Rammstein has always been polarizing, and the range of controversies in the work of Till Lindemann, Richard Kruspe & Co. is extensive. From pornography to violent fantasies, from the cannibalistic “Mein Teil” song to the sexually explicit video of “Pussy” – the Berlin band thrives on scandals and crossing the borders of taste. Particularly in the early days, the question arose: Where do Rammstein actually stand politically?
The thing with Riefenstahl
At first glance, there are quite a few reasons for this question just in terms of aesthetics and sound. The Teutonic harshness, the oppressive industrial imagery, the military, marching rhythm, the by no means non-violent texts and, last but not least, Lindemann’s rolling “R”, which makes the German language sound almost like a parody… for many it was clear: This is a right-wing thing Aesthetics played.
A video like the one for their Depeche Mode cover “Stripped” didn’t necessarily dispel this assumption at first. In it, Rammstein used film footage from Leni Riefenstahl’s “Olympia,” a work about the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The director was the house and court filmmaker of the NSDAP and was commissioned by Joseph Goebbels, the Reich propaganda director of the Nazi regime, to make the “Nazi Party Rally Trilogy”.
Rammstein’s answer: Left-2-3-4
The video for “Stripped” was released in 1998 – a year after their mega-seller “Sehnsucht” and their rise to superstar status. This brought the band a lot of backlash and criticism. Some were sure: Rammstein are right-wing – accusations that were of course made without taking the band’s history into account. Rammstein responded to this in 2001 with an unmistakable song statement called “Links-2-3-4”. “They want my heart in the right place / But then I look down / It beats to the left,” it says.
Till Lindemann: “We hate Nazis”
In an interview with ROLLING STONE, Lindemann left no doubt about the band’s anti-fascist attitude. “We come from the East and grew up as socialists. “We used to be either punks or goths – we hate Nazis!” says the singer. “And then suddenly there is such a far-fetched accusation. We still do exactly the same thing today, and no one in America or Mexico would think of telling us such stuff. That only happens here in Germany.” The singer does not regret the Riefenstahl video at all, as he explained in 2019: “I still think the video is great today. Everyone went crazy back then. There were artists from abroad who wanted to shoot us. Whether we would do it again today remains to be seen.”
The scandal surrounding the “Germany” video
In 2019, Rammstein caused another scandal ahead of the release of their self-titled studio album. The band released an excerpt from the video for the single “Deutschland”. It shows band members on the gallows, wearing a uniform that looked similar to that of concentration camp prisoners.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q36Zon01v5k&feature=emb_title
The scene later turned out to be one of many that addressed the country’s sinister history – from Germanicus to the Crusaders to the GDR – in a visually stunning and once again polarizing way. Many people paid particular attention to the depiction of Germania. This is embodied in Rammstein’s video by the black actress Ruby Commey. However, this overall context did not invalidate the criticism in many places: Rammstein was doing PR at the expense of victims, it was said. Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Israelite Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, told the “Passauer Neue Presse” that the band trivialized the Holocaust: “Anyone who exploits the Holocaust and the millions of murdered people as a marketing stunt is going too far, regardless of the context.” .
They also showed what Rammstein actually stand for when it comes to social issues at their concert in Moscow’s Lushniki Stadium in 2019. There, a kiss between Paul Landers and Richard Z. Kruspe sent a clear signal against attacks on the LGBTQ community. At a concert in Poland, the band made a similar statement with a rainbow flag.
Conclusion:
Rammstein have undoubtedly played with ambiguities and right-wing aesthetic references over the course of their career – but they have clearly positioned themselves against the right on several occasions. The aesthetic game is not new – the Slovenian, left-wing artist collective Laibach (who were confronted with similar accusations) served as the blueprint for Rammstein. Which audience the songs of Rammstein claimed and (possibly mis)interpreted is another matter. It is also debatable whether the cinematic provocations often fail. However, the fact that Rammstein are definitely anything but right-wing radical should no longer be up for debate.