Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW, , "New German Wave") is a

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...

of West German

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States a ...

originally derived from

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-r ...

and

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. Lat ...

with electronic influences. The term was first coined by Dutch radio DJ Frits Spits on the popular nationwide radio station Hilversum 3, which was very popular among German listeners. Soon after that, the term was used in a record-shop advertisement by Burkhardt Seiler in an August 1979 issue of the West German magazine ''Sounds''. It was then used by journalist Alfred Hilsberg in an article about the movement titled ("New German Wave — From Grey Cities' Walls") in ''Sounds'' in October 1979.

History

The history of the Neue Deutsche Welle consists of two major parts. From its beginnings to 1981, the genre was mostly an underground movement with roots in British punk and

. It quickly developed into an original and distinct style, influenced in no small part by the different sound and rhythm of the German language, which many of the bands had adapted from early on. Whilst some of the lyrics of artists like and epitomized the

zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. ...

of urban West Germany during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, others used the language in a surreal way, merely playing with its sound or graphic quality rather than using it to express meaning, as done by bands and artists such as ,

Joachim Witt Joachim Witt (born 22 February 1949) is a German rock musician and actor. Biography Witt was the guitarist/singer in the 1970s krautrock band Duesenberg. He released three albums with them, ''Duesenberg'' (1977), ''Duesenberg 2'' (1978) and ...

and . The main centers of the NDW movement during these years were

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and

Hagen Hagen () is the 41st-largest city in Germany. The municipality is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme (me ...

, as well as, to a lesser extent, the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region,

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hessen between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The t ...

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. From about 1980 on, the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

began noticing the ; however, because of the idiosyncratic nature of the music, focus shifted to creating new bands more compatible with the mainstream rather than promoting existing bands. Many

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...

s and short-lived bands appeared and were forgotten again in rapid succession. The overly broad application of the NDW label to these bands, as well as to almost any German musicians not using English lyrics, even if their music was apparently not influenced at all by the original NDW sound (including pure rock bands like or even

Udo Lindenberg Udo Lindenberg (born 17 May 1946) is a German singer, drummer, and composer. Career Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit, and also appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Micha ...

), quickly led to the decay of the entire genre when many of the original musicians turned their backs in frustration. Around 1983/1984, the era of the came to an early end, following the oversaturation of the market with what was perceived as stereotypical, manufactured

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

s. A revival of interest in the style in the Anglophone world occurred in 2003, with the release of DJ Hell's compilation ''New Deutsch''.Laurence Phelan, ''The Independent'', August 31, 2003

Access date: July 22, 2008. The NDW has come to be acknowledged as a forerunner to later developments in

dance-punk Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk, punk-funk or techno-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-198 ...

electronic body music Electronic body music (acronymized to EBM) is a genre of electronic music that combines elements of industrial music and synth-punk with elements of disco and dance music. It developed in the early 1980s in Western Europe as an outgrowth of both ...

and electroclash. In the 2000s, the term was used by the Berlin-based rap label to describe a supposed new

German rap German hip hop (locally known as ''Deutschrap'', ''Deutsch'' meaning German) refers to hip hop music produced in Germany. Elements of American hip hop culture, such as graffiti art and breakdancing, diffused into Western Europe in the early ...

movement of which they claimed to be a part. This was the subject of artist

Fler Patrick Losenský (born 3 April 1982), known professionally as Fler, is a German rapper and the CEO of Maskulin Music Group. Career 2000–2006: Beginnings Fler was first recognized in the rap scene through collaborations with Bushido. T ...

's 2005 single . The band was also influenced by the .

References

External links

IchWillSpass.de - Die Neue Deutsche Welle im Internet

Punk-Disco - Discographies of many German punk and NDW bands.

Back Again – many Infos about NDW Bands

Neue Deutsche Welle on Avant-Avant.net
{{Authority control German styles of music Rock music genres New wave music 1970s neologisms 1970s in West Germany 1980s in West Germany

History

See also

References

External links