It was released on 22 August 1997, through Motor Music in Europe and Slash Records in the United States.

The cover most commonly seen shows Christoph Schneider with a barbed-wire-laced worn as an oral gag and his eyes rolled back into his head.

All tracks are written by Rammstein, except "Sehnsucht" (written by Rammstein and Orgasm Death Gimmick) and "Tier" (written by Rammstein and Jürgen Engler)Multiple special editions of Sehnsucht were released, offering different bonus tracks: On 15 April 2023, Rammstein released a short teaser to their social media channels, showing the album's various front covers along to the intro of Bück dich.

A day later, another teaser was posted, with footage of the band rehearsing Engel on 18 April 1997.

Besides being remastered, the album features an exclusive new mix of Spiel mit mir, titled "2023 Mix", and a 40 page booklet with previously unreleased photos of Gottfried Helnwein.