The Hamburg School is a music style from
Germany, which started in the late 80s. Some of you may know the
Frankfurt School, a group of
Marxist philosophers. The
Hamburg School has some parallels: just like the Frankfurt School, it wanted to overcome a stagnation; it was limited to one city (though both influenced the whole republic). The major difference is that the Hamburg School dealt with music. The
Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave (has nothing to do with
Dark Wave)) left the German music scene at its bottom: German music drifted between non-mattering "intact world" music and dumb
hard rock (
The Scorpions, etc.).
The best known bands of the Hamburg School are certainly Die Sterne, (The Stars), and the 1994 founded Tocotronic. Both made German-sung rock music popular again in the whole country. But in 1994 the Hamburg School was already coming to its end. Besides these both bands (and Blumfeld) no one had major success. But more dramatically was, that despite some success, they did not achieve what they wanted: to make intellectual German music more popular. Still, US-American- and Euro Trash-music dictated the German music market. This knowledge accelerated the death of the Hamburg School. But the three major bands of the Hamburg School are still around, but far less successful than during the Golden Years, 1994-1997.
But let's go back a few years, to the founding of the Hamburg School. 1986 Carol v. Rautenkranz and Pascal Fuhlbrügge wanted to counteract against the stagnation. So they made quarterly concerts in Hamburg-Altona. These concerts led to the foundation of the label L`Age D`Or in 1988. The first released record was a single by Kolossale Jugend. Bands like Blumfeld, Huah!, Ostzonensuppenwürfelmachenkrebs (Eastzone-Stock cubes make cancer), Die Sterne, Goldene Zitronen or Tocotronic followed.
As a conclusion of my writeup I'll give you the lyrics of one of Tocotronic's songs "Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule" (I am new at the Hamburg School):
Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule
I am new at the Hamburg School
Und ich kenn mich noch nicht so gut aus
And I don't know my way around
Ich bin gerade in die 1. Klasse gekommen
I just came into the first class
Und ich weiß noch nichts genau
An I do not know anything thing certain
Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule
I am new at the Hamburg School
Und bin gerade erst weg von Zuhaus'
I am just briefly away from home
Die Lehrer sind alle ganz nett hier
The teachers here are all pretty nice
Und die meisten meiner Mitschüler auch
And most of my classmates, too
Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule
I am new at the Hamburg School
Neu in der Hamburger Schule
New at the Hamburg School
Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule
I am new at the Hamburg School
Und es gefällt mir hier eigentlich ganz gut
And I like it here pretty much
Die Klassenzimmer sind angenehm dunkel
The classrooms are pleasently dark
Es gibt Bier als Pausenbrot
And we are getting beer as breakfast
Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule
I am new at the Hamburg School
Und lern' kein Griechisch und kein Latein
And I learn neither Greek] nor Latin
Und Trotzdem scheint mir die Hamburger Schule
But the Hamburg School still seems to be
'ne Eliteschule zu sein
An elite school
Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule
I am new at the Hamburg School
Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule
I am new at the Hamburg School
Ich bin neu in der Hamburger Schule
I am new at the Hamburg School
Und vielleicht komm ich hier nie wieder raus
And maybe I will never get out of here
Vielleicht werde ich nie meinen Abschluß machen
Maybe I will never make my finals
Denn hier gibt es ja immer Applaus
Because you always get applause
© by L`Age D`Or Musik GmBH, written by Tocotronic, 1994