"Mein Teil" attracted controversy in Germany; the media dubbed it "Das Kannibalenlied" ("The Cannibal-Song") due to its lyrics referring to the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case, which helped to boost it to second place in the German music charts after its release in early August 2004.

In March 2001, in Rotenburg an der Fulda, the two men aged in their 40s met each other, cut off and cooked Brandes' penis and attempted to consume it together.

According to bassist Oliver "Ollie" Riedel, the song came about after "one of our members brought a newspaper to rehearsal and it had a story about the cannibal guy in it.

It depicts Christoph Schneider cross-dressed as Armin Meiwes's mother, Till Lindemann receiving oral sex from an angel (played by Luciana Regina) before he eats her wings and kills her; Christian Lorenz performing ballet in a hallucinatory state; Paul Landers shaking, screaming violently and wandering around in a frantic and crazed state; Richard Kruspe violently fighting with his doppelgänger; Oliver Riedel writhing on the floor in painful spasms with his skin covered in white powder; the band fighting in a mudpit; and Schneider leading the rest of the band on leashes as they crawl out of the Deutsche Oper U-Bahn (subway) station and behave like dogs.

The controversy over "Mein Teil" prompted MTV Germany to restrict the airing of the music video to after 11 PM.

Keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz appears in the pot, with metal cylinders attached to his arms and legs, and plays the keyboard during the song.

Flake escapes from the pot and starts running around the stage with flames erupting from his arms and legs, while chased by a knife-wielding Till.