir wollen keine Bullenschweine" were also later banned because they promoted the use of violence against the police, and because they compared the police to the SA and SS of Nazi Germany. In part due to this notoriety, Slime became the most well-known Deutschpunk band.
In 1983, the Hannover police began an organized action against punks and skinheads targeted toward public safety and public order. As a reaction, punks organized the Chaostage (English translation: "chaos days"), a gathering or festival with the aim of attracting media attention. The first official Chaostage were held on July 1–3, 1983 in Hannover; precursors, generally called Punktreffen (English translation: "punk gatherings"), were held in 1980–1982 in Wuppertal and Duisburg. Additional Chaostage also took place in Hannover in 1984 and 1985.Christoph Gunkel: 30 Jahre Chaostage: „So ein Leben hältst du nicht ewig durch“, einestages auf Spiegel Online, July 2, 2013
Around 1985/1986, the active part of the punk movement – those that organized concerts, wrote fanzines, and founded music labels – began to revolve more strongly around American Hardcore. During this period, many bands were influenced by U.S. hardcore punk with bands such as Black Flag and The Adolescents. Those bands were also known for their left-wing attitude and aggressive musical styles. Some of the most important German hardcore punk bands are also often labeled as "Deutschpunk", including Vorkriegsjugend from West Berlin, Chaos Z from Stuttgart, Inferno from Augsburg, Spermbirds from Kaiserslautern, Bluttat from Mülheim an der Ruhr, and Blut + Eisen from Hannover. Other bands developed a slower, more melodic style, inspired by American bands like The Wipers; among such bands were 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) from Hamburg.
Near the end of the 80s, there was a short wave of popularity for Fun-Punk (also known as punk pathetique). Bands like Abstürzende Brieftauben from Hannover, Die Mimmi's from Bremen, Die Goldenen Zitronen from Hamburg, Die Ärzte from West Berlin, and Schließmuskel ("sphincter") from Hamminkeln had a left-wing attitude, but their lyrics were not particularly political. Some of these bands became popular outside the punk scene, but were often criticized by the punk scene for being too trivial, and too focused on drinking culture (German: "Sauferei"). During this period, the band Die Toten Hosen from Düsseldorf was founded. Along with Die Ärzte, the Hosen became the most commercially successful and well-known German punk band, gaining significant international recognition. During this period die Ärzte and Abstürzenden Brieftauben released records on major labels.