Neue Deutsche Welle

It was then used by journalist Alfred Hilsberg in an article about the movement titled Neue Deutsche Welle — Aus grauer Städte Mauern ("New German Wave — From Grey Cities' Walls") in Sounds in October 1979.

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.

[5] The main centers of the NDW movement during these years were West Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hanover and Hagen, as well as, to a lesser extent, the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region, Limburg an der Lahn and Vienna.

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 BAP or even Udo Lindenberg), quickly led to the decay of the entire genre when many of the original musicians turned their backs in frustration.

A revival of interest in the style in the Anglophone world occurred in 2003, with the release of DJ Hell's compilation New Deutsch.