The band was formed in the mid-1990s by six musicians from East Berlin and Schwerin: singer Till Lindemann, guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers, keyboardist Flake Lorenz, bassist Oliver Riedel, and drummer Christoph Schneider.

[1][3] A month later, the band issued their first studio album, Herzeleid, which peaked at number six on the German Media Control Charts and remained there for 102 weeks.

[4] Rammstein's second album, Sehnsucht, was released in August 1997; it topped both German and Austrian charts, and eventually was certified platinum in the respective record industry associations of IFPI.

[5] Released in April 2001, Mutter is Rammstein's third studio album; it topped the German and Swiss charts and was certified double platinum in both countries.

In November 2006, the band issued the Völkerball CD and DVD set, featuring live footage filmed in the United Kingdom, France, Japan and Russia, plus a documentary.