Neue Deutsche Welle

{{short description|Genre of German rock music}} {{About|the musical genre|the Fler album|Neue Deutsche Welle (album)}} {{distinguish|Deutsche Welle}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2010}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox music genre | name = Neue Deutsche Welle | native_name = | etymology = | other_names = | image = | alt = | caption = | stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[New wave music|New wave]]|[[post-punk]]|[[synth-pop]]|[[Schlager music|schlager]]|[[krautrock]]}} | cultural_origins = Late 1970s, [[West Germany]] | instruments = {{hlist|Electric guitar|drums|bass|keyboard}} | derivatives = | subgenres = | subgenrelist = | fusiongenres = | regional_scenes = | local_scenes = | other_topics = {{hlist|[[New wave music|New wave]]|[[Rock music in Germany|German rock]]|[[Music of Germany|German music]]|[[Neue Deutsche Härte]]}} | current_year = }}

'''Neue Deutsche Welle''' ('''NDW''', {{IPA|de|ˈnɔʏə ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈvɛlə|pron}}, "new German wave") is a [[Music genre|genre]] of [[German rock music|West German rock music]] originally derived from [[post-punk]] and [[New wave music|new wave]] with electronic influences.<ref>Nancy Kilpatrick, ''The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined'', New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, chapter 5, "Music of the Macabre," p. 84.</ref> The term was coined by Dutch radio DJ Frits Ritmeester ({{interlanguage link|Frits Spits|nl}}) on the nationwide radio station [[Hilversum 3]], which was very popular among German listeners. Soon after that, the term was used in a record-shop advertisement by Burkhardt Seiler<ref>[http://brotbeutel.blogspot.de/2006/05/neue-deutsche-welle.html ''Neue Deutsche Welle – Blog summary''] includes an image of the original advertisement, published in ''Sounds'' 08/ 79.</ref> in an August 1979 issue of the West German magazine ''Sounds''. It was then used by journalist Alfred Hilsberg in an October 1979 ''Sounds'' article about the movement, titled {{lang|de|Neue Deutsche Welle — Aus grauer Städte Mauern}} ("new German wave—from the walls of grey cities").<ref>[http://www.highdive.de/over/sounds3.htm ''Neue Deutsche Welle – Aus grauer Städte Mauern'' (Sounds 10/ 79)].</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dw.com/en/neue-deutsche-welle-german-lyrics-gone-pop/a-16941553|title=Neue Deutsche Welle|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=14 July 2013|accessdate=7 September 2021}}</ref>

==History== {{More citations needed section|date=October 2025}} [[File:Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft.jpg|thumb|[[Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft|D.A.F.]] (Delgado-López left, Görl right)]] [[File:Platinum da da da.jpg|thumb|upright|Platinum record for [[Trio (band)|Trio]]'s "[[Da Da Da]]", issued by the [[Music Canada|Canadian Recording Industry Association]] in October 1982]]

The history of Neue Deutsche Welle consists of two major parts. From its beginnings to 1981, the genre was mostly an [[Underground music|underground]] movement with roots in British [[Punk rock|punk]] and [[new wave music]]. It quickly developed into an original and distinct style, influenced in no small part by the sound and rhythm of the German language, which many of the bands had adapted early on. Whilst some of the lyrics of artists like [[Nena (band)|Nena]] and [[Ideal (German band)|Ideal]] epitomized the [[zeitgeist]] of urban West Germany during the [[Cold War]], others used the language in a surreal way, merely playing with its sound or graphic quality rather than using it to express meaning. This includes bands and artists such as [[Spliff (band)|Spliff]], [[Joachim Witt]], and [[Trio (band)|Trio]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seibt |first1=Oliver |last2=Ringsmut |first2=Martin |last3=Wickström |first3=David-Emil |title=Made in Germany: studies in popular music |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=9780815391777 |pages=135–136 |url=https://www.routledge.com/Made-in-Germany-Studies-in-Popular-Music/Seibt-Ringsmut-Wickstrom/p/book/9780815391784 |access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref>

The main centers of the NDW movement during these years were [[West Berlin]], [[Düsseldorf]], [[Hamburg]], [[Hanover]], [[Hagen]], [[Zurich]], and [[Bern]], as well as, to a lesser extent, the [[Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region]], [[Limburg an der Lahn]], and [[Vienna]].

From about 1980 on, the [[music industry]] began noticing Neue Deutsche Welle. However, because of the idiosyncratic nature of the music, focus shifted to creating new bands more compatible with the mainstream rather than promoting existing ones. Many [[one-hit wonder]]s and short-lived groups appeared and were forgotten again in rapid succession. The overly broad application of the NDW label to these bands, as well as to almost any German musicians not using English lyrics, even if their music was apparently not influenced at all by the original NDW sound, quickly led to the decay of the entire genre when many of the original musicians turned their backs in frustration.

A revival of interest in the style in the Anglophone world occurred in 2003, with the release of [[DJ Hell]]'s compilation ''New Deutsch''.<ref>Laurence Phelan, ''The Independent'', 31 August 2003. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030831/ai_n12743960] Access date: 22 July 2008.</ref> NDW has come to be acknowledged as a forerunner to later developments in [[dance-punk]], [[electronic body music]], and [[electroclash]].

==See also== {{Portal|1980s}} * [[Cold wave (music)|Cold wave]] * [[Electropunk]] * [[Neue Deutsche Todeskunst]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Neue Deutsche Welle| ]] [[Category:German styles of music]] [[Category:Rock music genres]] [[Category:New wave music]] [[Category:1970s neologisms]] [[Category:1970s in West Germany]] [[Category:1980s in West Germany]]