Originally released in 1970 in Germany by Liberty Records, it has been reissued several times by various international labels.

The 2004 German SPV edition features one previously unreleased bonus track.

"[3] Perfect Sound Forever described Affenstunde as "a landmark electronic album" that "also doesn't have the timeless quality of many of their later works".

[1] Julian Cope described it as "a debut album of incredible sounds and sensations that were unlike anything prior to its existence".

[4] David Stubbs described the album as sounding "otherworldly, beguiling, perhaps precisely because of its 'datedness', its raw technological naïveté".