Calls grow for cancellation of Rammstein concerts in Bern

Rammstein singer Till Lindemann on stage in 2013 Keystone / Axel Heimken

Pressure is mounting on the organiser of the concerts by Rammstein scheduled for next weekend in Bern. Following accusations of sexual abuse made against the German band’s lead singer, associations and politicians are calling for the shows to be cancelled.

Young women have allegedly been recruited, sometimes by force, at concerts to have sex with frontman Till Lindemann. On Thursday evening the youth wing of the Social Democratic Party (JUSO) launched a petitionExternal link calling for the concerts, scheduled for June 17 and 18 at Wankdorf Stadium, to be pulled.

The petition follows an open letter published this week in which the JUSO asked the organiser, Gadget abc, to take a written position on the matter.

In its response, the organiser pointed out that, at this stage, neither the group nor any of its members had been found guilty of any wrongdoing. In this context, there was no legal basis for a concert cancellation vis-à-vis the contractual partners, it said.

The JUSO was not satisfied with this response, resulting in the petition, which is also supported by women from the Social Democratic Party, the feminist peace organisation cfd and the NGO Brava against violence against women. By Saturday morning the petition had collected more than 5,000 signatures.

Reto Nause, head of security for the city of Bern, said he was keeping a close eye on the situation in the run-up to the concerts. “It’s possible there will be disruptive actions. We’re prepared for it and have strengthened the security arrangements,” he told newspaper Blick.

In Austria, the Greens have also called for the cancellation of concerts scheduled to take place in Vienna on July 26 and 27.

Accusations denied

Rammstein, pioneers of the Neue Deutsche Härte (new German hardness) industrial metal genre, are the best-selling German-language band in the world. Their global success is also based on the scale of their concerts, with their pyrotechnics and the imposing physical presence of Lindemann with his deep bass voice.

Lindemann, 60, has so far denied the accusations against him. His lawyers Simon Bergmann and Christian Schertz said he was now having his interests represented by a lawyer.

“It has been repeatedly alleged that women at Rammstein concerts were drugged with the help of knockout drops or alcohol to enable our client to perform sexual acts on them. These allegations are without exception untrue,” Lindemann’s lawyers said. They would now take legal action against the individuals for all allegations of this kind.