In the spring of 2019, Rammstein released the long-awaited twenty-sixth single of the new song Deutschland. It was the group’s first single in the last seven years, the lyrics were written by the members of the musical group themselves. Not surprisingly, the song was immediately at the top of the chart in the country.
Along with the song, the musicians immediately presented a video for it, posting a video on Youtube, which seemed very provocative to critics and residents of Germany. Many criticized the video for being too expressive and cruel, even demanding that it be removed for inappropriate scenes of violence. However, the video had a lot of approving ratings, in addition, the clip scored almost 100 million views on video hosting.
The plot of the clip Deutschland
The reason for the public outcry in the clip was the image of various events from the history of Germany.
Throughout the video, there is a black girl in the video who personifies Germany. She looks like a strong warrior woman in golden medieval clothes, which can symbolize the colors of the country’s flag.
In the video, she takes part in the most important events in Germany, starting with the battle in the Teutoburg Forest, when the German troops defeated the Roman legionnaires. This is the first event in the history of the country, which has become a symbol of the unity and strength of the Germans.
In the next episode, “Germany” takes part in the Catholic campaigns against the Protestants during the Thirty Years’ War of the 17th century. Religious ministers in these shots look like negative characters who have a devastating effect not only on their compatriots, but on the entire European population: they burn books and support Nazi ideas.
After the medieval scenes, the action is transferred to the political strife and crisis of post-war Germany in the 20-30s of the 20th century. Then the most controversial scene opens before the viewer – the execution of condemned captives during World War II, during which the soloist almost verbatim sings a line from the anthem of Nazi Germany, which is banned in the country in recent years.
And then we see the dark events that torn apart Germany in the second half of the 20th century: the Marshall Plan, the currency reform of 1948, an underground terrorist group of the 70-80s that terrorized the country and kept the people in fear.
The meaning of the song Deutschland
The authors of the video depicted the history of Germany from the beginning of time to the present. They showed how all the two thousand years of the existence of the German people they were torn apart by contradictions, how they aspired to power and suffered defeat. They showed how Germany made great technological discoveries, but at the expense of the suffering of millions of people. They showed that a country can be great and beautiful, but only if there are no people in power who can destroy it all.
Reminding modern Germans of their history and the events of many years ago is nothing more than a warning to all the inhabitants of Germany that now is not the best time in the country. Constant political disagreements and the endangered gene pool of the nation can lead to the death of the country.
At the end of the clip, we do not see any solution to the urgent problem: the authors left the finale open, because they themselves do not know what will happen next. Yes, they sent “Germany” in a crystal coffin into space to die, thereby, as it were, burying its future, but at the same time, the viewer sees in the same frame a red beam that passes through the entire video, and culturologists agree, that this ray symbolizes the hope left by the authors for the resurrection of the country. With this, Rammstein, as it were, tells his viewers that Germany is really capable of being reborn from the ashes.
“Deutschland” is what was made by the Germans for the Germans. What is the Ramstein Deutschland song about? All verses and chorus are permeated with internal contradictions. The author of the song talks either about love for Germany, or about hatred for it. The band members demonstrate these conflicting feelings in the video in order to argue the reasons for their rejection of the country.
This is one of those songs where visuals play a very important role. In the text, we see only an emotional message without a specific plot. The clip opens this veil for us and makes us understand the reasons for this attitude. Let’s try to figure out the meaning of the video and the Rammstein Deutschland song.
It all starts with the fact that the Roman soldiers meet a black girl. As planned, it is the image of Germany. It was with this country that Rome was at enmity at one time. As a result of the war, the Germans won, which led to the ruin of the empire.
Then footage of the battle is shown. The personification of Germany hoists the flag. By this, the band members make a reference to the Thirty Years’ War. During this battle, many Protestants and Catholics died.
Next, we see the soloist fighting with the guitarist. With this, Thiel and Richard wanted to show the conflicts that were inside their country after losing the war.
There is an interesting shot where all the members of the group are simultaneously heading forward, while dressed in black. In their background, an airship rises. This is a clear reference to the horrific incident of the Hindenburg airship. Till Lindemann and the other participants personify the Americans who turned down a German offer to sell helium. For this they had to pay. Their airship was filled with explosives, as a result of which everyone died.
Then we see a girl who lives in luxury, and next to her are special forces soldiers. In this form, the band members wanted to show modern Germany, which does not need money. The fighters personify the modern police.
This frame is replaced by the times of the Inquisition. We are shown how wonderfully the church servants live and do not deny themselves anything. But other people are not so lucky. They have to pick up scraps.
They also show Germany, namely the time after the war. Then political freedom was proclaimed, but in fact the FRG was dependent on the United States. We are shown the Germans in custody, where the prison is designed in the American style. They are beaten, while pouring a lot of money. So the band members wanted to show the infusion of funds from the United States.
They also affected the Third Reich. To show its other side, they show the concentration camps, as well as the rockets that were around at the time. The participants themselves are on the gallows. Thus, they personify all those who suffered from the Nazi regime.
The film ends with the departure of the coffin into outer space. By this they wanted to show farewell to the Germany that was before. You can interpret this as the death of the country itself.
The band members wanted to show that today not everything is so perfect in Germany. According to many, they wanted to convey the wrong guidelines and the wrong vector of development. And if nothing is changed, it can lead to political and economic decline.
Write in the comments what meaning of the song Rammstein Deutschland you see.
