Hello. I'm from Germany so let me give you some thoughts from someone who's born here. First of all, first time I watched the video I was shocked and deeply moved. The song/ video takes a very deep look into our german souls and how a lot of us feel about our country. The video is loaded with tons of symbols, that as a German you catch onto. Let's start: in the intro you see Germania ( Personification of Germany) during roman/ germanian tribes time. The red Lazer represents the "red thread" of the story/ history. Astronauts from the future bringing Germania in a glass coffin (snow-white) so she can lead through the/her german history. You see a submarine on in the hangar. Next you observe the twenties(Weimar Republic).The prison scene representing the rough, violent times especially for the majority of the population struggling to survive. Money raining down/ the great depression. And Germany's first try as a democratic state. In between Germania is dressed in knight's armor awaking her knights/band with the Lazarus spear. Next Germania is pushed in a wheelchair by the band through the Berlin Holocaust Memorial with burning bodies. (Imagine the statue of liberty being shown like that through the graveyards of native Americans or slaves, or pictures from the colonial era in Indonesia.) Next vignette the office scene showing east Germany and west Germany reunited (1990). Then you're being taken back to mideveal times, monks/ church are feasting off of Germania. In most scenes you'll see some church man involved. No coincidence. The concentration camp scene in the background you see V2 rockets ignition. The inmates are wearing different types of stars on their chests and a sign on the gallows reads: no photos. Germania wears an eye-patch first on her left, than on her right eye. Than a quick shot of Germania dressed modern with lots of gold leading german shepherds., representing Germany's wealth. The 70's scene shows the RAF- extremists holding Germania/ Germany hostage. Next vignette is the witch burnings shifting to the book burning. If you have a close look, at minute 4:45 you see a church man holding up a cross hugging a Nazi, symbolising the churches over all position to the horrific events happening during 1933-1945. The birth scene. Taking place in Valhalla. Germania is giving birth to dogs respectively "Leonberger" a breed preferred by Kings and Queens. The Breed almost went extinct during WW1 and WW2. A cardinal/ Constitutional judge (dressed in red) dressed in red helping a new Germany being born. At minute 5:50 you see the riots against refugees homes in the 90's in Hoyerswerda. Molotovs are being thrown and a car is being pushed over with the help of a man dressed in Nazi uniform. Than the scenes/ time vignettes start shifting faster and faster, showing how many times, when circumstances becoming too extreme everything is falling apart and Germania ( dressed in knight's) armor is crying. The outro is the piano version of the song "Sonne" which completes how we feel thinking of our past: a sense of sadness. To sum it up. Germany has a long, wild, violent, unique history, because we as a state of today exist only since 1990. Yet the roots go back a very long time. "Young and yet so old" I hope that helped a little to understand the video and with that us Germans. We don't have a strong feeling of patriotism, but a strong sense of unity. With love from country of Poets and thinkers.❤ Btw as the others already wrote all allegations have been dropped. Further more it turned out last week that the woman who started this had a very high THC level in her blood. Official police report. This page got "lost" somehow. Also she tried to pull this of with other bands, Metallica being one of them. The german press never had a good word to say on Rammstein.
Im german as well and agree with everything u´ve said..just want to add that the overall theme of germania holding that head. Its the head of Arminius, a germanic tribe leader who was familiar with the roman state, military tactics and so on..and he is the one hold account to having united the germanic tribes against the roman empire, leading to the big defeat of three roman legions in the Teuteburger forrest. So he kinda made Germany possible. That he is shown with Germania holding his head shows, for me at least, how much of the spririt to stay united is lost in the strife of becoming modern germany. Germania in Knights armour is the last time she fights to stay in that kind of state of seperate but united Kingdoms. And they fought against those who want to unite all in one big country. They lost..and all spirit of the united tribes seem to have gone, soon after that WW1 happend and all went crazy. She still hold the head tho making sometimes weird stuff with it..just as if germany still cheers up to their past without acting like it. Sry for my bad english btw xDAnd the Black woman, well i dont actually know why they did it, maybe just tp provoke, but maybe its more like why i would use it, and that would be that those german tribes came from alot of different places in europe and beyond..they traded rly rly far around the world..so ppl havent had a problem with other races. So to speak germania can be shown be shown as african german as well ;) The prison scene..my point of view always was..at that times after ww1 money was worth nothing..so its thown like toilet paper, and thats what u would expect in a prison normally. With the nazi scene..or overall with the brutality and detail. My point of view is, if u want to show good and bad times, show them as there were and dont sugercoat them. The bad times especially, because that the only way to learn from it. And Germania of course is shown here as well, because the Nazis used here heritage and even older times, as the common believe was with norther mythology, as well. But she is shown once with a Queen-like dress, almost crying wht is happing with her (the country) and then in uniform but with eyepatches, which shows a saying "Auf dem Auge ist sie blind" "she was blind on that eye" depicting imo how the german ppl first havent notized what kind of horrific stuff is gojng on, and after they have realized they, they looked the other way to not getting killed themself.
Re: Germania - they have said that they cast Ruby Comey because currently there are Black Germans, so why not cast a Black woman to represent Germany? Also, she is often wearing red and gold, so she represents the German flag.
No, its because whole cast are white, and black woman is very contrasting with them - which is helpful, coz all the scenes are chaotic and fast, and u need to be able to find main character (Germania) on the screen very fast. Its basic thing, this filmmaker pretty uneducated
38:17 Germania gives birth to the German Leonberger dog breed. A breed that almost died out in WW1 and WW2 because they were used in the war*. Very symbolic for the German people. *Almost nothing can upset a Leonberger. Ruby Comney is a German Actress, born in Berlin.
This is not what it wa saying. It’s about how Germany producing Dogs As next gen. I’m a south Asian n even I know most of the history of GERMANY it showing. She called herself a filmmaker here!? Ha ha
I am not trying to be deliberately rude but I got quite frustrated after half of the reaction to which I was really looking forwards due to your specialized skill set. However - I probably got a glimpse why movies never turn out one way but another, if producers, filmmakers, script writers and historians (or lore keepers) have very different backgrounds and no common ground. One would wonder that you draw much more reference to your country’s colonialism history and personal experience than actually understanding the German history or even including the lyrics, which are tremendously important (even to better understand some scenes without the historical context, but from the bands emotional perspective). Black, red, gold is the German flag’s color. Including a black actress was a brilliant move - it completed the German colors in nearly every shot she is present and it was a signal against modern nazis. One could stress it might be some association towards the first German genocide against the African Herrera by Germans (apparently a form of early blueprint for later), but compared to rest of Western Europe, Germany’s colonialization history is fairly thin. Maybe to reach an olive branch - try to put yourself more into the band members shoes. This is not just actors in a random movie production, it’s their point of view on their relationship with Germany. Last but not least - does the hanging scene has to be in there? YES - Germany has, like no other country in comparison, taken on the role of advocacy to remember the cruelties for the nazi era. Did the band benefit from the controversy about this scene? Absolutely. Anecdotal - the eye patch Germany wears is first on the right side (being blind on the right political eye) and then switches to the left to prepare for the same message on the political left, transitioning into the left wing terrorism in Germany. It’s a criticism that Germania, or the state, did not protect the German people from these crimes from either side. Please try to dig deeper - lyrics, history then the whole production will become even more impressive.
Ого! Никогда не обращал внимания на то, что повязка то на одном глазу, то на другом. Впрочем, ни разу сталкивался с тем, чтобы кто-то из разбиравших это видео обратил внимание на этот нюанс. Спасибо!
I think Israel probably remembers the Nazi era a bit more keenly. In any case, it is Germany's responsibility to remember the Nazi crimes more than others. It is not a competition. And, as you find detail important, the people who suffered the genocide in South West Africa were the Herero and Nama.
You are completely misinformed about Till Lindemann. He has not done anything wrong. Courts found that the papers made it all up. Perhaps you shouldn't comment on things you know nothing about.
@@subway5907that's absolutely right kind of reminds me Jhonny deep vs Amber heard case that was made it up by her otherwise they both deep and till will had to sued back for false accusation because judges found out them both artists cases innocent!!! and almost ruined their career.
Vielleicht solltet ihr eure Idole nicht wie Götter behandeln und die Anschuldigungen gegen Till etwas ernster nehmen, anstatt gleich alles auf MeToo zu schieben und für nichtig zu erklären. Ich sage nicht, dass er schuldig ist und sonst was verbrochen hat, ich finde bloß euren Rammstein-Götterkult sowas von widerlich, weil ihr Till und Co. immer verteidigen werdet, egal wie die Faktenlage aussieht.
Hi, I'm from Germany. Rammstein is playing a classic "Industrial Metal" style. A 50-50 mix of synthesizers and hard metal guitars. A big part of the German history in one video. The black woman as Germania. Germania is the personification of the German nation. It isn't and wasn't a goddess or Joan of Arc. The glass coffin: It is Little Snow White from the Grimm-fairytales....and from their own video "Sonne". Only with black skin and in space. The piano song at the end is the song "Sonne", too. The words "Germania Magna" at the beginning are a Roman name for the area of Germany, that wasn't conquered by the Roman Empire at that time. Germania Superior and Germania Inferior were the Roman conquered areas (Roman provinces) of Germany. The line in this song "So jung und doch so alt" (So young and yet so old) means: Germany as a unified state is very young. A unified German nation is only existing from 1871 onwards. Before that year of unification Germany was made of countless, little mini-states and the people identified first and foremost as Prussians, Hessians, Saxons etc, etc, etc. and only in a second line of thought they had a lose sense of being somehow Germans, too, as a kind of unifying second identity. So the area & the landscape where the Germans are living and the Germans themselves as a people...are thousands of years old. But only recently, in 1871, there was a unified Germany as one single state. So Germany as a unified state is very young...and at the same time it is thousands of years old. The battle of the Teutoburg forest against the Romans (and Rammstein as Roman soldiers and Germans alike). That battle is of ABSOLUTE importance for the German history. The hanged bodies in the trees were the beaten Roman soldiers, who were gruesome sacrificed to the Germanic gods...and were partly nailed to the trees. The Varus-(Teutoburg)-Battle was already in 9 AD. In 16 AD were the vengeance campaigns of commanding field general Germanicus under Emperor Tiberius Augustus. Therefore we see here the arrival of the Roman troops of Germanicus and they are watching their dead comrades hanging in the trees or getting their heads chopped off (for nailing them to the trees). In reality the Romans under Germanicus found only the bones of the Varus army in the various ways they were slaughtered, sacrificed and displayed at the trees. Slaves were liberated even decades after the battle. After the scenes with the Romans we saw the Hindenburg Zeppelin disaster (the burning Zeppelin in the background). The moustaches and clothing from the fight scene are from WWI and post WWI years. From the working class people in WWI and the roaring 20's. In the WWII years later on this kind of big bushy moustache was already out of fashion. The falling banknotes in the prison are not about corruption. That scene is about the hyper-inflation of the 1920's, that took away the savings of the Germans and left them in deep poverty and desperation. One had to pay a loaf of bread with a handcart full of nearly worthless banknotes back then and it hit the German people deep down inside and in their souls. Especially the poor ones and the simple workers. The V2 rocket (first manmade object in space) as technical triumph of the German spirit...and at the same time the killing of the concentration camp prisoners in the bunker factories below the mountains during the production of that rocket. This scene in the video could be a representation of a very specific concentration camp. It was "Mittelbau-Dora" below the Kohnstein mountain. A mixture between a big, huge bunker factory for V1 and V2 rockets and a concentration camp. The concentration camp inmates had several different markings for different kinds of convicts and their "crimes" sown to their chests, like it was in reality, too. A pink triangle for homosexuals, the star of David for Jews and two of them were marked with the double-triangles for Jehovas Whitnesses. The book burnings of the Nazis and the burning of the witches of the church. In the same scene with the book burning there is EVEN MORE going on. The cooperation of the church with the Nazis, when the priest with the cross embraces the Nazi SA-man. The scene with the sign with the Hammer and a pair of compasses in a circle of wheat is the sign of the GDR (DDR). The socialist German state in the east that existed before the German reunification. Therefore it was Karl Marx in the background in the scene with the tank (not the scene at the concentration camp). The scene with Rammstein wielding guns (the pumpgun) and taking Germania hostage was about leftwing terrorism of the 1970's. The terrorists were called the RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion). My interpretation of the red scanner-like beams: There are two different kinds of beams. The massive straight red light beam that goes up into the heavens AND there were those smaller, thinner "scanner" beams. Aliens (or humans from the future) are scanning the whole German history. Like some real scientists are scanning and excarvating ancient Mexican or Egyptian statues, for example. The massive red light beam is the red ribbon of time that ties together all the historical events. PS: As for the dogs: Germans are fanatical dog lovers. We are a dog-owner nation. The dog is a firm part of Germany. PPS: They didn't eat the body of the woman and her inner organs, even if it really looked that way. They were eating the national dish of Germany, that was put on the body of the black woman: Sauerkraut, Kassler & sausages. In my opinion it symbolizes the church eating itself fat on the goods and values and food of Germany during the simple people (farmers, simple workers etc) lived a long time in a kind of hell of poverty and serfdom (the red fetish area below the table with Germania on it). But that eating scene could indeed have a double meaning. It could represent the 30 years war, that was fought for religious reasons and depopulated large areas of Germany. It forced the people to commit canibalism because nobody was there anymore to produce food. Except the fat, wealthy people of the church, of course. They were still able to eat enough. Only the simple people at the bottom (farmers etc) died from hunger and had to fight and die in that war. The 30 years war was the biggest catastrophe in Germany until WWI happened. PPPS: The short scene with the dogs and their gas masks = WWI, where in reality animals (messenger dogs & horses) AND soldiers were wearing gas masks, too. PPPPS: The puppies at the end are Leonberger dogs. The Leonbergers nearly went extinct during WWI and WWII. PPPPPS: The black woman in the prison was dressed in a Prussian uniform with a Prussian helmet. Till sings the famous, often misinterpreted, line of the "Deutschlandlied" (Song of the Germans), that is not forbidden in Germany but simply isn't sung anymore in our modern national anthem. Till sings in his version the line "Deutschland über allen" (Germany above everybody) What is a BIG change to the real line in the orginal Deutschlandlied-song. In the original Deutschlandlied song it is written as "Deutschland über alles" (Germany above everything). The real, whole line of that old Deutschlandlied goes "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles. Über alles in der Welt" (Germany, Germany above everything. Above everything in the world). This line is often misinterpreted by many people as chauvinism and as a looking down upon all other countries on this planet. But that is wrong and not many people know about that in Germany and elsewhere. The writer of that famous line didn't meant it in a chauvinistic way. When that song was written, Germany was divided into umphteenth mini-states, what made Germany relative powerless and defenseless. Therefore the task of German unification was the goal above any other goal for all Germans (at least the writer of the song meant it that way). So the main goal for all Germans had to be the united Germany. The goal of "(united) Germany above everything else". That was, how that line was meant by the writer of the song. The line isn't forbidden, like many people wrongly think. It's simply not sung anymore and not part of the official anthem of modern Germany anymore. This has NOT its reason in the seemingly chauvinist meaning of "Deutschland über alles", like many people wrongly think. This whole stanza of the Deutschlandlied isn't sung anymore, because in other parts of the stanza are borders and landscapes mentioned, that aren't German borders and landscapes anymore. We want to live in peace with the people and countries, who are now living in those former German lands and therefore we don't sing about those old borders and landscapes anymore. It has nothing to do with the "Deutschland über alles" line in that stanza, like many people wrongly are thinking. Finally: The scenes I'm now talking about are pretty dark and low light. The WWII submarine in the submarine bunker during the astronauts are walking by with the glass coffin. I think, the choice of the black woman as main actress was made, because: a) it makes any accusations of racism and fascism against Rammstein useless b) she represents one colour of the German flag and she is wearing the rest of the colours of our German flag as makeup and jewellery and clothes on her body: Black, Red and Gold c) it provokes many people EVEN MORE 😄 Greetings Mega
PS: RUclips didn't allow me to integrate this information into the bigger text (above) for unknown reasons, therefore I'm posting it here: The troops, who smashed the Jewish shops during the Kristallnacht (not shown in the video) were SA (Sturmabteilung) in brown uniform and not the later SS (Schutzstaffel) in the black uniform. The SA did all the dirty work at the beginning of the Nazi rise to power...until the "Night of the long knives", an inner-Nazi power struggle, happened. The head of the SA (Ernst Röhm) was killed and from then on the SA was turned more and more into the SS under Himmler. The book burnings were part of the early Nazi years, too, and were done by the SA, too. One can see the SA burning the books and Till is watching it in a brown SA uniform. Both, Kristallnacht and book burnings were different things and happened at different times. The book burnings happened over a longer timespan at different locations at different times during the Kristallnacht was one big "event" that happened at one single day. Kristallnacht means "Crystal Night" and was called that way, because the smashed shop windows of the Jewish shops looked like thousands of crystals on the ground. But in the Rammstein video I've only seen the book burnings. PPS: The two beer drinking soldiers to the left side of the table, where Germania is lying on and where the priests are eating Sauerkraut & Sausages from her body, are not French soldiers and they aren't representing the French revolution. Those two beer drinking soldiers are Prussian soldiers and they are emphasizing the importance of Prussia for the German history. As far as I could see: They were from the era of Friedrich der Große (The Old Fritz), who was of extraordinary importance for German history. Amongst many other achievements he was the one, who brought the potato to Prussia and Germany. That saved many Germans from hunger and the potato became one of the most beloved foods in Germany on that way. PPPS: The name Rammstein comes from the German town Ramstein (with one "m"). There is an US-airbase and there happened a big, tragic airshow disaster, when two jets collided and fell into the audience. Therefore all the flames and the burning coat during the song Rammstein and all the fire in their shows in general. But that rather tasteless name and the negative press echo were too much even for Rammstein. So they changed their name later in Rammstein, what indeed means "battering stone". They delivered a half assed explanation for it decades ago. I've forgotten, what they said. A fact is, that they called themselves after that town and that airshow disaster. Probably for provocation purposes. Their old song "Rammstein" even tells in other words the story of that disaster and it tells about a fine day with a warm shining sun...and burning people. Neue Deutsche Härte was always a pretty unsatisfying new name for the music they made mainly: Industrial or Industrial Metal/Rock.
This was an amazing choice for you and your channel. loads of production and loads of symbolism. I enjoyed listening and learning and I'm glad you chose to post it!!!
@@manondereeper And also congratulations on your courage to do so. There are quite some people out there being super sensitive because of the subject and given that Rammstein always leaves us with so many ways to interpret their lyrics and videos chances are you'll get some not so nice comments from people who think they know exactly what the artists thought. There were Germans reacting and analyzing this piece and I remember one claiming he watched it for at least a dozen times and still discovered something new which may twist the impression of a certain scene again.
Ruby Comey is portraying Angela Davis in the GDR scene (timestamp 17:39). In the same scene, Oliver Riedel is portraying Sigmund Jähn. (September 1972)
Regarding your question, why Germania is black. For one, representing the diversity of my country. Many cultures are living here from all over the world. 2nd our flag is black, red and gold and she's always shown in these tree colours. And 3rd to piss of the racists in my country. Which is me favorite reason, why they chose her. And she's beautiful.
@@Forfex ja Schade. Dachte eigentlich immer, dass wir Fans uns untereinander mit Informationen gegenseitig helfen. Deine Interpretation hätte mich interessiert.
I read they chose a black woman to piss off the right wing. But maybe that was just a side effect. Personally, I'd also like to think it happened because our ancestors were all black at one time, although not anymore at this time. Nevertheless. Greetings from Berlin.
Not so long before this video came out there were news covering one of the oldest human remains found in England from which the DNA could be sequenced and - of course - he had dark skin. In one documentary they interviewed people showing them what the man could have looked like and most if not all where like 'yeah, that makes sense' which was refreshing as (finally) most people depicted were on the scientific side. Of course such a display of some people being asked is always biased but nevertheless I enjoyed that the film makers put that in. When I first watched the Deutschland music video I was reminded to that and felt happy they haven't followed the big blonde blue-eyed trope that especially the 3rd Reich pushed so much.
A main reason is, that it’s fits the German flag. Black skin, red lips and a golden armor. Sometimes golden necklaces or something else. But the combination is pretty dominant.
Sorry, me again. The scene with Germania in Prussian uniform, marching, smiling broadly in the prison scene in the Weimar era symbolizes that the royalists continued to exercise their power almost unhindered during this time and later helped bring the Nazi regime to power. On the ring it reads Spectre, a little petitesse from the director.
Your appreciation of the filming was nice but historically and band wise you lacked quite a bit .The Brindemburg? Everyone knows or should know about the Hindenburg.. smh...
at 34:25 , there's a juxtaposition of witch burnings and book burnings ... I'm guessing this is a reference to Heinrich Heine who said, Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.
Many Rammstein videos are difficult to interpret, "Deutschland" is by far the hardest. The knowledge of average history classes in German schools is not enough to understand all the allusions. I recommend the song and video "Zeit" (with lyrics in a language you understand). The key message is all humans have to die, but what happens then? Probably the best Rammstein clip after Deutschland. Just one hint: A prominent role play three figures in black clothes without faces. The represent the Norns of the Germanic mythology, three goddesses called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Past, Present and Future). Their main task is to water and protect the Tree of Life, so that life on earth never ends. They have the power to decide about the life span of humans. Have a look, maybe you like the cinematic aspects as much as I do.
Thanks for your reaction video. Trying to interpret the Deutschland video without knowing a lot of German history is quite difficult and will lead you often to the wrong path. For instance, the DDR scene is quite clear not only because of the hammer and compass symbol but also the clothes. The fighting scene in a jail with the money thrown around is an innuendo of the hyper inflation and fighting of the 1920ies. It has nothing to do with privatization of prisons. The hanging scene in the concretion camp refers to Germans (or Nazi Germans) this is part of Germany's history. The part of some Rammstein members in drag refers to the Rote Armee Fraction (RAF, a former left-extreme terror organization) that kidnapped Hans-Martin Schleyer (then president of the German BDI, an umbrella organization of German industry lobbying organizations). Prominent members of the RAF were women. Also, as others mentioned, Germania being played by Ruby Comey is a good choice. Black, red and golden as the current national colors of Germany. Moreover, black, white and red are the colors of the second German Empire (1871-1918) and Nazi Germany. So having a dark skinned Germania makes sense.
Almost the whole "Movie" is coverd in the colors "Black, Red, Gold" ... the colors of the german flag... Sometimes the "Gold" was made with fire, sometimes with sparks, ...
Look to the colors: the german Flag is black red gold. Now look to the black woman and the colors in costumes. She presents germania and the colors of her shows the flag colors
38:18 Many still dont understand what this scene means. This dog breed was practically exterminated in Germany, but after WWII the Germans were able to save them. With this scene, Rammstein hopes that Germany and the Germans will not disappear as an ethnic group, that they will be able to survive difficult times.
I loved your reaction, I learned a lot today and noticed many details I never saw before despite having watched this video so often. Regarding the many questions you raised about the symbolisms and depictions of historical topics, I could either make this comment a page long essay, or I could link you this fantastic analysis video by Three Arrows. He provides a LOT of historical context, digs into the lyrics (which are often VERY important for the understanding of a Rammstein song), and even connects some of the messaging to the past of the band members, who were part of the underground punk scene in former East Germany and even subject to arrests and observation by the secret police STASI. He also offers a plausible hypothesis for the casting of a black woman as Germania. ruclips.net/video/sc-euVL8xQs/видео.html What I find very interesting in hindsight is that the visual style and the red lights and lasers also feature very prominently in the song "Adieu". Given that "Deutschland" was the first song of the 2019 album "Rammstein" and "Adieu" is the closing song of the 2022 album "Zeit", for me this hints at these two songs being connected on a deeper level which I still haven't quite worked out. It definitley creats some kind of bracket between the albums.
There are also many more or less hidden references to previous songs and videos distributed throughout the video. Very prominent is the scene at 40:40, where you can see the angel wings Till wore for performances of "Engel" e.g. at the concert in Madison Square Garden, while the band crawling on all fours is a refence to the official video to "Mein Teil".
Thanks so much for your enthusiasm Andy! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And you're right, this could easily turn into a book's worth of academic analysis lol. Which I'm wondering if anyone's done that! Thanks so much for sharing that video, I'm definitely going to check it out!
I 2nd the Three Arrows video. I also had some concerns about the song like her. That video is a fantastic deconstruction of the song/video and their meaning.
Ah... by the way. The ring shows the word "Specter"... Specter Berlin is the company that was the video director. So it's just a little gimmic and acknowledgement for them ;)
It is not. That took place in 9 AD, while it clearly says 16 AD in the video. Teutoburg wasn't the only place in Germania where the Romans got defeated. But in 16 AD they actually gave up on trying to conquer Germania Magna.
@@Andy_from_de In 16 AD the Romans actually inflicted a heavy defeat on the Germanic tribes in revenge for Teutoburg. This video, after all, concentrates on German disasters. The Romans did concluded that the benefits of expanding beyond the Rhine was not worth the costs.
They're the BEST ! ..and Till is an easy target..specialy for gold diggers.. Even on one documentary of early days, on tape, one woman gets into the shower with one of them..they invite themselves.(..Not anymore, but..).. The best worldwide band in the World! I was never, a "band" oriented guy, or had a favorite, but for all their history...borning in DDR, living it all.. ..I am portuguese, but i was borned and lived in Hamburg, until i was 9 yrs old.. I remember exactly first time i heard them, and where i was.. But at the time internet was not a thing, to search them.. My irst song i heard was "Feuer Frei".. They are fantastic ! They came to Portugal last year, but i am since 2014, T2 paraplegic, and was not possible to go..and their lifespan is coming to an end..But man..I hear almost every day, a song or more of them..What a band, either music-videos, or live shows.. Incredible !
Look it Ruby Comey: She and the sets are always black, red and gold….the colors of the German flag….if you want to know details about the different time periods shown, watch Three Arrows description of the facts and symbolism behind every scene😊
In the scene with nazis hanging the people, Germania is wearing a eye-patch over her left eye, so she can only see with the "right"-one. and an additional neck-brace, to keep her head up, like she couldn´t do it on her own...
I like your reaction: the most in-depth analysis I have seen so far; I have seen this video a couple of time now and still there were things to learn for me - and this is the first reaction were the blatant anticlericalism in some scenes is seen (how long I waited for this!) But - and this is a big "but": you simply cannot understand any Rammstein video without knowing at least the gist of the songtext (except "stripped" which is a Depeche Mode cover) - a good part of your interpretations will fail without ... fail (btw.: there are a couple of decent english translations out there (not too much lost in translation etc.). For instance: you speculated that the band possibly wanted to make it easyier for us germans to be proud of germany and all that "patriotic" rubbish - the gist of the song is the plain opposite. btw.: my interpretion of the black Germania: choosing a black german actress as the personification of Germany is a big fat middle finger to the right wing of german society...
The Red Germania in the coffin represents the death of the old Germany and the White is the birth of the new Germany (i know I've oversimplified this the symbolism goes much deeper). Ruby Commey (Germania) is German, born and raised in Berlin, so she herself represents the New Germany.
May I suggest you look at the videos of Electric Callboy, e.g. "Everytime we touch". I strongly believe you will enjoy the camera work, choice of lighting and the gorgeous scenery combined with a little goofy cover of an epic song.
I am a HUGE EC fan! I actually recorded and uploaded my reaction to "We Got The Moves" a few weeks ago but unfortunately it was flagged for copyright for some reason - I am uploading it to my Patreon instead, though I hope it will still be released at some point. I will do Everytime We Touch at some point as well - and I already did a reaction to Any Given Day's Come Whatever May, which was done by the Schillo Bros and their team that also works on the EC videos. Really excellent work. You can find that on my channel - it's a great video and song but for some reason, not getting any views at all!
@@manondereeper That's good news regarding EC and I hope the block is released soon. I didn't know "Any given day" until now so maybe it's simply the video does not come up very often (or I'm living under a stone - also possible). That said Schillo Bros did a really good job there as well - worth a watch even if you don't know the band.
@@daray666 Come on. It‘s not a rude comment. And true: Mrs. de Reeper gets many historical innuendos wrong. And she said she did some research before, there are tons of interpretations available depicting those innuendos. But Ms. de Reeper adds a lot of content out of her expertise as a filmmaker. That is the treasure here to talk about. I enjoyed her perspective regardless of the mislead interpretations she gives.
I'm a German, too. I founded an Anti-fascist group in the 90es. Let me turn around your comment: It's great to see a movie pro analysing this video and seeing so much of German history just from the imagery. What a great reaction video. Thank you. There are some great analysis videos out there that everyone should watch. Even I, researching this subject for all my life, could learn a lot from them. And yes, the part when the Nazis hang the people (as they did my great-uncle and almost my grandpa) is crazy, painful and extreme. But that's what these times WERE. I'm so glad that they showed reality there. Truth should never be forbidden.
The choice of Ruby Commey, a black actress, to portray Germania was likely intentional I would say. Germania is traditionally depicted as the personification of Germany obviously, often associated with ideals of nationalism and historical pride, which you could argue is largely viewed as white. By casting a black woman in this role, the band could be challenging traditional and homogeneous representations of German identity, highlighting the complex and diverse reality of Germany. Especially since this video is a constant mash of present (or future) and past. So I think that much like the red lasers or other elements throughout the video she herself (Germania) is an element out of time taken from the present or future and injected into the past. This choice would underscore ideas of inclusion, colonial history, and the evolution of national identity. It encourages reflection on Germany's past and its implications for its present and future. Or at least that's just my two cents. I realize that this video is six months old. I'm not a Rammstein super fan or anything like that. Just was perplexed by aspects of this particular video for a while much as you were. Though I agree it is a beautifully done video. I also think the lyrics express that there is love but disappointment or even hatred towards instances in history. A sort of ambivalence between love and frustration. So a bit of a mix of praise and critique. Thank you for the video! I really enjoyed it.
It's a very interesting and good Analysis of the Video from you! I hadn't noticed many of the Things you describe before and now they give me a better Understanding! Very good and thank you for your review of the Rammstein Video Germany! 👍 PS: For me it is right if they Show the Swastika, nothing worse than erasing the Past through bans! I also find it bad that Streets, Buildings, Inscriptions etc. in Germany are renamed or removed, a completely wrong way to deal with one's own Past! There is no Black and White, it is so often a Gray! Because then we might as well tear down all the Churches and so on! The Past belongs to Germany and is a Part of it! I agree with you about the black Germania, I also think it's wrong!
The opening scene describes Germany and its atmosphere from the perspective of the Roman Empire. This was reported by Roman expeditionary forces searching for the whereabouts of Varus' legions.
[Refrain/Start] Germany My heart in flames Want to love you, want to damn you Germany Your breath is cold So young And yet so old Germany Germany Your love is a curse and a blessing Germany My love I cannot give to you Germany [Refrain/End] Its all about the love/hate relationship with your own country. We all love our homeland, but at the same time each of our countries has bad moments in history. Unfortunately, in most countries people like to pretend that this never happened. The Movie shows some of the darkest moments of Germany. Not showing the Nazi era would be the real scandal! Yes, it happent; yes it should never happen again; talk about. It is (unfortunately) the artist's job to make sure of that.
To be fair, I think rammstein chose to cast a black woman to make hard for racist people to glorify what is depicted in the clip 😄 Anyways personally as a person who loves history, I can't help my self than loving that video
I think many people here have already provided a lot of additional context that may have flown under your radar, so I'll try not to rehash anything. But you raised the point that perhaps this song and video may be co-opted for more nefarious purposes, and I want to expand on that. I grew up in rural Eastern Germany. After the fall of the wall and subsequent reunification, Neo-Nazism took a noticeable hold in these regions, particularly among young men. There are a multitude of complex reasons for this, but my point is, I grew up surrounded by these people. In fact, my brother got sucked into it for a while. As Rammstein's popularity rose in the late 90s, many Neo-Nazis here took a shine to them. They were, after all, (East) German, sang in German and projected, at least superficially and in their eyes, an image of toughness and manliness. The fact the band had their origins in the Berlin punk scene didn't matter, if they knew at all. Eventually, Rammstein released a song called "Links 2-3-4" in 2001. Set to the common German military marching beat of the same name, it very directly references this and the lyrics talk about how "they want my heart on the right / but then I look down / and it's beating left". It's really not subtle. At all. But the Neo-Nazis didn't care. I quite literally saw some of them mock-marching to it and simply shouting "Right!" when the lyrics said "Left!". The wilful cognitive dissonance of these people knows no bounds, and their connection to reality is often tenuous, at best. "Deutschland", then, is even more explicit in this regard. It's a rejection of blind patriotism that more often than not is rooted in the glorification of some mythical past. The lyrical conclusion is quite literally, "Germany, I cannot give you my love", again lacking any subtlety (and that's not a criticism). Similarly, the casting of a black woman as Germany personified in this video always felt to me like intentional trolling of Neo-Nazis. They'd be the ones to take "offense" at that, for everyone sane, Ruby is just another German. But, and to the question you were raising, similarly to Links 2-3-4 I would absolutely not be surprised if Neo-Nazis still found a way to mentally contort themselves into some twisted understanding of this song and what it says. Because that's simply what these people do, and letting that influence whether or not you take on specific topics or imagery is giving them power they do not deserve. Ultimately, like you said, you cannot control how people interpret the art you create. You cannot stop people from simply selectively using something from your work out of context and misrepresenting it. But taken within its own context, I do believe that "Deutschland" is both well-intentioned and well-executed on those intentions.
I don't see how the swastika is offensive. They show in the pictures of various epochs, but at the heart of the song is this love/hate relationship with their motherland. And the hate-part clearly is the Nazi history of Germany. The lyrics contain that many references to the Nazitimes. All the "Übers", the reference of the national hymn at Nazi times. And on the same time they make cristal clear, that they condamn what happend.
Soo many things you missed. But i think everyone misses things in the video. there is just so much going on, and you can interpreted things differently. ( Which may be another message in itself.) Could "Germania" dressed in white be a reference to the old German empire flag? The Monks feasting on Germania is a reference to the church allowing rich people to pay of thier sins, which eventually led to the Protestant movement. You also see ( for a split second) some French dressed people to the left. Maybe a reference to the constant French invasions? Suprised you didn't know about the Rote Armee Fraction, a left wing terrorist group in the 80's. Personally i think they forgot about one thing: a lot of good things did happen in what is today called Germany. the video and song only seems to express the "bad" thing. Groetjes uit de grensstreek.
..how many movies have the suastica displayed.. And this music-video is intended for international audience.. Is an error hiding History ! ..also, each one has something to be disturbed.. for some people who know nothing about ww2, may be disturbed with dogs, or rats, or if a friend was eaten alive by an animal.. I think this video is genious, and a documentary..But specialy, a History Lesson, that teached and made millions curious to know more..
This is art. Like Edgar Degas mentioned "Art is not about what you can see, but about what you can help others to see." Sorry if I translated parts of it wrong. And of course...art does not have to make anyone feel comfortable. Quite the opposite...if you ask me. Thx
There is a German phrase „The red thread“. The English word for it would be „A common thread“. The red lasers through the whole video should show the common/red thread. Therefore the lasers are red. And it also fits the German flag (Black, red, gold)
I think the band is now at a point, when money doesn't matter much anymore. After all that success and love from their fans, they wanted to leave lasting footmarks in the landscape of (rock)music. It's a quick changing "business", we all know. Ars longa, vita brevis...
hoi, dat de leden van Rammstein Germania gijzelen heeft denk ik te maken met de "Rote Armee Fraktion" te maken die in die tijd Duitsland in gijzeling had.
The symbole with the compass at the beginning of the video it is the symbol of the German Democratic Republic It is the symbol of the German part that was occupied by the Soviet Union after World War II
Rammstein push the truth in this case and others into the light. Intestinal fortitude. Cheers Manon. P. S. Good luck and good fortune for your future in film.
It's not illegal to display the swastika in Germany. It's a little more complicated. It is perfectly legal to show a swastika. If you do it for educational purposes. Or as part of an artistic expression. As in the video clip. What you cannot do is the display of a swastika out of glorification. This, very special case is prohibited, by law. So, you could not - for example - fly a nazi flag in Germany. This would be understood as an incitement to hatred, which is - according to Germany's past - in deed illegal. The german word for this is Volksverhetzung... The incitement to hatred of the people.
You did simultaneously somehow one of the best and worst reactions of this video. ;) You have to acknowledge that there is also a historical context and there is also a song text. ;) And even at 10:42 you see that Germany is gold red and black. And they have chosen a black women to anger the current wannabe-nazis in Germany.
It's simple.... I am a German too. Look at the flag of Germany and these woman: Black, Red, Gold.... You understand more of these "masterpiece"... Pity the german language is in US not important as a another language....
I love very analytic reactions/reviews and sooooo I really love yours! Well done, and never mind those who complain about frequent stopping and thinking. That's what we're here for! :D There surely are a lot of explanations on here and I don't want to repeat much (as a native german), but some little conclusions about the scene from kissing the "head" until giving birth: "Germany" kisses the old roman head ... so this is a bit like getting a new love with the system rome had before ... after the fascism-nazi-time going back to give the power to the people! So Germany got pregnant from this and it fits very well to show her purified (white), with those kinda roman figures and in front of roman colums. The roman senat is still seen as a kind of base or idea for democratic systems. Absolutely well done. Now how and why is she giving birth to a dog (an old and nearly extinct german race)? A closer look shows, the guy in red helping with giving birth is dressed like a member of the german federal constitutional court! Germany is giving birth to old values and the buildup of a strong democratic constitution at that time! And this time leads to a very consequent cleanup with nazitimes and bad values, they become the knights with glowing swords to cleanse themselves and develop to a germany that feels and sees itself as golden and pure like an angel, always a bit too high and pure, still somehow making the people to slaves who love to crawl before her xD Heck I love the symbolism in all that and the more you dig into any detail of this video, the more you understand they really thought over and over every second of it.
There was this right wing politian that critizized in an interview that you hardly see any Germans anymore on the streets. He got quite a backlash since, obviously what he implied is that Germans are supposed to look a certain way (maybe blond, white, blue eyed...). Chossing a black woman as Germany essentialy questions that stereotype. Or more simply put: it is supposed to piss of the nazis.
..the dogs has something to do about a breed alost extint or rare in germany, i think.. First i thought was related to German Shephard..but read something about it..There is on internet a full and extense analysis on everything about this music-video..
..about coffin..yes, don't forget the History, and the future is ahead..depends on us, is probably the message, even though, not always in our control..
Don't be sorry, I like listening to you. The terrorist scene is about the RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion, left-wing extremists). Do you always film slow motion footage in high fps? I think I read somewhere, that it looks smoother when you slow it down, but I'm not sure, but it would make sense. I can promise the new Nightwish video is a little easier to digest. 🙂
In „DEUTSCHLAND“ arbeitet Rammstein die Geschichte Deutschlands auf und zeigt eine innerliche Zerrissenheit, indem sie einerseits eine Zuneigung, aber andererseits auch eine Abneigung gegenüber Deutschland zum Ausdruck bringen. Detailliertere Bedeutungen und Interpretationsansätze können in den Erklärungen der einzelnen Zeilen gefunden werden. Der Song hält uns den Spiegel vor und wir hinsehen müssen Deutschland und seine Geschichte. Wäre vielleicht auch ein super Idee das die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika das selbe tun würden. Ich nenne es Trauma Aufarbeitung.
I'm from Germany and this Video is Germany History from 2000 years..... Germany is a old History is more as 2000 years old in the world I Love my Germany ❤️❤️❤️
Amd only an American would obsess on her being black Without the lyrics you can't understand the full concept. It's about wanting to be proud of your country while living with the knowledge of the horrible things done in the past. It's a dichotomy . You're view seems superficial
I'm not American, I am from The Netherlands (which I point out multiple times throughout the video which I'm guessing you didn't stick around for), I understand German fairly well. Perhaps try to dig a little deeper before you accuse someone else of being superficial. Thanks.
Um das Lied zu verstehen, muss Mann in Sachsenhausen oder Buchenwald gewesen sein. Der Keller in Sachsenhausen sagt alles. Das ist der Grund warum Deutsche nicht stolz auf ihr Land sein können wie andere.
Hello.
I'm from Germany so let me give you some thoughts from someone who's born here. First of all, first time I watched the video I was shocked and deeply moved. The song/ video takes a very deep look into our german souls and how a lot of us feel about our country. The video is loaded with tons of symbols, that as a German you catch onto.
Let's start: in the intro you see Germania ( Personification of Germany) during roman/ germanian tribes time.
The red Lazer represents the "red thread" of the story/ history.
Astronauts from the future bringing Germania in a glass coffin (snow-white) so she can lead through the/her german history. You see a submarine on in the hangar.
Next you observe the twenties(Weimar Republic).The prison scene representing the rough, violent times especially for the majority of the population struggling to survive. Money raining down/ the great depression. And Germany's first try as a democratic state.
In between Germania is dressed in knight's armor awaking her knights/band with the Lazarus spear.
Next Germania is pushed in a wheelchair by the band through the Berlin Holocaust Memorial with burning bodies. (Imagine the statue of liberty being shown like that through the graveyards of native Americans or slaves, or pictures from the colonial era in Indonesia.)
Next vignette the office scene showing east Germany and west Germany reunited (1990).
Then you're being taken back to mideveal times, monks/ church are feasting off of Germania. In most scenes you'll see some church man involved. No coincidence.
The concentration camp scene in the background you see V2 rockets ignition. The inmates are wearing different types of stars on their chests and a sign on the gallows reads: no photos. Germania wears an eye-patch first on her left, than on her right eye.
Than a quick shot of Germania dressed modern with lots of gold leading german shepherds., representing Germany's wealth.
The 70's scene shows the RAF- extremists holding Germania/ Germany hostage.
Next vignette is the witch burnings shifting to the book burning. If you have a close look, at minute 4:45 you see a church man holding up a cross hugging a Nazi, symbolising the churches over all position to the horrific events happening during 1933-1945.
The birth scene. Taking place in Valhalla. Germania is giving birth to dogs respectively "Leonberger" a breed preferred by Kings and Queens. The Breed almost went extinct during WW1 and WW2. A cardinal/ Constitutional judge (dressed in red) dressed in red helping a new Germany being born.
At minute 5:50 you see the riots against refugees homes in the 90's in Hoyerswerda. Molotovs are being thrown and a car is being pushed over with the help of a man dressed in Nazi uniform.
Than the scenes/ time vignettes start shifting faster and faster, showing how many times, when circumstances becoming too extreme everything is falling apart and Germania ( dressed in knight's) armor is crying.
The outro is the piano version of the song "Sonne" which completes how we feel thinking of our past: a sense of sadness.
To sum it up. Germany has a long, wild, violent, unique history, because we as a state of today exist only since 1990. Yet the roots go back a very long time. "Young and yet so old" I hope that helped a little to understand the video and with that us Germans. We don't have a strong feeling of patriotism, but a strong sense of unity.
With love from country of Poets and thinkers.❤
Btw as the others already wrote all allegations have been dropped. Further more it turned out last week that the woman who started this had a very high THC level in her blood. Official police report. This page got "lost" somehow. Also she tried to pull this of with other bands, Metallica being one of them. The german press never had a good word to say on Rammstein.
Thank you so much for this!
Thanks! 👍
Im german as well and agree with everything u´ve said..just want to add that the overall theme of germania holding that head. Its the head of Arminius, a germanic tribe leader who was familiar with the roman state, military tactics and so on..and he is the one hold account to having united the germanic tribes against the roman empire, leading to the big defeat of three roman legions in the Teuteburger forrest.
So he kinda made Germany possible.
That he is shown with Germania holding his head shows, for me at least, how much of the spririt to stay united is lost in the strife of becoming modern germany. Germania in Knights armour is the last time she fights to stay in that kind of state of seperate but united Kingdoms.
And they fought against those who want to unite all in one big country. They lost..and all spirit of the united tribes seem to have gone, soon after that WW1 happend and all went crazy.
She still hold the head tho making sometimes weird stuff with it..just as if germany still cheers up to their past without acting like it. Sry for my bad english btw xDAnd the Black woman, well i dont actually know why they did it, maybe just tp provoke, but maybe its more like why i would use it, and that would be that those german tribes came from alot of different places in europe and beyond..they traded rly rly far around the world..so ppl havent had a problem with other races. So to speak germania can be shown be shown as african german as well ;)
The prison scene..my point of view always was..at that times after ww1 money was worth nothing..so its thown like toilet paper, and thats what u would expect in a prison normally.
With the nazi scene..or overall with the brutality and detail. My point of view is, if u want to show good and bad times, show them as there were and dont sugercoat them. The bad times especially, because that the only way to learn from it. And Germania of course is shown here as well, because the Nazis used here heritage and even older times, as the common believe was with norther mythology, as well. But she is shown once with a Queen-like dress, almost crying wht is happing with her (the country) and then in uniform but with eyepatches, which shows a saying "Auf dem Auge ist sie blind" "she was blind on that eye" depicting imo how the german ppl first havent notized what kind of horrific stuff is gojng on, and after they have realized they, they looked the other way to not getting killed themself.
Hindenburg...the zeppelin, not Brandenburg...
Though BRANDenburg would be very fitting. 😅
Re: Germania - they have said that they cast Ruby Comey because currently there are Black Germans, so why not cast a Black woman to represent Germany? Also, she is often wearing red and gold, so she represents the German flag.
No, its because whole cast are white, and black woman is very contrasting with them - which is helpful, coz all the scenes are chaotic and fast, and u need to be able to find main character (Germania) on the screen very fast. Its basic thing, this filmmaker pretty uneducated
Julietta -- For very conservative people a black Germania is a provocation. It avoids being blamed "nationalistic" by the political left.
@@dbua4748 Bullshit!
38:17 Germania gives birth to the German Leonberger dog breed. A breed that almost died out in WW1 and WW2 because they were used in the war*. Very symbolic for the German people.
*Almost nothing can upset a Leonberger.
Ruby Comney is a German Actress, born in Berlin.
I didn't know this! Someone I know had a Leonberger, his name was Balder and he was the sweetest dog.
and to be called a dog in germany, is a racial slur for Germans ( from mainly people of the turkish culture that live in germany)
This is not what it wa saying. It’s about how Germany producing Dogs As next gen.
I’m a south Asian n even I know most of the history of GERMANY it showing. She called herself a filmmaker here!? Ha ha
I am not trying to be deliberately rude but I got quite frustrated after half of the reaction to which I was really looking forwards due to your specialized skill set.
However - I probably got a glimpse why movies never turn out one way but another, if producers, filmmakers, script writers and historians (or lore keepers) have very different backgrounds and no common ground.
One would wonder that you draw much more reference to your country’s colonialism history and personal experience than actually understanding the German history or even including the lyrics, which are tremendously important (even to better understand some scenes without the historical context, but from the bands emotional perspective).
Black, red, gold is the German flag’s color.
Including a black actress was a brilliant move - it completed the German colors in nearly every shot she is present and it was a signal against modern nazis.
One could stress it might be some association towards the first German genocide against the African Herrera by Germans (apparently a form of early blueprint for later), but compared to rest of Western Europe, Germany’s colonialization history is fairly thin.
Maybe to reach an olive branch - try to put yourself more into the band members shoes. This is not just actors in a random movie production, it’s their point of view on their relationship with Germany.
Last but not least - does the hanging scene has to be in there? YES - Germany has, like no other country in comparison, taken on the role of advocacy to remember the cruelties for the nazi era.
Did the band benefit from the controversy about this scene? Absolutely.
Anecdotal - the eye patch Germany wears is first on the right side (being blind on the right political eye) and then switches to the left to prepare for the same message on the political left, transitioning into the left wing terrorism in Germany. It’s a criticism that Germania, or the state, did not protect the German people from these crimes from either side.
Please try to dig deeper - lyrics, history then the whole production will become even more impressive.
Ого! Никогда не обращал внимания на то, что повязка то на одном глазу, то на другом. Впрочем, ни разу сталкивался с тем, чтобы кто-то из разбиравших это видео обратил внимание на этот нюанс. Спасибо!
@@Nani_torova ;) I also got it from other reactions - we all see more if we look together
@@Birdienamnam07 Absolutely!))
I think Israel probably remembers the Nazi era a bit more keenly. In any case, it is Germany's responsibility to remember the Nazi crimes more than others. It is not a competition.
And, as you find detail important, the people who suffered the genocide in South West Africa were the Herero and Nama.
@@michaelgoetze2103 Because it is not a competition you are trying to make one out of it straight away? Great logic.
Ruby is born in Berlin, Germany and is not blonde with blue eyes. That is why they have chosen her.
You are completely misinformed about Till Lindemann. He has not done anything wrong. Courts found that the papers made it all up. Perhaps you shouldn't comment on things you know nothing about.
yes, unfortunately money and reach often let the facts go under. Rammstein forever❤️❤️❤️
Thats why the woman who made the complaints should be punished by law. Theres still people who believe her unfortunately
@@subway5907that's absolutely right kind of reminds me Jhonny deep vs Amber heard case that was made it up by her otherwise they both deep and till will had to sued back for false accusation because judges found out them both artists cases innocent!!! and almost ruined their career.
Vielleicht solltet ihr eure Idole nicht wie Götter behandeln und die Anschuldigungen gegen Till etwas ernster nehmen, anstatt gleich alles auf MeToo zu schieben und für nichtig zu erklären. Ich sage nicht, dass er schuldig ist und sonst was verbrochen hat, ich finde bloß euren Rammstein-Götterkult sowas von widerlich, weil ihr Till und Co. immer verteidigen werdet, egal wie die Faktenlage aussieht.
Hi, I'm from Germany.
Rammstein is playing a classic "Industrial Metal" style. A 50-50 mix of synthesizers and hard metal guitars.
A big part of the German history in one video. The black woman as Germania. Germania is the personification of the German nation. It isn't and wasn't a goddess or Joan of Arc.
The glass coffin: It is Little Snow White from the Grimm-fairytales....and from their own video "Sonne". Only with black skin and in space.
The piano song at the end is the song "Sonne", too.
The words "Germania Magna" at the beginning are a Roman name for the area of Germany, that wasn't conquered by the Roman Empire at that time.
Germania Superior and Germania Inferior were the Roman conquered areas (Roman provinces) of Germany.
The line in this song "So jung und doch so alt" (So young and yet so old) means:
Germany as a unified state is very young. A unified German nation is only existing from 1871 onwards. Before that year of unification Germany was made of countless, little mini-states and the people identified first and foremost as Prussians, Hessians, Saxons etc, etc, etc. and only in a second line of thought they had a lose sense of being somehow Germans, too, as a kind of unifying second identity.
So the area & the landscape where the Germans are living and the Germans themselves as a people...are thousands of years old. But only recently, in 1871, there was a unified Germany as one single state.
So Germany as a unified state is very young...and at the same time it is thousands of years old.
The battle of the Teutoburg forest against the Romans (and Rammstein as Roman soldiers and Germans alike).
That battle is of ABSOLUTE importance for the German history.
The hanged bodies in the trees were the beaten Roman soldiers, who were gruesome sacrificed to the Germanic gods...and were partly nailed to the trees.
The Varus-(Teutoburg)-Battle was already in 9 AD. In 16 AD were the vengeance campaigns of commanding field general Germanicus under Emperor Tiberius Augustus. Therefore we see here the arrival of the Roman troops of Germanicus and they are watching their dead comrades hanging in the trees or getting their heads chopped off (for nailing them to the trees).
In reality the Romans under Germanicus found only the bones of the Varus army in the various ways they were slaughtered, sacrificed and displayed at the trees. Slaves were liberated even decades after the battle.
After the scenes with the Romans we saw the Hindenburg Zeppelin disaster (the burning Zeppelin in the background).
The moustaches and clothing from the fight scene are from WWI and post WWI years. From the working class people in WWI and the roaring 20's. In the WWII years later on this kind of big bushy moustache was already out of fashion.
The falling banknotes in the prison are not about corruption. That scene is about the hyper-inflation of the 1920's, that took away the savings of the Germans and left them in deep poverty and desperation.
One had to pay a loaf of bread with a handcart full of nearly worthless banknotes back then and it hit the German people deep down inside and in their souls. Especially the poor ones and the simple workers.
The V2 rocket (first manmade object in space) as technical triumph of the German spirit...and at the same time the killing of the concentration camp prisoners in the bunker factories below the mountains during the production of that rocket.
This scene in the video could be a representation of a very specific concentration camp. It was "Mittelbau-Dora" below the Kohnstein mountain.
A mixture between a big, huge bunker factory for V1 and V2 rockets and a concentration camp.
The concentration camp inmates had several different markings for different kinds of convicts and their "crimes" sown to their chests, like it was in reality, too. A pink triangle for homosexuals, the star of David for Jews and two of them were marked with the double-triangles for Jehovas Whitnesses.
The book burnings of the Nazis and the burning of the witches of the church. In the same scene with the book burning there is EVEN MORE going on. The cooperation of the church with the Nazis, when the priest with the cross embraces the Nazi SA-man.
The scene with the sign with the Hammer and a pair of compasses in a circle of wheat is the sign of the GDR (DDR). The socialist German state in the east that existed before the German reunification.
Therefore it was Karl Marx in the background in the scene with the tank (not the scene at the concentration camp).
The scene with Rammstein wielding guns (the pumpgun) and taking Germania hostage was about leftwing terrorism of the 1970's. The terrorists were called the RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion).
My interpretation of the red scanner-like beams: There are two different kinds of beams. The massive straight red light beam that goes up into the heavens AND there were those smaller, thinner "scanner" beams.
Aliens (or humans from the future) are scanning the whole German history. Like some real scientists are scanning and excarvating ancient Mexican or Egyptian statues, for example.
The massive red light beam is the red ribbon of time that ties together all the historical events.
PS: As for the dogs: Germans are fanatical dog lovers. We are a dog-owner nation. The dog is a firm part of Germany.
PPS: They didn't eat the body of the woman and her inner organs, even if it really looked that way. They were eating the national dish of Germany, that was put on the body of the black woman: Sauerkraut, Kassler & sausages.
In my opinion it symbolizes the church eating itself fat on the goods and values and food of Germany during the simple people (farmers, simple workers etc) lived a long time in a kind of hell of poverty and serfdom (the red fetish area below the table with Germania on it).
But that eating scene could indeed have a double meaning. It could represent the 30 years war, that was fought for religious reasons and depopulated large areas of Germany. It forced the people to commit canibalism because nobody was there anymore to produce food. Except the fat, wealthy people of the church, of course. They were still able to eat enough. Only the simple people at the bottom (farmers etc) died from hunger and had to fight and die in that war.
The 30 years war was the biggest catastrophe in Germany until WWI happened.
PPPS: The short scene with the dogs and their gas masks = WWI, where in reality animals (messenger dogs & horses) AND soldiers were wearing gas masks, too.
PPPPS: The puppies at the end are Leonberger dogs. The Leonbergers nearly went extinct during WWI and WWII.
PPPPPS: The black woman in the prison was dressed in a Prussian uniform with a Prussian helmet.
Till sings the famous, often misinterpreted, line of the "Deutschlandlied" (Song of the Germans), that is not forbidden in Germany but simply isn't sung anymore in our modern national anthem.
Till sings in his version the line "Deutschland über allen" (Germany above everybody) What is a BIG change to the real line in the orginal Deutschlandlied-song. In the original Deutschlandlied song it is written as "Deutschland über alles" (Germany above everything).
The real, whole line of that old Deutschlandlied goes "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles. Über alles in der Welt" (Germany, Germany above everything. Above everything in the world).
This line is often misinterpreted by many people as chauvinism and as a looking down upon all other countries on this planet. But that is wrong and not many people know about that in Germany and elsewhere.
The writer of that famous line didn't meant it in a chauvinistic way.
When that song was written, Germany was divided into umphteenth mini-states, what made Germany relative powerless and defenseless. Therefore the task of German unification was the goal above any other goal for all Germans (at least the writer of the song meant it that way).
So the main goal for all Germans had to be the united Germany. The goal of "(united) Germany above everything else".
That was, how that line was meant by the writer of the song.
The line isn't forbidden, like many people wrongly think. It's simply not sung anymore and not part of the official anthem of modern Germany anymore.
This has NOT its reason in the seemingly chauvinist meaning of "Deutschland über alles", like many people wrongly think. This whole stanza of the Deutschlandlied isn't sung anymore, because in other parts of the stanza are borders and landscapes mentioned, that aren't German borders and landscapes anymore.
We want to live in peace with the people and countries, who are now living in those former German lands and therefore we don't sing about those old borders and landscapes anymore.
It has nothing to do with the "Deutschland über alles" line in that stanza, like many people wrongly are thinking.
Finally:
The scenes I'm now talking about are pretty dark and low light. The WWII submarine in the submarine bunker during the astronauts are walking by with the glass coffin.
I think, the choice of the black woman as main actress was made, because:
a) it makes any accusations of racism and fascism against Rammstein useless
b) she represents one colour of the German flag and she is wearing the rest of the colours of our German flag as makeup and jewellery and clothes on her body: Black, Red and Gold
c) it provokes many people EVEN MORE 😄
Greetings
Mega
PS: RUclips didn't allow me to integrate this information into the bigger text (above) for unknown reasons, therefore I'm posting it here:
The troops, who smashed the Jewish shops during the Kristallnacht (not shown in the video) were SA (Sturmabteilung) in brown uniform and not the later SS (Schutzstaffel) in the black uniform. The SA did all the dirty work at the beginning of the Nazi rise to power...until the "Night of the long knives", an inner-Nazi power struggle, happened. The head of the SA (Ernst Röhm) was killed and from then on the SA was turned more and more into the SS under Himmler.
The book burnings were part of the early Nazi years, too, and were done by the SA, too. One can see the SA burning the books and Till is watching it in a brown SA uniform.
Both, Kristallnacht and book burnings were different things and happened at different times. The book burnings happened over a longer timespan at different locations at different times during the Kristallnacht was one big "event" that happened at one single day.
Kristallnacht means "Crystal Night" and was called that way, because the smashed shop windows of the Jewish shops looked like thousands of crystals on the ground. But in the Rammstein video I've only seen the book burnings.
PPS:
The two beer drinking soldiers to the left side of the table, where Germania is lying on and where the priests are eating Sauerkraut & Sausages from her body, are not French soldiers and they aren't representing the French revolution. Those two beer drinking soldiers are Prussian soldiers and they are emphasizing the importance of Prussia for the German history.
As far as I could see: They were from the era of Friedrich der Große (The Old Fritz), who was of extraordinary importance for German history. Amongst many other achievements he was the one, who brought the potato to Prussia and Germany. That saved many Germans from hunger and the potato became one of the most beloved foods in Germany on that way.
PPPS: The name Rammstein comes from the German town Ramstein (with one "m"). There is an US-airbase and there happened a big, tragic airshow disaster, when two jets collided and fell into the audience.
Therefore all the flames and the burning coat during the song Rammstein and all the fire in their shows in general. But that rather tasteless name and the negative press echo were too much even for Rammstein. So they changed their name later in Rammstein, what indeed means "battering stone".
They delivered a half assed explanation for it decades ago. I've forgotten, what they said. A fact is, that they called themselves after that town and that airshow disaster. Probably for provocation purposes.
Their old song "Rammstein" even tells in other words the story of that disaster and it tells about a fine day with a warm shining sun...and burning people.
Neue Deutsche Härte was always a pretty unsatisfying new name for the music they made mainly: Industrial or Industrial Metal/Rock.
This was an amazing choice for you and your channel. loads of production and loads of symbolism. I enjoyed listening and learning and I'm glad you chose to post it!!!
Glad you enjoyed it Doug!
@@manondereeper And also congratulations on your courage to do so. There are quite some people out there being super sensitive because of the subject and given that Rammstein always leaves us with so many ways to interpret their lyrics and videos chances are you'll get some not so nice comments from people who think they know exactly what the artists thought. There were Germans reacting and analyzing this piece and I remember one claiming he watched it for at least a dozen times and still discovered something new which may twist the impression of a certain scene again.
@@nothingTVatYT I appreciate that more than you could know!
@23:1! Throwing money at the prisoners because the prisoners made the money worthless due to hyperinflation.
If they had left out the concentration camp scene, the scandal would have been much bigger - and rightly so.
Best reaction ever! Thx for sharing!
Ruby Comey is portraying Angela Davis in the GDR scene (timestamp 17:39). In the same scene, Oliver Riedel is portraying Sigmund Jähn. (September 1972)
Regarding your question, why Germania is black. For one, representing the diversity of my country. Many cultures are living here from all over the world.
2nd our flag is black, red and gold and she's always shown in these tree colours.
And 3rd to piss of the racists in my country. Which is me favorite reason, why they chose her.
And she's beautiful.
Sehe ich ziemlich ähnlich. Vor allem deinen dritten Punkt! FCK AFD!
Leider stimmt nicht ein Grund, warum Germania schwarz ist.🤣
@@Forfex Na, dann erleuchte mich mal mit deiner Weisheit.
@@spring_in_paris das hat nichts mit Weisheit zutun, sondern mit Bildung. Und ich übernehme nicht deinen Job. Bilde dich also selbst weiter
@@Forfex ja Schade. Dachte eigentlich immer, dass wir Fans uns untereinander mit Informationen gegenseitig helfen. Deine Interpretation hätte mich interessiert.
Shes not shown as a nazi.
Shes Germany.
In my opinion the swastika was necessary part of them expressing their disagreenment with nazis!!🇫🇮
I read they chose a black woman to piss off the right wing. But maybe that was just a side effect. Personally, I'd also like to think it happened because our ancestors were all black at one time, although not anymore at this time. Nevertheless.
Greetings from Berlin.
Not so long before this video came out there were news covering one of the oldest human remains found in England from which the DNA could be sequenced and - of course - he had dark skin. In one documentary they interviewed people showing them what the man could have looked like and most if not all where like 'yeah, that makes sense' which was refreshing as (finally) most people depicted were on the scientific side. Of course such a display of some people being asked is always biased but nevertheless I enjoyed that the film makers put that in. When I first watched the Deutschland music video I was reminded to that and felt happy they haven't followed the big blonde blue-eyed trope that especially the 3rd Reich pushed so much.
A main reason is, that it’s fits the German flag. Black skin, red lips and a golden armor. Sometimes golden necklaces or something else. But the combination is pretty dominant.
Sorry, me again.
The scene with Germania in Prussian uniform, marching, smiling broadly in the prison scene in the Weimar era symbolizes that the royalists continued to exercise their power almost unhindered during this time and later helped bring the Nazi regime to power.
On the ring it reads Spectre, a little petitesse from the director.
17:35 This is not a Russian cosmonaut, this is the first cosmonaut of the GDR Sigmund Jen.
Jähn
Your appreciation of the filming was nice but historically and band wise you lacked quite a bit .The Brindemburg? Everyone knows or should know about the Hindenburg.. smh...
Thank you for your great reaction video.
18:21 nothing about religion - look at the french soldiers. a very formative time for the Germans at that time
at 34:25 , there's a juxtaposition of witch burnings and book burnings ... I'm guessing this is a reference to Heinrich Heine who said, Dort, wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.
Many Rammstein videos are difficult to interpret, "Deutschland" is by far the hardest. The knowledge of average history classes in German schools is not enough to understand all the allusions.
I recommend the song and video "Zeit" (with lyrics in a language you understand). The key message is all humans have to die, but what happens then? Probably the best Rammstein clip after Deutschland. Just one hint: A prominent role play three figures in black clothes without faces. The represent the Norns of the Germanic mythology, three goddesses called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Past, Present and Future). Their main task is to water and protect the Tree of Life, so that life on earth never ends. They have the power to decide about the life span of humans. Have a look, maybe you like the cinematic aspects as much as I do.
Thanks for your reaction video. Trying to interpret the Deutschland video without knowing a lot of German history is quite difficult and will lead you often to the wrong path. For instance, the DDR scene is quite clear not only because of the hammer and compass symbol but also the clothes. The fighting scene in a jail with the money thrown around is an innuendo of the hyper inflation and fighting of the 1920ies. It has nothing to do with privatization of prisons. The hanging scene in the concretion camp refers to Germans (or Nazi Germans) this is part of Germany's history. The part of some Rammstein members in drag refers to the Rote Armee Fraction (RAF, a former left-extreme terror organization) that kidnapped Hans-Martin Schleyer (then president of the German BDI, an umbrella organization of German industry lobbying organizations). Prominent members of the RAF were women.
Also, as others mentioned, Germania being played by Ruby Comey is a good choice. Black, red and golden as the current national colors of Germany. Moreover, black, white and red are the colors of the second German Empire (1871-1918) and Nazi Germany. So having a dark skinned Germania makes sense.
Most worthy reaction of the music video. Thank you. *applause*
Very interessting comment! You have to do "Zeit". By far the best muicvideo ever made. A visual masterpiece!!!!!
The Bunker / Factory / Zeppelin scenes were shot at Kalkwerk Rüdersdorf near Berlin which is a well known film location.
Almost the whole "Movie" is coverd in the colors "Black, Red, Gold" ... the colors of the german flag... Sometimes the "Gold" was made with fire, sometimes with sparks, ...
I really like your comments.
Rarely people use so kind words and concentrate on setup, scenes.
Thumbs up.
Thank you and I'm so glad you liked it!
Look to the colors: the german Flag is black red gold. Now look to the black woman and the colors in costumes. She presents germania and the colors of her shows the flag colors
Rammstein loves details
38:18 Many still dont understand what this scene means. This dog breed was practically exterminated in Germany, but after WWII the Germans were able to save them. With this scene, Rammstein hopes that Germany and the Germans will not disappear as an ethnic group, that they will be able to survive difficult times.
I loved your reaction, I learned a lot today and noticed many details I never saw before despite having watched this video so often.
Regarding the many questions you raised about the symbolisms and depictions of historical topics, I could either make this comment a page long essay, or I could link you this fantastic analysis video by Three Arrows. He provides a LOT of historical context, digs into the lyrics (which are often VERY important for the understanding of a Rammstein song), and even connects some of the messaging to the past of the band members, who were part of the underground punk scene in former East Germany and even subject to arrests and observation by the secret police STASI.
He also offers a plausible hypothesis for the casting of a black woman as Germania. ruclips.net/video/sc-euVL8xQs/видео.html
What I find very interesting in hindsight is that the visual style and the red lights and lasers also feature very prominently in the song "Adieu". Given that "Deutschland" was the first song of the 2019 album "Rammstein" and "Adieu" is the closing song of the 2022 album "Zeit", for me this hints at these two songs being connected on a deeper level which I still haven't quite worked out. It definitley creats some kind of bracket between the albums.
There are also many more or less hidden references to previous songs and videos distributed throughout the video. Very prominent is the scene at 40:40, where you can see the angel wings Till wore for performances of "Engel" e.g. at the concert in Madison Square Garden, while the band crawling on all fours is a refence to the official video to "Mein Teil".
Thanks so much for your enthusiasm Andy! I'm glad you enjoyed it. And you're right, this could easily turn into a book's worth of academic analysis lol. Which I'm wondering if anyone's done that! Thanks so much for sharing that video, I'm definitely going to check it out!
@@Andy_from_de Absolutely love that they put in so many references to their other work!
I 2nd the Three Arrows video. I also had some concerns about the song like her. That video is a fantastic deconstruction of the song/video and their meaning.
@@manondereeper I'd curious to see if your perception of the band and of the song changed after watching it.
6 mio dollars for the film? That is why they say: "Wir nehmen wenig, geben viel (we take little, give much) in their song Rammlied.
Ah... by the way. The ring shows the word "Specter"... Specter Berlin is the company that was the video director. So it's just a little gimmic and acknowledgement for them ;)
Intro is the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
It is not. That took place in 9 AD, while it clearly says 16 AD in the video. Teutoburg wasn't the only place in Germania where the Romans got defeated. But in 16 AD they actually gave up on trying to conquer Germania Magna.
@@Andy_from_de In 16 AD the Romans actually inflicted a heavy defeat on the Germanic tribes in revenge for Teutoburg. This video, after all, concentrates on German disasters. The Romans did concluded that the benefits of expanding beyond the Rhine was not worth the costs.
All bandmembers were born and raised in the GDR.
They're the BEST ! ..and Till is an easy target..specialy for gold diggers.. Even on one documentary of early days, on tape, one woman gets into the shower with one of them..they invite themselves.(..Not anymore, but..).. The best worldwide band in the World! I was never, a "band" oriented guy, or had a favorite, but for all their history...borning in DDR, living it all.. ..I am portuguese, but i was borned and lived in Hamburg, until i was 9 yrs old.. I remember exactly first time i heard them, and where i was.. But at the time internet was not a thing, to search them.. My irst song i heard was "Feuer Frei".. They are fantastic ! They came to Portugal last year, but i am since 2014, T2 paraplegic, and was not possible to go..and their lifespan is coming to an end..But man..I hear almost every day, a song or more of them..What a band, either music-videos, or live shows.. Incredible !
Have you done Sabaton - 1916 Motorhead cover?
Not yet! You can find my reactions to Bismarck and Soldier of Heaven on my channel though!
Look it Ruby Comey: She and the sets are always black, red and gold….the colors of the German flag….if you want to know details about the different time periods shown, watch Three Arrows description of the facts and symbolism behind every scene😊
In the scene with nazis hanging the people, Germania is wearing a eye-patch over her left eye, so she can only see with the "right"-one. and an additional neck-brace, to keep her head up, like she couldn´t do it on her own...
I like your reaction: the most in-depth analysis I have seen so far; I have seen this video a couple of time now and still there were things to learn for me - and this is the first reaction were the blatant anticlericalism in some scenes is seen (how long I waited for this!)
But - and this is a big "but": you simply cannot understand any Rammstein video without knowing at least the gist of the songtext (except "stripped" which is a Depeche Mode cover) - a good part of your interpretations will fail without ... fail (btw.: there are a couple of decent english translations out there (not too much lost in translation etc.).
For instance: you speculated that the band possibly wanted to make it easyier for us germans to be proud of germany and all that "patriotic" rubbish - the gist of the song is the plain opposite.
btw.: my interpretion of the black Germania: choosing a black german actress as the personification of Germany is a big fat middle finger to the right wing of german society...
The Red Germania in the coffin represents the death of the old Germany and the White is the birth of the new Germany (i know I've oversimplified this the symbolism goes much deeper).
Ruby Commey (Germania) is German, born and raised in Berlin, so she herself represents the New Germany.
May I suggest you look at the videos of Electric Callboy, e.g. "Everytime we touch". I strongly believe you will enjoy the camera work, choice of lighting and the gorgeous scenery combined with a little goofy cover of an epic song.
I am a HUGE EC fan! I actually recorded and uploaded my reaction to "We Got The Moves" a few weeks ago but unfortunately it was flagged for copyright for some reason - I am uploading it to my Patreon instead, though I hope it will still be released at some point. I will do Everytime We Touch at some point as well - and I already did a reaction to Any Given Day's Come Whatever May, which was done by the Schillo Bros and their team that also works on the EC videos. Really excellent work. You can find that on my channel - it's a great video and song but for some reason, not getting any views at all!
@@manondereeper That's good news regarding EC and I hope the block is released soon.
I didn't know "Any given day" until now so maybe it's simply the video does not come up very often (or I'm living under a stone - also possible). That said Schillo Bros did a really good job there as well - worth a watch even if you don't know the band.
@@nothingTVatYT I saw them live at Graspop in Belgium last year, they were pretty great!! I guess they just don't have similar popularity/renown.
i guess the 80's scene with the "terrorist " poster is a referal to the R.A.F ( Rote Arme Fraction ) in the 70's and 80's .. thats my best guess
25:37 it’s not illegal if it’s in Satire or Documentary context …
You can't react to this video, when you have no knowledge of German history. But thanks for the try. You got so many things wrong.
You can‘t make a polite comment, when you aren’t a decent human being. But thanks for the try. You got so many things wrong.
@@daray666 I am German, I am too direct to be polite. ;)
@@miztazed🇩🇪
@@daray666
Come on. It‘s not a rude comment. And true: Mrs. de Reeper gets many historical innuendos wrong. And she said she did some research before, there are tons of interpretations available depicting those innuendos.
But Ms. de Reeper adds a lot of content out of her expertise as a filmmaker. That is the treasure here to talk about. I enjoyed her perspective regardless of the mislead interpretations she gives.
I'm a German, too. I founded an Anti-fascist group in the 90es. Let me turn around your comment: It's great to see a movie pro analysing this video and seeing so much of German history just from the imagery. What a great reaction video. Thank you. There are some great analysis videos out there that everyone should watch. Even I, researching this subject for all my life, could learn a lot from them. And yes, the part when the Nazis hang the people (as they did my great-uncle and almost my grandpa) is crazy, painful and extreme. But that's what these times WERE. I'm so glad that they showed reality there. Truth should never be forbidden.
Very good analysis 👍
The choice of Ruby Commey, a black actress, to portray Germania was likely intentional I would say.
Germania is traditionally depicted as the personification of Germany obviously, often associated with ideals of nationalism and historical pride, which you could argue is largely viewed as white. By casting a black woman in this role, the band could be challenging traditional and homogeneous representations of German identity, highlighting the complex and diverse reality of Germany.
Especially since this video is a constant mash of present (or future) and past. So I think that much like the red lasers or other elements throughout the video she herself (Germania) is an element out of time taken from the present or future and injected into the past.
This choice would underscore ideas of inclusion, colonial history, and the evolution of national identity. It encourages reflection on Germany's past and its implications for its present and future. Or at least that's just my two cents.
I realize that this video is six months old. I'm not a Rammstein super fan or anything like that. Just was perplexed by aspects of this particular video for a while much as you were. Though I agree it is a beautifully done video.
I also think the lyrics express that there is love but disappointment or even hatred towards instances in history. A sort of ambivalence between love and frustration. So a bit of a mix of praise and critique.
Thank you for the video! I really enjoyed it.
It's a very interesting and good Analysis of the Video from you!
I hadn't noticed many of the Things you describe before and now they give me a better Understanding!
Very good and thank you for your review of the Rammstein Video Germany! 👍
PS:
For me it is right if they Show the Swastika, nothing worse than erasing the Past through bans!
I also find it bad that Streets, Buildings, Inscriptions etc. in Germany are renamed or removed, a completely wrong way to deal with one's own Past!
There is no Black and White, it is so often a Gray!
Because then we might as well tear down all the Churches and so on!
The Past belongs to Germany and is a Part of it!
I agree with you about the black Germania, I also think it's wrong!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for sharing your perspective! 😁
The opening scene describes Germany and its atmosphere from the perspective of the Roman Empire. This was reported by Roman expeditionary forces searching for the whereabouts of Varus' legions.
[Refrain/Start]
Germany
My heart in flames
Want to love you, want to damn you
Germany
Your breath is cold
So young
And yet so old
Germany
Germany
Your love is a curse and a blessing
Germany
My love I cannot give to you
Germany
[Refrain/End]
Its all about the love/hate relationship with your own country. We all love our homeland, but at the same time each of our countries has bad moments in history. Unfortunately, in most countries people like to pretend that this never happened.
The Movie shows some of the darkest moments of Germany. Not showing the Nazi era would be the real scandal! Yes, it happent; yes it should never happen again; talk about. It is (unfortunately) the artist's job to make sure of that.
An important part that is overlooked is the Colour Palette for the video:
Black
Red
Gold
The colours of the modern German Flag.
To be fair, I think rammstein chose to cast a black woman to make hard for racist people to glorify what is depicted in the clip 😄
Anyways personally as a person who loves history, I can't help my self than loving that video
I think many people here have already provided a lot of additional context that may have flown under your radar, so I'll try not to rehash anything.
But you raised the point that perhaps this song and video may be co-opted for more nefarious purposes, and I want to expand on that.
I grew up in rural Eastern Germany. After the fall of the wall and subsequent reunification, Neo-Nazism took a noticeable hold in these regions, particularly among young men. There are a multitude of complex reasons for this, but my point is, I grew up surrounded by these people. In fact, my brother got sucked into it for a while.
As Rammstein's popularity rose in the late 90s, many Neo-Nazis here took a shine to them. They were, after all, (East) German, sang in German and projected, at least superficially and in their eyes, an image of toughness and manliness. The fact the band had their origins in the Berlin punk scene didn't matter, if they knew at all.
Eventually, Rammstein released a song called "Links 2-3-4" in 2001. Set to the common German military marching beat of the same name, it very directly references this and the lyrics talk about how "they want my heart on the right / but then I look down / and it's beating left". It's really not subtle. At all.
But the Neo-Nazis didn't care. I quite literally saw some of them mock-marching to it and simply shouting "Right!" when the lyrics said "Left!". The wilful cognitive dissonance of these people knows no bounds, and their connection to reality is often tenuous, at best.
"Deutschland", then, is even more explicit in this regard. It's a rejection of blind patriotism that more often than not is rooted in the glorification of some mythical past. The lyrical conclusion is quite literally, "Germany, I cannot give you my love", again lacking any subtlety (and that's not a criticism). Similarly, the casting of a black woman as Germany personified in this video always felt to me like intentional trolling of Neo-Nazis. They'd be the ones to take "offense" at that, for everyone sane, Ruby is just another German.
But, and to the question you were raising, similarly to Links 2-3-4 I would absolutely not be surprised if Neo-Nazis still found a way to mentally contort themselves into some twisted understanding of this song and what it says. Because that's simply what these people do, and letting that influence whether or not you take on specific topics or imagery is giving them power they do not deserve.
Ultimately, like you said, you cannot control how people interpret the art you create. You cannot stop people from simply selectively using something from your work out of context and misrepresenting it.
But taken within its own context, I do believe that "Deutschland" is both well-intentioned and well-executed on those intentions.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts here so eloquently and for giving me (and us) more context. This all actually makes so much sense!
I don't see how the swastika is offensive. They show in the pictures of various epochs, but at the heart of the song is this love/hate relationship with their motherland. And the hate-part clearly is the Nazi history of Germany. The lyrics contain that many references to the Nazitimes. All the "Übers", the reference of the national hymn at Nazi times. And on the same time they make cristal clear, that they condamn what happend.
Soo many things you missed. But i think everyone misses things in the video. there is just so much going on, and you can interpreted things differently. ( Which may be another message in itself.)
Could "Germania" dressed in white be a reference to the old German empire flag?
The Monks feasting on Germania is a reference to the church allowing rich people to pay of thier sins, which eventually led to the Protestant movement.
You also see ( for a split second) some French dressed people to the left. Maybe a reference to the constant French invasions?
Suprised you didn't know about the Rote Armee Fraction, a left wing terrorist group in the 80's.
Personally i think they forgot about one thing: a lot of good things did happen in what is today called Germany. the video and song only seems to express the "bad" thing.
Groetjes uit de grensstreek.
..how many movies have the suastica displayed.. And this music-video is intended for international audience.. Is an error hiding History ! ..also, each one has something to be disturbed.. for some people who know nothing about ww2, may be disturbed with dogs, or rats, or if a friend was eaten alive by an animal.. I think this video is genious, and a documentary..But specialy, a History Lesson, that teached and made millions curious to know more..
This is art. Like Edgar Degas mentioned "Art is not about what you can see, but about what you can help others to see." Sorry if I translated parts of it wrong.
And of course...art does not have to make anyone feel comfortable. Quite the opposite...if you ask me. Thx
more Rammstein,please. Music Video - Zeit, Angst, Adiue
There is a German phrase „The red thread“. The English word for it would be „A common thread“. The red lasers through the whole video should show the common/red thread. Therefore the lasers are red. And it also fits the German flag (Black, red, gold)
We have the same phrase in Dutch! Nice.
I think the band is now at a point, when money doesn't matter much anymore. After all that success and love from their fans, they wanted to leave lasting footmarks in the landscape of (rock)music. It's a quick changing "business", we all know.
Ars longa, vita brevis...
No doggy here, she gave birth to a boar, and not to a baby boar, but a bit bigger.
hoi, dat de leden van Rammstein Germania gijzelen heeft denk ik te maken met de "Rote Armee Fraktion" te maken die in die tijd Duitsland in gijzeling had.
The symbole with the compass at the beginning of the video it is the symbol of the German Democratic Republic
It is the symbol of the German part that was occupied by the Soviet Union after World War II
Rammstein push the truth in this case and others into the light. Intestinal fortitude. Cheers Manon. P. S. Good luck and good fortune for your future in film.
Thank you, I appreciate it!
It's not illegal to display the swastika in Germany.
It's a little more complicated.
It is perfectly legal to show a swastika. If you do it for educational purposes. Or as part of an artistic expression. As in the video clip.
What you cannot do is the display of a swastika out of glorification.
This, very special case is prohibited, by law. So, you could not - for example - fly a nazi flag in Germany.
This would be understood as an incitement to hatred, which is - according to Germany's past - in deed illegal.
The german word for this is Volksverhetzung... The incitement to hatred of the people.
You did simultaneously somehow one of the best and worst reactions of this video. ;)
You have to acknowledge that there is also a historical context and there is also a song text. ;)
And even at 10:42 you see that Germany is gold red and black. And they have chosen a black women to anger the current wannabe-nazis in Germany.
The red laser is the red line through the story. It´s been in another song too!
It's simple.... I am a German too. Look at the flag of Germany and these woman: Black, Red, Gold....
You understand more of these "masterpiece"... Pity the german language is in US not important as a another language....
I love very analytic reactions/reviews and sooooo I really love yours! Well done, and never mind those who complain about frequent stopping and thinking. That's what we're here for! :D
There surely are a lot of explanations on here and I don't want to repeat much (as a native german), but some little conclusions about the scene from kissing the "head" until giving birth:
"Germany" kisses the old roman head ... so this is a bit like getting a new love with the system rome had before ... after the fascism-nazi-time going back to give the power to the people! So Germany got pregnant from this and it fits very well to show her purified (white), with those kinda roman figures and in front of roman colums. The roman senat is still seen as a kind of base or idea for democratic systems. Absolutely well done.
Now how and why is she giving birth to a dog (an old and nearly extinct german race)? A closer look shows, the guy in red helping with giving birth is dressed like a member of the german federal constitutional court! Germany is giving birth to old values and the buildup of a strong democratic constitution at that time!
And this time leads to a very consequent cleanup with nazitimes and bad values, they become the knights with glowing swords to cleanse themselves and develop to a germany that feels and sees itself as golden and pure like an angel, always a bit too high and pure, still somehow making the people to slaves who love to crawl before her xD
Heck I love the symbolism in all that and the more you dig into any detail of this video, the more you understand they really thought over and over every second of it.
Thanks so much for your kind words! And thanks for sharing your interpretations and additions to the analysis as well, I love it!
The "doctor" in red is a judge at the Federal Constitutional Court, they wear those red robes.
There was this right wing politian that critizized in an interview that you hardly see any Germans anymore on the streets. He got quite a backlash since, obviously what he implied is that Germans are supposed to look a certain way (maybe blond, white, blue eyed...). Chossing a black woman as Germany essentialy questions that stereotype. Or more simply put: it is supposed to piss of the nazis.
Naja. Wem es gefällt, dass zunehmend Syrer und Afghanen in Deutschland die Mehrheit stellen, ist damit sicher glücklich.
ABSOLUTELY AMAZING Nightwish - Perfume of the Timeless
Coming soon!
@@manondereeper 🥰
Я вообще не придал значения актерам и как они выглядят за рамками сюжета. Да, черная, но какая разница, важен образ в рамках сюжета.
..the dogs has something to do about a breed alost extint or rare in germany, i think.. First i thought was related to German Shephard..but read something about it..There is on internet a full and extense analysis on everything about this music-video..
..about coffin..yes, don't forget the History, and the future is ahead..depends on us, is probably the message, even though, not always in our control..
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I can imagine that the video for "Adieu" was a bit more expensive.
so... As bor with RAMMSTEIN1 i have to say.... 1 Song and u make a Movie...
It is fascinating to make a video about german history without knowing a single thing about - german history :-D
Don't be sorry, I like listening to you. The terrorist scene is about the RAF (Rote Armee Fraktion, left-wing extremists). Do you always film slow motion footage in high fps? I think I read somewhere, that it looks smoother when you slow it down, but I'm not sure, but it would make sense. I can promise the new Nightwish video is a little easier to digest. 🙂
And we are in the 70s there, Till probably dressed as Ulrike Meinhof, one of the leaders of the RAF at that time.
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Why a black woman? Because it symbolizes that Germany is a single contradiction.
In „DEUTSCHLAND“ arbeitet Rammstein die Geschichte Deutschlands auf und zeigt eine innerliche Zerrissenheit, indem sie einerseits eine Zuneigung, aber andererseits auch eine Abneigung gegenüber Deutschland zum Ausdruck bringen. Detailliertere Bedeutungen und Interpretationsansätze können in den Erklärungen der einzelnen Zeilen gefunden werden.
Der Song hält uns den Spiegel vor und wir hinsehen müssen Deutschland und seine Geschichte.
Wäre vielleicht auch ein super Idee das die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika das selbe tun würden.
Ich nenne es Trauma Aufarbeitung.
The Kosmonaut represent Yuri Gargarin. The first Person in the Space
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I'm from Germany and this Video is Germany History from 2000 years..... Germany is a old History is more as 2000 years old in the world
I Love my Germany ❤️❤️❤️
You should learn about the swastika On this subject the Nazis did not invent anything
Amd only an American would obsess on her being black Without the lyrics you can't understand the full concept. It's about wanting to be proud of your country while living with the knowledge of the horrible things done in the past. It's a dichotomy . You're view seems superficial
I'm not American, I am from The Netherlands (which I point out multiple times throughout the video which I'm guessing you didn't stick around for), I understand German fairly well. Perhaps try to dig a little deeper before you accuse someone else of being superficial. Thanks.
@@manondereeper Good reply. 👍
oh you´re so American :D
Except I'm not though :D
Um das Lied zu verstehen, muss Mann in Sachsenhausen oder Buchenwald gewesen sein.
Der Keller in Sachsenhausen sagt alles.
Das ist der Grund warum Deutsche nicht stolz auf ihr Land sein können wie andere.
Хоспадеее...сколько водыыыы, повторяет сказанное х3 раза, душно, откройте форточку
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