“All proceedings discontinued”, “legally innocent”, “no sufficient suspicion of a sexual offense”… If you scan the headlines in today’s “Causa Rammstein” (August 29th), the Me-Too-Messe seems to have been read.
And not only at the law firm Schertz Bergmann, which was entrusted with the case and is located on the Kurfürstendamm, the champagne cork could perhaps pop after the exoneration verdict of the Berlin public prosecutor’s office FOR their rock star client.
There should also be satisfaction in the Rammstein camp anyway: the European tour ended successfully against all odds. In defiance of all “feminist furor”, all demos sublime and roaringly silent.
Take a deep breath now. Go fishing or go to the gym. And anyway: Was there something?
In addition to umpteen stories in German and international media – including a cover story in the news magazine “Der Spiegel”, which, according to the laws of pop culture, also contributed to the sales of the brute rockers. Music catalog sales went according to the tried-and-tested motto “Every Press is Good Press”. The merch and the Rammstein beer also ran very satisfactorily according to a research by the “Handelsblatt”.
This also included and still includes the rough polarization in the social media: the fans chanted iron-clad slogans, including wild insults at the prosecutors. Over there, pure contempt for the wild frontman on the part of the anti-Lindemann faction.
The current statement from the public prosecutor’s office relates to the complaints submitted in Berlin by non-participants (three private individuals and a company) in relation to the specific allegations. “Since the complainants are not among the alleged victims of Till Lindemann, they are not entitled to appeal against the termination of the proceedings,” the Berlin law firm’s PR report explains.
The public prosecutor’s office in Vilnius, Lithuania, had previously dropped the case against Lindemann, based on the allegations made after the Rammstein concert on May 23, 2023, and raised by Shelby Lynn.
The investigation is closed, so is everything good now?
No. Or, to paraphrase the French general and later President Charles De Gaulle: the Berlin musician “won a battle, but not the war”.
Only when Lindemann and his band mates tell their own story, which is quite usual in so-called “crisis management”, can the “case” really be brought to an end. That has to happen – whether it’s a statement in the direction of “mea culpa, but that’s just how I am”, a defiant “boys will be boys” or a self-view of whatever kind.
For the many fans, too, openness is certainly fairer and more sincere than the musicians’ previous smirking silence
The legal clarification, which is even more difficult in the interpersonal area than elsewhere, is one thing. Another is the non-justiciable area, mean the interpersonal and also the good manners.
A separate statement on “System Row Zero” and the various other customs on the planet Rammstein would not only be appropriate for the general public.
For the many fans, too, openness is certainly fairer and more sincere than the previous smirking silence along the lines of “You already know, hey, otherwise we’ll stick together” or Lindemann rhymes on stage, like “And always remember: believe bad tongues you don’t, the truth will come out anyway.”
In a legal sense, nothing can happen to Lindemann and the band due to the previous allegations. It is time to make even unlegal tabula rasa. As far as possible.