Willkommen in Deutschland: German Punk as Vergangenheitsbewältigung

Indianapolis, IN

The purpose of this presentation explores the manifestation of Vergangenheitsbewältigung (eng. coming to terms with the past) in the context of contemporary German music with specific attention to the Entartete Musik: Willkommen in Deutschland – ein Gedenkkonzert album released by the punk rock band Die Toten Hosen in collaboration with the Robert Schumann Hochschule Symphony Orchestra on October 30, 2015. The adjective entartet (eng. decadent/degenerate) was used by the Nazis to describe any sort of music, art, or literature they deemed unworthy of existence. Exhibitions were held to ridicule such works publicly with audiences often traveling great distances to mock the presented works. The word entartet has such a burdened history that it is practically never used outside of the National Socialist context and carries an extremely negative connotation. A self-styled “decadent” memorial concert, the album is actually a compilation of works which were played at a set of three collaboration concerts in Düsseldorf in 2013. Pieces performed include excerpts from Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht’s Die Dreigroschenoper, Hans Kràsa’s Brundibár, and Arnold Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw Op. 46 in addition to Die Toten Hosen songs, such as “Sascha…ein aufrechter Deutscher” and “Ballast der Republik”. Those involved were so invested in the project and its success that it was quickly reformatted into an album. All parties have refused to profit financially from the project, instead channeling earnings into stipends and scholarships for students of the Robert Schumann Hochschule.