[3] Early German punk groups were heavily influenced by UK bands, often writing their lyrics in English.
"The significance of the shift cannot be understated: as Male vocalist Jürgen Engler pointed out even at the time, 'German lyrics led to the development of a new genre.'
Notable early Germany punk bands also include Charley's Girls, S.Y.P.H., Mittagspause, Din-A-Testbild, Strassenjungs, Stuka Pilots, Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF), Weltaufstandsplan (der Plan), Hans-a-plast, Kriminalitaetsfoerderungsclub (KFC), the Buttocks, ZK, Materialschlacht, and Minus Delta t.[5] Although they played music in the punk style, Big Balls and the Great White Idiot (Hamburg) and Strassenjungs (Frankfurt), were strongly promoted by the music industry as the first German new wave groups, and were not generally accepted as part of the punk scene.
Its grand opening was celebrated with the "Mauerbaufestival", which included performances of The Wall, Dub-Liners, Mittagspause, Male, S.Y.P.H., Din-A-Testbild, Ffurs, Stuka Pilots, and PVC.
This album included a German version of the classic song from The Tubes "White Punks on Dope" (published under the title: "TV-Glotzer").
[10] In fact, a letter to Sounds by the band Male in 1977 signaled the arrival of German punk to the international music scene.
[4] These first years of the punk scene in Germany were characterized by the lack of infrastructure; records were self-produced, and advertised by word of mouth.
In the late 70s, a number of punk bands were founded that had roots in left-wing political movements, and that sang only in German.
Politically motivated punks were often involved in the squatter scene; for example, members of Vorkriegsjugend lived in squatted houses in West-Berlin.
Bands such as Hass, Slime, Razzia, Neurotic Arseholes, Canal Terror, Beton Combo, Normahl, Toxoplasma, ZSD, and Daily Terror redefined punk in Germany with their engaging political lyrics, motivated by Germany's Nazi past, the anarchist movement, police violence, working-class desperation and squatter's rights, immigration issues, racism, sexism, and the Cold War.
In 1981, this compilation cd was banned and copies were confiscated and then censored because of "Verunglimpfung des Staates und seiner Symbole" (English translation: "Denigration of the state and its symbols"), a reaction to the lyrics in Slime's song "Polizei SA/SS" and Middle Class Fantasies' song "Helden".
[21] As a reaction, punks organized the Chaostage (English translation: "chaos days"), a gathering or festival with the aim of attracting media attention.
[22][23] Around 1985/1986, the active part of the punk movement – those that organized concerts, wrote fanzines, and founded music labels – began to revolve more strongly around American Hardcore.
Some of the most important German hardcore punk bands are also often labeled as "Deutschpunk", including Vorkriegsjugend from West Berlin, Chaos Z from Stuttgart, Inferno from Augsburg, Spermbirds from Kaiserslautern, Bluttat from Mülheim an der Ruhr, and Blut + Eisen from Hannover.
Along with Die Ärzte, the Hosen became the most commercially successful and well-known German punk band, gaining significant international recognition.
[24] The small punk scene that developed in East Germany in the 1980s was underground, and largely disapproved of as an import from the West.
[26] In the last few years of the GDR, some punk bands applied for and received licenses to allow them to perform in state-sanctioned venues; they were often criticized for cooperating with the government.
Albums were released in West Germany by East German bands L’Attentat (Leipzig) and Schleim-Keim (under the alias Saukerle).
Beginning in 1989 a few East German punk bands released albums on the Berlin label Amiga Records; this included Die Skeptiker and Feeling B.
In the late 80s in East Germany, the first punk fanzines began to be produced, including: Alösa (East-Berlin, 1986), Messitsch (Leipzig, 1987), Trash (Rostock, 1989), and Rattenpress (Freiberg, 1989).
One of the immediate results of this was the 1990 compilation album Sicher gibt es bessere Zeiten, doch diese war die unsere, which included: Sonnenbrille, Schleim-Keim, Papierkrieg, Ich-Funktion, Müllstation, Ugly Hurons, Ulrike Am Nagel, Atonal, Kaltfront, Wartburgs Für Walter, Staatenlos, Haf, Paranoia, and Totalschaden.
For example, Slime released the LP "Schweineherbst" in 1994; the title track of this album is a furious polemic against politicians and citizens who ignore the dangers of neo-Nazis in Germany.
Mai 87 brought a new momentum to the scene and influenced a new generation of popular punk bands like Turbostaat, Muff Potter, Schrottgrenze, Betontod, Fahnenflucht, Knochenfabrik, Der Dicke Polizist, Rantanplan, and Pascow.
Labels like Wierd System continued to be active and re-released classic records, as well as producing compilations on particular themes.
[37] Terrorgruppe wrote a classic song about the Chaostage as well, titled "Wochenendticket", named after the kind of train ticket that most punks used to travel to Hannover.
The band Parole Trixi (founded in Hamburg in 1998) contributed to riot grrl music, writing songs with German lyrics.
Fanzines Plastic Bomb, Trust and Ox-Fanzine, that were founded as scene publications made the leap into the normal magazine market.
Younger zines like Slam "Taugenix" (founded in 2007) reported on the German punk scene, while Spex has focused more on the Alternative-scene.
In 2021, when Angela Merkel left office, she chose Nina Hagen's song "Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen" to be played at her farewell ceremony.
In this period, Slime produced three new albums, that are considered to be among their best: "Sich fügen heißt lügen" (2012), "Hier und jetzt" (2017), and "Wem gehört die Angst" (2020).