Ab jetzt wird durchgeblüht: Music for Anrainer of Airports

Raphaela Vogel

Info: To begin with the little surprise in the end, the punch line. In order to understand what she is reciting, we need to dig into historical documents of the history of the German antifa and German punk rock, which happen to be, in fact, juridical documents. In November 2000, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in favor of a complainant convicted under Section 90a of the German Criminal Code for defaming the state and its symbols. The conviction stemmed from playing Hamburg punk band Slime’s 1981 song Deutschland muss sterben (…damit wir leben können) at a 1997 rally in Berlin-Kreuzberg, held in support of another person imprisoned for the same act. The complainant argued that the conviction violated his fundamental right to artistic freedom under Article 5, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Law. The court agreed, holding that the prosecution infringed upon this right and emphasizing that the song Deutschland muss sterben is a striking, drastic critique with a satirical edge of social and political conditions in Germany.