Hamburger Schule
The Hamburger Schule (
, and intellectual lyrics. It established new grounds for the use of German language in pop music.Introduction
As the name indicates, the movement was initially carried by
Beginnings
In the late 1980s, a new musical scene was emerging in Hamburg comprising a number of bands that sung in German but that had no record deals (with the exception of Die Antwort). To remedy this situation and to give the new style a platform, the record label L'Age D'Or was established in October 1988 by Carol von Rautenkranz and Pascal Fuhlbrügge. They signed contracts with many bands and published numerous albums. Many of the albums were produced by Chris von Rautenkranz, Carol's brother, in the Soundgarden recording studio in Hamburg. Another label that influenced the emerging genre was Alfred Hilsberg's What's So Funny About?, which published the first albums by Blumfeld, Cpt. Kirk &., and Die Erde.
Another significant representative of Hamburger Schule was Andreas Mand.[1][clarification needed]
Soon, however, the Hamburger Schule was not restricted to Hamburg anymore. In particular, a local scene of germanophone bands had developed in the small town of Bad Salzuflen in Eastern Westphalia, which was centered on the label Fast Weltweit. Founders were Frank Werner, Frank Spilker (of the band Die Sterne), Michael Girke, Bernadette La Hengst (of Die Braut haut ins Auge) and Jochen Distelmeyer (then of Bienenjäger, later Blumfeld). They got in contact with the Hamburg scene through Bernd Begemann who was a native of Bad Salzuflen but moved to Hamburg where he established his band Die Antwort. This led to various gigs in Hamburg for bands from the Fast Weltweit label, eventually causing many other artists to move to Hamburg.
Another first-generation Hamburger Schule band, Die Regierung, was based in Hamburg for a long time, but originated from Essen.
Rise and fall
By the mid 1990s, three bands met with great commercial success: Blumfeld, Die Sterne, and Tocotronic. The Hamburger Schule became known as the epitome of German indie pop music. When other German guitar bands, whose music and lyrics were of a different style, they were able to profit from this success while spurring an entirely new indie pop scene. The Hamburger Schule began to be marginalised by a movement which it had helped to create.
Other artists that are considered part of the Hamburger Schule are Milch, Rocko Schamoni and the 'Mobylettes'. But as time went by, the term eventually encompassed such a broad spectrum of musical content that it could hardly be associated with a particular musical genre anymore. As several bands have started to sing in foreign languages, it has begun to lose any meaning it once had.
Revival
By the end of the 1990s, there emerged a new wave of German guitar music with intellectual aspirations. Examples for this new generation of artists, who clearly tie in with the Hamburger Schule tradition, are Spillsbury, Kettcar, Erdmöbel, Kajak, Justin Balk, Virginia Jetzt!, Astra Kid, Modus Noa, Marr and Tomte. They display a new musical homogeneity of punk-influenced guitar pop.
Several small labels have sprung up to support this new musical current. Arguably the most important one is the Hamburg-based label Grand Hotel van Cleef which, like L'Age D'Or seeks to be an enabler for local bands. It was established in September 2002 by Tomte's Thees Uhlmann and Kettcar's Marcus Wiebusch and Reimer Bustorff.
References
- ^ CD Eine kleine Feile Archived 2013-06-30 at the Wayback Machine ('A Little File'). Retrieved 2011-12-13 (german)
External links
Labels
- L'Age D'Or—official website of L'Age D'Or
- Grand Hotel van Cleef (post-Hamburger Schule)
- Fast Weltweit (Bad Salzuflen pre-history)
Bands
- Tocotronic
- Blumfeld Archived 2005-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
- Tomte (German)
| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
