I suppose It will depend on what you are planning to do. You were a teacher learning history, now a teacher learning history trough music. What's Next? 😉💕
Hi Viking, German is my first language - so as a native pls let me explain as concise as possible many of the hidden symbols and meanings in this great song: In advance - please apologize the mistakes that I have certainly made as English is not my first language :-) Before I go through it just some general remarks: the black lady’s persona in the video is “Germania” and she represents Germany (the nation / the people) and in many scenes where she appears the colors black, red and gold (colors of the German flag) are dominant. The video as well as the lyrics are a critical review on Germany’s history. Main scenes of the video: The first scene with the roman soldiers refers to the battle of Teutoburg forest, the first time the German tribes untied under Arminius against the Romans and ambushed them on their march back to their winter camp + completely annihilated several legions - the romans would never return and fortify at the Rhine - this could be seen as the birth of the German identity. The red laser beams throughout the video I think are guiding thread (German expression “roter Faden”" translates to “red thread” and translates to guiding principle / guideline of a story) When Germania (black lady) in golden armor (black red gold as main colors of the scene pushes the standard into the ground she raises all the dead medieval knights - a reference to the strength of the German people who recovered time after time throughout history from catastrophes (especially, but not only) in the middle ages (crusades, Hunnic invasion, plague, etc.) - the additional meaning i think is the fact that German people several times followed their countries call for War - even if they were already beaten up (e.g. after WWI going into WWII) Next scene (fistfight) is from the roaring twenties, the period between the two world wars where upper class society was decadent on the backs of ordinary people + entertainment industry was born. Next scene shows the Hindenburg disaster (famous German Airship which blew up in flames) during a time of growing industrialization 1930s. Next Scene is from the communist elite in eastern Germany who was indulging in party and Champaign while ordinary people were poor and the main idea of communism should be equality of the people. Then the scene in the middle ages - where the monks (representing the church) feast on Germania (the land) and suppress the common folk (underneath the table). The scene in the prison again refers to the roaring twenties, as Germania is dressed in a Prussian uniform suppressing the German people. Additionally money is thrown away by everybody, a reference to the big inflation in Germany after WWI. Then the rockets (Nazi German was working on the first warfare rockets called V1 and V2 (V standing for “Vergeltung” which translates to retaliation - fitting to the picture with the rockets, the lyrics are an alliteration on “über” a german pre-syllable/prefix meaning over. “Überheblich (overbearing / presumptuous), Überlegen (superior) Übernehmen (taking over), Übergeben (handing over), überraschen (surprise), Überfallen (ambush), „Deutschland, Deutschland über allen“ (Germany, Germany above everyONE). The line „Deutschland, Deutschland über alleN“ (Germany above everyONE) is a reference to one of the verses of former national anthem of Germany which was in use from 1922 to 1945 and got excluded after WW2 for being too nationalistic. In this verse there was a line “Deutschland, Deutschland über alleS“ (a subtle difference to the line in Rammstein’s version translating to “Germany, Germany above everyTHING”). The actual verse with this line was already written in 1842, long before the formation of Germany as a Nation (which only happened in 1871) - therefore “Germany, Germany above everything” was relating to the importance of uniting the several German ministates, kingdoms and Duchies into one nation. After WWI this verse got taken into the national anthem of Germany as it spoke to the patriotism of the German people but later officially excluded fomr the anthem since it was deemed too nationalistic. Today this verse/line is generally frowned upon and would be associated with Neo-Nationalism. Using this line in the scene with the concentration camps including the subtle change from “Germany above everyTHING” (which has already the nationalistic connotation) to “Germany above everyONE” which carries an even more nationalistic / racist meaning is a very clever double-reference to the doctrine of racial supremacy in the Third Reich. The Concentration camp prisoners have symbols sewn on their jackets for the groups the Nazis hunted and killed (yellow star for Jews, Pink triangle for Homosexuals, red symbol for political adversaries (communists). Germania is on the side of the Nazis and has an eyepatch (representing the blind eye that many Germans turned on the atrocities of the Nazi regime. The Scene where Till is dressed as a woman refers to the left wing terrorist group called “Rote Armee Fraktion” - a terrorist association in the 1970s responsible for several political assassinations and murders as well as a famous kidnapping of German Diplomats in Stockholm. Then there is the scene with the stake at which books are burned by the Nazis and people are burned by the church (inquisition). Later the monk (church) and the Nazi soldier hug (as the church did not go against the Nazis when they came to power and both organizations were responsible for a lot of intolerance and suffering in their times. The scene where Germania is dressed in white with a Halo I think refers to the positive, the strength of the German people who recovered time after time from several catastrophic disasters in their history. Later she gives birth to puppies representing the German people. The puppies are from a rare breed of dogs (Leonbergers) who’s population got almost extinct in both world wars (symbolized with the dogs wearing gas masks) but recovered after the wars. In these scenes the band members wear space suits - in my view a reference to the (hopefully) better future of the German people. In the very last scene of the outro you can once more see Germania with national colors (black, red gold) with black lipstick, red eyes and golden armor before a red/ black background holding an eagle, the heraldic symbol of Germany. Finally, please find below the lyrics of the song as the perfectly convey the message of the problematic relationship many Germans have to their homeland, wanting to be proud of it but not being able to due to it’s difficult history: One further remark to one of the more important lines of the lyrics: The line in this song "So jung und doch so alt" (So young and yet so old) refers to the fact that the German people with their idenitify have been around for thousands of years, however the actual state of Germany as a nation was only founded very late (1871) thorough the unification of several mini states (Prussia, Hessia, Saxonia, Bavaria, etc.) Here now the lyrics (copied from the internet): [Verse 1] You (You have, you have, you have, you have) Have cried a lot (Cried, cried, cried, cried) Separated in spirit (Separated, separated, separated, separated) United in heart (United, united, united, united) We (We are, we are, we are, we are) Have been together for so long (You are, you are, you are, you are) Your breath's cold (So cold, so cold, so cold, so cold) The heart in flames (So hot, so hot, so hot, so hot) You (You can, you can, you can, you can) I (I know, I know, I know, I know) We (We are, we are, we are, we are) You (You stay, you stay, you stay, you stay) [Chorus] Germany - my heart in flames Want to love and damn you Germany - your breath's cold So young, and yet so old Germany! [Verse 2] I (You have, you have, you have, you have) I never want to leave you (You cry, you cry, you cry, you cry) One can love you (You love, you love, you love, you love) And want to hate you (You hate, you hate, you hate, you hate) Presumptuous, superior Take over, hand over/puke Surprise, invade Germany, Germany above everything [Chorus] Germany - my heart in flames Want to love and damn you Germany - your breath is cold So young, and yet so old Germany - your love Is a curse and a blessing Germany - my love I can't give you Germany! Germany! [Bridge] You I We All of you You (superior/overpowering, unnecessary) I (Übermenschen (translates to “superior humans” - a term the Nazis implicitly used for themselves as the calles other races “Untermenschen” - translating to “inferior humans”), weary) We (The higher you climb, the further you fall) You (Germany, Germany above everything) [Chorus] Germany - your heart in flames Want to love and damn you Germany - my breath's cold So young, and yet so old Germany - your love Is a curse and blessing Germany - my love I can't give you Germany!
Danke das du du das so Interpretiert hast. Das mit der Hunderasse wusste ich nicht und Germania als Symbolbild der Bevölkerung war mir nur in der Szene bewusst, in der die Mönche von ihr Aßen. Das sie das Symbolbild über das gesamte Video wiedergibt, war mir ein neuer Ansatz. Gleichzeitig ist mir bei der ersten Betrachtung der Melodie, der schrille Synthesizer beat aufgefallen und der eher altmodische Klavierklang. Der irgendwie die innere Zerrissenheit zwischen der Wahrung alter Werte undstabilität und den unbedingten und teils rücksichtslosen drang nach Fortschritt transportiert. Insgesamt ist dieses Lied ein multimediales Meisterwerk.
Wow, congratulations on so much knowledge :) Did you get all these insights yourself? I only got app. 50 % of the topics. Anyway, one of the best answers/comments I've read.
Im german and when i first saw and heard this masterpiece, i was speechless. They percectly describe my feelings for my country. This band ripens like fine wine and in my opinion its one of their best ones ever.
I work with germans among other nationalities, and the day after the release, there was just one topic, this song. None of them was a metalhead at all, but they all got the impression of being beaten hard in the way they perceived the country. I mean, you need to be brave enough to come up public with this song and video, putting Germany in front of the darkest mirror. My German friends explained me also how certain sentences are way meaningful for Germans, some of them just a letter away of saying something punishable. Honestly, so many layers to be covered by a mere reaction. This masterpiece has many readings, and probably in 100 years is going to be remembered as we remember today Van Gogh. On side note, the display of acceptance of Germany to this song is a great sign of maturity and introspection, my deepest congratulations to you all.
I know a lot of awesome germans I come from Norway we have a dark history when we were Vikings but like with all countries we all have bad sheep. I'm looking forward to visit Germany again. Been in kiel a few times want to visit the rock festival
If an American rock band made a video as honest as this video is about Germany history about American history you would have half the country wanting to arrest them for treason
German people are (at least most of them) in good terms with their past mistakes, most americans can't even recognize their country's mistakes in history. American pride is toxic. We Brazilians are alike with our black history, we treat It like taboo and tend to forget the bad stuff we done to black people in the past, swallowing that "racial democracy" bullshit that we think we have.
Not to mention taking away from the credits of all the people it took to make this masterpiece of a music video. Let them have their time and enjoy the last moments of the production.
@@nightgoblin29 i dont think they are saying they dont like Germany i think they are saying that they love their country but dosent like the things some of their people did in the past
@Kaeseblock True.I Love Germany for its great educational system and for the politicians such as Angela Merkel.But I hate what theyve done about 60 years ago.Holocaust,Racism and pure death!!!Mixed feelings,I can’t say more.Frohes neues übrigens
This video is probably the best ever made in music history. Rammstein are a colossal band, on every level, and this is their absolute masterpiece. Impossible to listen and watch without goosebumps and without feeling all the pain and sadness.
This "Masterpiece" is a requiem on Germany as it once existed. "Germany Must Perish!" was a booklet published in 1941. And finally now it will - suicided by its own politicians.
i'm also very impressed by the symbolism of their video in Amerika. with the moon landing filming and countries pillaged. damn... packed with everything. Pure art. 👌🏼
Please also check out a clever parody and reaction from a clever German entertainer, Jan Böhmermann, in which my criticism of this Rammstein video becomes self-evident. ua-cam.com/video/HMQkV5cTuoY/v-deo.html This is how I understand my Germany.
As a Scotsman living in Britain, German history is honest to a fault like the music video shows how Germans understand their dark history. Wish other countries took note like the UK rather than just doing the whole let's move on routine. The acknowledgement of past misdeeds leads towards a brighter future.
To remind you... in germanay we were told we are the Bad people and we need 2 be ashamed of oure history 4 decates... so we are bad and have 2 pay 4 everything 4 the next decates.... at least.... Gernan = Bad that is what we are learning from the start.... Evil german you are.
There is a saying in Germany: „Wer die Vergangenheit vergisst, ist verdammt, sie zu wiederholen“. Which can be translated to: „Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. I think that describes the view german people have on their history pretty well. That’s why we will never stop to remember our very dark history and to constantly fight for it no never happen again.
@@aramn8151this is one thing that always confuses me, when i hear (usually american) youtubers talk about germans feeling guilty for their past Like... No, i don't. I'm not responsible for what people did, years before even my grand parents were born. But we are responsible for never letting anything like that happen again
@@aramn8151 well every country and especially all european countries have a „dark history“. I hate it when people call the entire german history bad because of 12 years.
@@p3chv0gel22 Мы в России отлично знаем что сделали Немцы в годы второй мировой войны. Ведь мы из всех стран , больше всех в ней пострадали и потеряли самых лучших людей нашей страны. Но не мы , не наши предки не хотели тогда и сейчас какой то расплаты за содеянное. Мы отлично знаем кто виновен в той войне, почему Германия напала на СССР(Россию) и почему даже сейчас Россию терзают тежи самые люди что Предали и вовлекли народ Германии в ту мясорубку. Это те жи люди с которыми мы воююем на Украине. Это Англосаксы(США) эти две страны принесли и приносят до сих пор горе , страдание и слёзы людям нашей Планеты. Надеюсь с победой над Украиной(Англосаксов) мы сможем показать миру, что зло можно и нужно побеждать, что у человека только 3 пола ( пол. мужской, пол. женский и пол. под ногами)
8:38 My history teacher actually played this song when it came out and we analyzed it together. It was perfect timing because it was like a summary of the last 3 years of history class. A great way to test what we remembered. There are so many blink and you'll miss it moments.
@@alexanderg.9735 I am Slovenian and i would love (if i was young enough) that that would be shown in class. A lot of European history is intertwined and just fascinating
@@heyhoe168 Yeah, he was great! Me and my former class still talk and meetup occasionally when possible. One my favourite moments was when he once brought tea for us all during class. Before christmas we had a secret santa event (Wichteln) and he gifted my friend, who was a big fan of greek and roman history a fitting book. All of us even filmed a little movie about a main historical topic. Fun times!
@Gerrie Ordaz Rammstein are amazing. They always make layers of ideas in music video for shallow auditory, however they have serious messages for those who listens as well.
I’m English and when I first heard the song, I didn’t think much of it. Looking up the lyrics made me cry…. Then I saw them live. I’m telling you, best concert ever.
Если взглянуть пристальнее, то с Англией и Францией происходит в точности тоже самое что в клипе с Германией. Прям один в один. Англичане берите судьбу в свои руки и выгоняйте приезжих. Зовите послов и отправляйте их в Россию, подписывать вечный мир. А NATO сотрите с лица земли, вы должны собой управлять, а не кучка бюракратов. Мы должны стать едиными в дружбе, а не в огне Армагеддона.
I'm not german but studied German in my young school years and yet I felt all the weight of the History of Germany, all the resentment other occidental countries made them endure... Somehow it reminds me of all the rights and wrongs my country, France, have done over the years... We are all differents but all the same finally. I heard about Rammstein a long time ago, but really discover their work now, in 2023 and I love that!!! It is so accurate, cynical and realistic at the same time!!! I'd like to thank Thagnar1978 for all the work he put in his answer/response and the accuracy he show in answering the calls of Simple Viking in the video...We can all agree this video is a real masterpiec in the history of music video since its existence. Thanks to all for your contiributions
Germany is by far one of the Oldest European Countrys right after Spain France Portugal and England and it got a hell ton of history started at the times Rom became big and goes trough medevil to World Wars and young new Time the Song Line so old but also young is a hidden easter egg and stays for the Reunion from Germany after the war if u need smt about History from any where England and Germany mostly the Countrys to go find things about history and modern as also old Sailor tells ^^
How this video didn't win best music video everywhere is beyond me. There is nothing like it (as far as I know). The cinematography, cultural and historical messaging and the interplay between the video and sound is second to none.
rammstein videos were always top notch, even the goofy ones. i have been off the grid listening to my fave bands in the past years before seeing this one and was completely blown away, maybe not their very best song but the visuals on this is award worthy like you said.
because the inclusion of nazi symbolism is automatically and mindlessly assumed to mean they support the nazis, even though the literal words mean exactly the opposite (want to love but hate the actions), and rammstein has never, ever, shown any tendency in that directionl, and if anyone actually watched the damn thing they would see the nazis get executed. guilty until proven guilty.
The Problem with that is that most Germans not even understand what there songs rlly mean and so they often get accused to be "Nazis" but they normal dudes just making some Bangers with Educational background that most people not understand or even say thats "Nazi stuff" thats why they not get every thing they normaly should get
As a German, I have never come across anything that describes my relationship with this country as well as this song. I have goosebumps every time I watch this video and sometimes it makes me cry because you can feel the sadness of wanting to love your country but not being able to and it's so accurate. As someone who does not live in Germany anymore I very much relate to this and sometimes it hurts. EDIT: Now that I've finished watching the whole video I just wanted to say that I'm glad you got the gist of the song, your German is still quite good but also the visuals are somewhat clear I guess. It feels almost comforting that you also felt this heaviness despite not being German.
I understand the feeling too, as an American having grown up in the Bush era and realizing how much horror we have caused across the world. I can't be patriotic but there are a lot of things about the land I come from and the people and the beautiful art we've made that makes me proud. Ultimately, I think patriotism for its own sake is dangerous and we may all need to leave it behind to build a better world.
I am Italian and I think I can quite relate to what you say. I too would like to love my country, but the shadow of the past lingers and doesn't let me. Especially when you look at modern Italian politics and you see that the ideas from the forties are still there, under this or that mask...but they still exist. And that hurts so bad.
@@creepystuffchannel its like it Had wound what did not properly cured and left big scar visible for all . That scar can’t fully fade away even after centuries…
@@Dooncat I agree... it stays and lingers after decades, centuries...I would like to love my country for its art and culture and land, but there is always that stain, that "scar" as you very well say, which pulls me back...fascism, what it has done to everyone, what it has done to my family...I could never meet my grandfather, and he suffered greatly, like so many millions of innocent. And it hurts so much to see that there are still people standing by those ideals here. It makes me sick and makes me curse this place...lieben und verdammen...
As a Jew I gotta say the part in the concentration camp touched me the most. I think they dressed up both like the prisoners and the guards to show how truly both people are the same. Its definitely a critic song about the past of Germany. I definitely understand the message Rammstein delivers in this song. They want to be proud of Germany but they can't fully be proud of it becasue of it's past. I think this song is more educational than ever and perhaps one of the most important songs came to date from any rock/metal band.
Our german history has been completely changed in only just 6 years. Everything before is now forgotten, everything afterwards was a shame for us, until today! There is no more pride for germany .... it is a curse that we germans have come under. Thats the curse, because we killed people which are the apple of god's eye. We generations after that all, are still under this curse ! and God will judge our people for it sometimes .... until today God has not done so but he will still do it. We Germans know that - all of us!
I felt this was the song meaning... I thank you as a jewish person for speaking on this part of the song/video, as I felt that was the point and also the strongest emotional part for me and well done part. I am Canadian, indigenous/Irish, and such a painful awful thing that happened to your ppl.....However, not all Germans at the time or especially now suport what happened then. Going to take more time for sure to get better "heal" from that travisty ::(... And I feel it/relate in a way because of my native heritage. Much love your way for you and your ppl
I am German and what you say is absolutely correct. We, the generations after, are ashamed of what our grandfathers did to the Jewish people, We still don't understand how people could act so abnormally. That's why we're not proud of our recent German history.
@@MsMtheory Thanks for your understanding. Germany is one of the only countries in Europe that currently work so hard to ban everything related to Nazism. I live in Israel and Germany is currently Israel's biggest supporter after the US (not involving politics). Their obligation to Israel is very big and im greateful for that. I have friends in Germany which their grandparents served under Hitler's regime but I know they hated their past. I'm happy in modern times Germany is making the world better one place at a time
Nails nearly every line but still says "I understand not that much". Man that was great! You got the overall message of the song. It tells Germanys history but also gives you an idea how many good AND even more bad things happened in the history of Germany.
There were some dubble meanings missed, like über alles/allen, and the young referring the modern nation only forming in the 19th century, but overall, great reaction, one of the best I’ve seen. It’s rare to see someone be so genuine with there emotions.
@@XanderFenikkusu yes, good and bad. But Germanys history is pretty young and Germany exists, if you wanna be precise, for only 150 years. There were 2 world wars, the devision of Germany, and and and. But its true, also many good things happened, at least when you wanna look at the territory were todays Germany is located.
@@jordan4748 Every nation has the same position! Oh how we like to believe the good is a continuum through history and the bad end with every revolution or new constitution. Or even the last election... But it should be in our backpack just like the good things, and maybe we should drop that backpack somewhere... and realize we are human, nothing more, nothing less.
"So young and yet so old" is basically just that, the current, young unified Germany is still in its infancy, yet Germany as a people dates bac to before Roman times, and all throughout this history have been many highs (victory over the Romans in Teutoburg Forest for example) and many lows (obvious, Third Reich). Its an excellent song showcasing the duality of both wanting to love and be proud of your country, yet so ashamed and condemning of things they have also done in the past.
very good reaction, you really caught onto the emotional aspects of it. i wish you hadn't skipped the outro though. 01:28 she's Germania, the personification of Germany 02:19 the boxing match symbolises the division of 1920's Weimar republic, where fights between communist and nazi street gangs were common place and this split in parliament led to the nazis being able to take over power. of course everyone claimed to just want the best for the people - "im Herz getrennt, im Geist vereint" (united in heart, divided in spirit) 03:49 the monks cannibalising Germania symbolise the religious wars of the 16th and 17th century when germany was split into dozens of feudal states and the only ones profiting were the lords and the church 05:00 germany wasn't united until 1871, yet "the germans" have been around for a long time, as you can tell by the first scene in 16AD 06:44 "i can't give you my love" is exactly right. at the same time we see the 1970's far-left terrorist group RAF abducting Germania - a reference to their abduction and killing of H.M. Schleyer (at the time president of the german union of industrialists and former SS-commander) 13:00 as for recommendation: react to Rammstein's song "Radio" next, it's about them growing up in eastern germany, where everything from the west was forbidden and the radio was their window to the outside world. also musically it is very interesting.
Yes I think without quite a good understanding of german history, especially the imagery/iconography is difficult to understand and interpret. I would argue that "so young" may also refer to the fact that germany had to essentially rebuild from almost nothing after ww2, getting a "new" constitution, and only limited sovereignty at first. Which would make it a very young nation indeed. I also like how they display the church and lords literally feasting on the body of germany.
small correction its the other way around - divided in heart, united in spirit but a really good summary big thanks for writing down all the timestamps
I was really touched by your words. First time in ~20 years I’ve heard THIS kind of sympathy for German people/the feeling touched on in this song. Cheers mate. Means a lot.
From what I've gathered (as an American history fan, but no professional schooling) it's essentially trying to have the conflict of national pride while knowing the horrific moments in time. From the Germanic tribes fighting off the Romans, to the poverty of the Weimar era, the horror of religious oppression, police brutality through the ages, of course the Third Reich and beyond. The lipstick/AK hostage moment being some of the Red Army Faktion active from the 70's into the 90's. The decadence/repression of the East German government. The dogs being Leonberger's which were almost extinct due to their use as war dogs in both World Wars. Spot on as the woman being herself an embodiment of Germania. Anything I'm off on someone can correct me, but that was essentially the gist of what I've gathered. Wanting to love but also condemn your nation is a very complex feeling, and I really applaud Rammstein for tackling the topic in such a beautifully artistic and creative way.
Pretty much spot on! I will never understand how they could miss out on the opportunity to show how modern book printing was invented in Germany. Would have contrasted extremely well with the book burning by the Nazis later on. Germany stands for both, incredible as it is.
as a german i cry for so many reasons when i watch this video. because the sad an violence history, but also because this art and music masterpiece. waht lyrics, what art work. its unbelievable. you can discover so much every two seconds in this video by pictures and lyrics. stunning.
best music video I've ever seen .... it's a shame you didn't watch the end credits of the film in full. The piano melody is beautifully paired with the pictures makes you very thoughtful ..... Thanks for your reaction .. ..
@@simpleviking a good reaction is never to long! Especially with this video. The music is very well chosen because this song is really about what you feel when you watch the outro!
@@simpleviking Just friendly advice, I suggest to watch videos until the end, the fans of the band will be frustrated if you don't. Often the end credits are part of the song itself. Same thing happens with Nightwish videos too, reactors cut videos short as they think it's over or not important. I think it's best to pay respect to the artist and fans by watching it in full. I enjoyed your reaction though.
Spanish viewer here. Rammstein has been one of my favourite bands since I was 14 and considering spanish fascist regime (1939-1975) it also made me emotional to see this dudes (who I love) positioning against fascist pigs, the scene where they shoot the nazis in the face is so powerful gave me chills.
Funny thing, their first teaser for this song was just parts of the hanging scene. You can imagine how much uproar this caused in the press. (Nearly) everyone went straight to calling them Nazis, while ignoring all their previous songs and statements.
@@bert8731 People have always called Rammstein Nazis, it's a widespread perception of the band even though any person willing to listen to a song or two will figure out that there's usually a political message behind their songs, none of them even remotely right-wing
Right? They simply picked that scene for the teaser knowing that everyone would be freaking out over it and talking about it before its premiere. People that keep on telling they trivialize the Holocaust haven't watched the full video or just don't want to acknowledge this powerful scene that you mention. It's important to talk about it, even nowadays when most of the people that lived through that hell are passing away.
Wow! We can all learn from how the Germans deal with their past. They don't hide. They don't deny. They deal with it. To be admired fully.... Respect!!
Well, it's partially because most of the world and even we ourselves don't let us forget it. Not that we would want to, but currently we aren't exactly "allowed" to be proud of anything by our own society alone. And on top of that there are a lot of things that are worth all the hate we have. But it's still our home and our history. Denying it would mean to deny our identity, even if a lot of it is pitch black with white dots. That's why even those who actually want to be proud of it simultaneously hate it. That a lot of us look down on our own history while others idealize the horrible aspects does not help either. We are basically torn. With the desire to be proud of what came before us, but without the ability.
@@leotox6423 Sounds quite complicated. Let me tell you that a lot of Dutch people loves to spend their holiday in Germany because the nature is so beautiful and the Germans are very friendly and polite. I often am ashamed of our own behaviour. In short, always be aware of the history, but be proud of what you have become.
What a fantastic reaction from you. I think it's great that you understood the message of the video with your rudimentary knowledge of German. On the UA-cam channel of "three arrows" there is a very good analysis of the video in English.
Yepp, Three Arrows did an amazing analysis. But now, these few years after their first analysis, I have seen this video more than two dozens times, as well as many other youtubers' reactions to it. Each and every time something new pops out of the woodwork that I have missed before. Simply with what my wimpy little self has found since then I could probably take the 'Three Arrows' analysis and extend it to easily double time with all new things. Give me a crew of people that could bounce ideas off each other I bet we could extend it to at least five times the length of Three Arrows. That's how jam packed full this video is.
Love that your immediate reaction to the “du hast” at the beginning was “oh yeah, I know this!”. There are actually tons of references to previous Rammstein songs both visually and lyrically in “Deutschland”! Like the metal wings from “Engel” and the scene with them walking on all fours like dogs is in reference to “Mein Teil” and so on. They just get glossed over most of the time bc there’s so much else going on lol.
Your german is very good. Yes, you interpreted the video very well. We Germans have a very difficult relationsship to our history. For me, a man with birth in the 70s, it is a mixture. On the one side we are proud of our achievements, on the other hand we (even my children) feel the responsibility to remember the old history. The world must not forget what happened and the symbolic in this rammstein-video shows it. Especially after the reunion of East and West Germany. The video also shows the differences between both german folks after 40 years of seperation. I am so thankful, that rammstein produced such an epic video. Greets from Lars
As a child of a German parent and living most of my early life there, this song makes me cry. When I first came to the U.S. in the early 70s, the children of the generation that fought in Europe still called us Nazi. It is hard not to have some shame for our shared past. We learn from it...and hopefully never repeat it.
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 socialst 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: UA-cam 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.
@@simpleviking You are welcome. I'm glad if I was able to help! :) My recommendation for a reaction: The band "Feuerschwanz" and their song "Ultima Nocte".
@@megatwingo megatwingo you put a lot of effort into that text above, that's impressive! Thank you and well done! My favourite part of the Deutschlandlied is the third stanza where they sing about German wine and German women. ;-)
Hey, thanks for explaining. I love German language, though never had a chance to really learn it. Nevertheless, I know a few words. So, when I first heard this song it gave me chills. I can’t speak fur German people, but I felt so patriotic and proud for Germans that if I was a German I’d sing this song as an National Anthem
The "young but yet so old" line refers to the fact that the unified german country was established as late as 1871 thought the actions of Bismarck. (not counting in the reunification that was only 30 years argo) But history of the of the land goes back to the germanic tribes that lived there for more the 2000 years. Also the (glorifed) birth myth of the german nation goes back around 2000 years to the defeat Varus thought arminius. As part of that arminius was call the first german by patriots.
As a German who loves the US I am really glad that you understood the meaning of this masterpiece correctly. It’s all about our inner conflict of trying to be proud or even love a country which committed such cruelties. We must never forget.
I feel like Germans should still love the country they've become. From the ashes of tyrannical leaders to the economic recovery and rise they have now. Throughout it all, the people of Germany always stood back up, cleaned up the rubble, and carried on. A resilient country that has made great strides to correct the errors of its past and better itself for Germany and the world.
this is the maybe best and most emotional music video I've ever seen. For me as a native German it shows all we went through the past 2.000 years as a nation and what we've become. Even if some - not german - viewers don't understand everything shown in here - this is the right stuff to tell how a nation has grown with all the good and bad aspects of it's history. For me this video is worth being academy awarded ! Ich weiß nicht, wie ich es sagen soll: es berührt mich ZUTIEFST ! ! !
Dr Alexandra Lloyd, lecturer in German at the University of Oxford, explain what the fuck is going on during the video's nine minutes…. The video opens in AD 16, on the ‘barbarian’ side of the limes, the border of the Roman Empire. Roman soldiers creep through the woods in the aftermath of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The Romans were ambushed by an alliance of Germanic Tribes, led by a chieftain called Arminius (the original Hermann the German). Three legionary standards were captured, a loss symbolic and moral, as well as physical, and decades were spent trying to recover them. Rome never again attempted to take the lands east of the River Rhine, known as Germania…. ‘Germania’ refers not just to a place, somewhere partly defined by where it isn’t (Rome) as well as where it is, but also to a national figurehead, traditionally representing the German people. Germania is a strong woman, usually armour-clad and battle-ready. Various symbols appear with her, among them a breastplate with an eagle, a black, red, and gold flag, and a crown. Look out for these in the video - they come up again and again - and the colours of the contemporary flag are there in every scene…. We get our first glimpse of Germania here (played by Ruby Commey), who stands holding Till Lindemann’s severed head. Next, astronauts appear carrying a metal and glass box shaped like a coffin. In the background we see a U-boat - a German submarine, used in World Wars I and II. Then we move to a scene set at a boxing match which takes us to Weimar Germany (1918-1933), a period known for its political instability but also greater cultural liberalism. Here, Germania appears in the cabaret costume of a flapper girl, and the boxers fight with knuckle-dusters as a crowd cheers them on…. We see the former East Germany, complete with busts of Marx and Lenin, the national emblem of East Germany, and a lookalike of the long-serving, insular, and repressive GDR leader Erich Honecker. There’s another astronaut, or rather a cosmonaut: Sigmund Jähn, the first German in space, who flew with the USSR’s space program (and who’s also a character in the 2003 film, Good Bye Lenin!). Medieval monks feast grotesquely on the supine Germania, tearing sauerkraut and sausage from Ruby Commey’s body, prison inmates are beaten by guards dressed in police and military uniforms from different historical periods…. The most obviously shocking scene references the Holocaust and the Nazi period. Four members of the band, in the striped uniforms of camp inmates, wait at the gallows, about to be hanged. They wear the cloth emblems used to identify their ‘crimes’: a pink triangle for homosexual prisoners, a yellow star for Jewish prisoners, a red and yellow star for Jewish political prisoners…. This sequence, teased in an earlier promo video, has already caused controversy. Have Rammstein the right to do this? Do they trivialise the suffering of Holocaust victims? How can they justify using Holocaust imagery to promote their new video? These are important questions that are part of a much bigger debate about the ethics of using the Holocaust in art and media…. Other scenes include the band walking away from a flaming airship, referring to the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster, in which 36 people died. Rats scuttle across the floor when the monks first appear, suggesting the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a legend with origins in the 13th century…. Germania walks towards the camera in a leather jacket, gold jewellery and a string of bullets across her chest, resembling the chariot drawn by four horses (the ‘Quadriga’) on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The band members’ heads are shown as white marble busts, taking us to the 19th century Walhalla memorial in Bavaria, built as German Hall of Fame, its sculpted heads of German worthies on display to this day…. In the prison, hundreds of banknotes fall from above, suggesting the devastating hyperinflation Germany suffered in the 1920s. Nazis burn books, intercut with religious fanatics burning witches. We recognise members of the Red Army Faction (also known as the Baader-Meinhof group), a militant organisation active in the 1970s in West Germany. And in a blink-or-you-miss-it exchange, we are reminded of the much-criticised relationship between the churches and the state during the Third Reich… Each scene captures in a moment the icons of an era, and the video cuts between them more and more frenetically as it goes on. Events bleed into each other, linked by the presence of the band members and the red laser beam that appears throughout the video, a ‘roter Faden’ (red thread or central theme), connecting each event…. Germany engages with its history in a very particular way. Try to imagine the video about Britain, with Britannia played by Ruby Commey. What would the equivalent events be? Quite a few of the tableaux might be similar - Romans, Crusaders, monks, 18th-century soldiers, collarless shirts and bareknuckle boxing - but would it have the same impact?.... There’s no affection, and perhaps not much hope: its pessimistic tone seems to be quite an off-brand message for post-1989 Germany, which wants to acknowledge its past critically, while also looking to its future as a state at the heart of Europe. And actually, while we get a lot of medieval and twentieth-century history, the video’s tour through the past seems to stop in the late 1980s, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and Reunification of East and West Germany. Instead, we jump into the future, where the space-suited band take Germania into the unknown, travelling in that coffin-shaped glass box…. There’s an echo of the video for Sonne, where Snow White is trapped in a glass coffin. In fact, a piano version of Sonne plays over the end credits of Deutschland. This is a useful link for understanding something of what Rammstein is doing here. In Sonne, where the band’s characters free themselves of Snow White (naturally, they’ve been her sex-slaves), only to realise that they have made a mistake and long for her return, the overwhelming feeling of Deutschland seems to be that when it comes to Germania (or Germany): you can’t love her, and you can’t live without her…. www.loudersound.com/features/we-got-an-oxford-university-professor-to-explain-what-the-fcks-going-on-in-that-rammstein-video
I think she missed some parts. 1.) There is a meaning behind why monks ate the sauerkraut & sausages from germania. This refers to the time post 30 year war, when a lot of german people starved (mostly farmer) while the church took still the "Zehnt" (land tax) froim the poorest. 2.) Germany is a dog loving country. This is why Germania has borned a german shephard. 3.) If they haven't used the holocaust scene there would be no option to use the "überleben, übergeben, überfallen...." lyrics which refers to the first verse of the "Deutschlandlied" but also that Germany is using nowadays often the economic power to secure the interests. There would be even some more possibilities which would describe the typicall german love/hate relationship to the own country, by using topics which are still big taboo, like the mass suicides what happend especially in eastern germany, when the red army moved into the land and the germans were scared to death by the own propaganda + the question how to consider the Wehrmacht post WW2. Is it correct to consider all former Wehrmacht soldiers as nazis?
@@TonyMontanaCA just wanted to add to your second point: The dogs in the video are not German Shepards. The breed is called Leonberger (a town in the south west of Germany, close to Stuttgart) and this breed almost went extinct in both world wars.
@Gianluca De Angelis Actually wrong. The Roman expansion up to the Elbe was in 6AD, the territory was called "Germania Magna". In 9AD, the Romans lost 20000 men in the Teutoburg forest massacre, which then prompted Augustus to order a retreat and withdrawal, which was completed in 16AD, and established the Rhine and Danube as the borders. The Romans abandoned Germania because they were losing too many men and had too many defeats, and not because it was "worthless" or whatever nationalistic lies you were taught in Italian school.
During the GDR-scene, additionally to Erich Honecker & Sigmund Jähn, to me the guitarist Paul Landers seems to represent Egon Krenz. Based on the hair, the tear sac and the dark shimmering around his eyes.
As a German, this song reflects quite well the feelings one has when looking at this country. On the one hand there is a lot to love about Germany today: we are cosmopolitan, tolerant and colorful - on the other hand the dark shadow of the past. My generation is not responsible for the crimes of the past, but we do have a responsibility that something like this never happens again. Nevertheless, there are people in our country who continue the traditions of that time, who propagate xenophobia and are against any form of tolerance. These people act against humanity and any form of good taste. You're ashamed of that. On the one hand you want to love your country for the achievements of the last decades, for the country being so cosmopolitan. On the other hand, you look at the past, which in the minds of some people drags on to this day, and you are ashamed. Coming back to the video: I think one scene gets too little attention from all the reactions, namely the scene where the Nazis are shot in the face. A clear statement and a clear positioning of the band against right-wing ideas. In addition, this shows how the majority of Germans are opposed to this body of thought, namely that this ideology no longer has a place in a modern Germany that wants to be more than just the past.
@@mikolyantslive Of course, the video leaves a lot of room for interpretation... I don't remember exactly what the breed of dog is called, I only know that the breed was as good as eradicated after the Second World War. I interpret this as a kind of "rebirth of German identity"... that after all the horror that Germans have spread in the past, there is still hope for a new beginning. The whole video is mainly about taking the past for granted, the current generation has little or nothing to do with what happened. It's about being aware of one's own country's past and understanding it as a reminder. But despite everything that has happened, you have to look to the future. That's why I interpret the end of the video where "Germania" glides into space as a kind of "departure into the future" - with the past in mind but still full of hope for the future. But thats only my personal interpretation - The video has so many meta-levels that not even I, as a German, can grasp everything exactly ^^* Dont know which scene you mean with "mob gaming takes her with them" - could you give me a time-stamp ? ^^
I have to say that I feel really identified with you cause I felt the same way the first time I saw this video. I don't understand German, but I've been a Rammstein fan ever since I was a kid. I'm from Mexico, and here they are a cult band, we Mexicans are so very proud of our history, and I have always had the utmost respect for Germany because they could recover from two wars in which they were the bad guys so I can't even begin to imagine how Germans feel knowing that their country has achieved so many great things for humanity but at the same time it has done such terrible things as well, so yeah that mix of feelings and emotions towards your own country has to be very hard to swallow, congratulations imo your reaction to this video is one of the most legit out there
We used this actually as introduction to our history class, even we as Germans don’t get the whole meaning. It’s so much content and so much important yet creative content it’s so hard. I’m a huge fan of Rammstein and I even had to explain some scenes to my history teacher because I know the band really well and I could better understand what they wanted to express through the video
Please also check out a clever parody and reaction from a clever German entertainer, Jan Böhmermann, in which my criticism of this Rammstein video becomes self-evident. ua-cam.com/video/HMQkV5cTuoY/v-deo.html This is how I understand my Germany.
Every time i get goosebumbs from this song. Germany is where i was born. I can understand this feeling, i want to be proud of my country, but i can't. Its like an inner conflict. Our history was cruel.
Everyones history is cruel. The past was cruel. The future will be cruel. As the pendulum of power switches sides one time your people are treated badly. Other times your people treat others badly. It's human nature. Germany or the areas of modern germany in the past is nothing special in that regard.
@@brudibeutel5413 I respectfully disagree... My great father was german. From Köln. Catholic. Apotheker (Farmacist?), Zentrum. When mister Hitler was nominated Chancellor thanks Hidenburg (war hero) he bought Mein Kampf. He read it. One week later he sold for a cheap price his 5 Apotheken (Farmacies?) and left the near defunct Weimar Republic. He taught me one thing : everyone knew more or less what will happen... Germans turned a blind eye bcuz homeland of Goethe and Bach cannot give birth to monsters especially in a civilized age. Btw Arbeit macht Frei is a citation of Hegel... Sorry we have a very special past. Negating that is the modern way to turn a blind eye...
Bin Bosnier und muss euch Deutliche etwas wichtiges sagen. Es ist genug sich entschuldigen zu müssen für etwas was eiere Vorfahren getan haben, es ist genug sich zu schämen was wahr den ihr habt nix mit dem zu tun und es ist Zeit sein Haupt zu erheben und endlich um endlich stolz zu sein was ihr geschafft habt in einer zeit wie noch niemand in der Geschichte! Ja Ihr dürft das und Ihr müsst das um die nächste Stufe zu erreichen!!
dann sag das mal denen die sagen du bist als deutscher geboren und somit schuldig. geschichte schreiben immer die sieger. wen sollen die die beim einmarsch der siegermächte getötet, gefoltert, vergewaltigt, allem beraubt wurden anklagen?! diese Menschen haben keine stimme , denn KRIEGSBEUTE spricht nicht. und ja ich weis wovon ich rede. ich wurde 1980 geboren...in der DDR....da galt ein deutsches Mädchen wohl noch als Kriegsbeute mit der ein russischer Soldat machen konnte was er wollte.... wen kann ich dafür anklagen?!
empfindest du scham für da was dein land vielleicht vor 100 jahren getan hat? lange bevor du geboren wurdest? ich und auch mein sohn haben nichts mit dem zu tun was die nazis getan haben . auch meine mutter und meine oma waren nicht daran beteiligt und doch sollen wir uns schuldig fühlen... und doch sollen wir wiedergutmachung leisten. wann ist es genug? jedes land, jede nation hat leichen im keller, aber nur die deutschen müssen bis heute dafür büßen. was ist mit amerika und dem völkermord an den ureinwohnern und der sklaverei. der kirche und den hexenprozessen und den kreuzzügen? den muslimen und der verfolgung und ermordung ungläubiger? jedes land, jede nation, jeder glauben hat unzählige opfer gefordert, aber nur deutschland wird öffentlich an den prager gestellt zur wiedergutmachung gezwungen. nur in deutschland darf man nicht stolz auf sein land sein. nur in deutschland und als deutscher drarf man keine kritik aussprechen, weil man dann gleich ein nazi ist. ich sage auch keine macht den nazis, aber wenn man mir oft genug nachsagt das ich einer bin, egal was ich sage und tue...dann muss sich niemand von den moralaposteln wundern wenn ich tatsächlich einer werde. man kann sich eine gefahr auch selbst erschaffen.
Yes german history dark brutal worst of the worst but it is what it is..... only problem and scariest part is she is at sleep at this time but " red thin line " is on which means SHE IS COMING BACK
BIG APPLAUSE. For me one of the best reaction to this I've seen so far. Just a little bit of understanding and knowledge is really helpful in making good comments. Great reaction!!!
4: 58 paused on the East German part and is confused about Germany being young. The reunification of Germen was not that long ago. As a Swede I also like the pause at 6:42. On the Baader-Meinhof (RAF) crew because of the siege of the West Germen embassy in Stockholm in 1975. That also lead to the planed kidnapping of a Swedish parliament minister. The Swedish security service (Säpo) manage to stop is during what that operation they called "Ebba Röd". With the arrested of the leader of the kidnappers they used the code word "Ebba Grön" and that is how a Swedish punkrock band got its name.
As a german that has seen the original scratches of fingernails around the door frames of the gas chambers of concentration camp Dachau, this song brings me to tears and describes my feelings twoards my country so good. He doesn't sing I hate you germany, he sings I want to hate you but also love you. Your love is curse and blessing, my love I can't give you. So it's best described by an inhibition to be proud of your country. You don't see german flags much in private settings except every 4 years at soccer world championships for example. It feels just wrong to us. BTW: So young and yet so old means germany was only funded after 1945 and reunified in 1990 but its history reaches back to the first germanic tribes fighting the romans and by doing so gather together and form bonds.
Wooden doors, recently built smoke stacks and constantly changing number of Jews killed proves that your country is not as bad as a lot of people want you to think
Немцы почему вы не хотите гордиться своей страной, разве не вы первыми построили Ракету. Качеством немецкой стали, Бетоном, самые лучшие по качеству машины. А про танки во второй мировой я вобще молчу. Без ваших умельцев, которые вдохновили наших на создание самого лучшего в мире Автомата Калашникого (АК-47), его бы не было. А строители вы какие, здания построенные немцами после второй мировой до сих пор стоят. У нас тоже есть твари что завели страну не туда или тежи Власовцы которые предали страну, это были наши фашисты. Мы с ними так же как и вы разобрались. И не забывайте что большой вклад в победу над Фашизмом принесли сами немцы которые воевали да против своих , но тех кто творил зло. Фашистами вы стали не по своей воле, это всё благодоря рукам Англосаксов. Есть видео и записи разговоров, как вашими руками они хотели воевать против нас, всё в точности как сейчас произошло на Украине, одни в один. Тот же фашизм ( но они же не немцы) , а руководитель фашисткого режима у них Вобще Еврей =) ха ха ха
Honestly, this was one of the best reactions i ever saw. You understand the language really well and you get the main message of the song and i could feel with you when you got emotional :) Really like your appreciation for this song, best greetings from germany :)
I am quite faszinated by that song and have watched dozens of reaction videos to it. Its great to see how people process its content. Yours is one of the best. There is not that many people who get as quickly as that many nuances...
THANK YOU !!! Your are in fact the first non german speaker I see that reacts to this video and took his time to interpret it and also in the right way. Thank you. You give me hope!
Great job! You caught so much of Rammsteins intentions! That was very impressive! But for the full goosebumps you shouldn't have skipped the Outro ...🥴
Hallo, I'm from Germany and yes (!), this video shows somehow our feelings. "Love and Hate for our country". And being most ashamed when knowing what happened during WW2... Even when that was before my time, I do feel responsible and will do all for "Nie wieder!" Take care all, stay healthy and love and respect each other! *Hugs* from Hamburg in Germany!
No need to feel shame for your country. Many other countries have rough pasts as well. China,Japan,and others have done heinous things to eachother. Germany's past isnt your past. You werent there and had nothing to do with it all. I was in Germany 7 years ago and the people were so awesome! Kind,inviting,and so much fun to be with. The entire country is so beautiful that I didnt want to return to the US. Which itself is a hard country to be proud of these days.
Ask yourself "why" you feel responsible for something that you absolutely and objectively can not have any responsibility for because it happened long before you were born.
@@xScooterAZx This happens when people want to lecture you, but may not understand your text themselves. Thanks for your nice words. Greetings from the Ruhrpott in Germany
Oh, I cried so hard the first dozen times I watched this video. I also teach geography and once I managed to translate the lyrics for myself, I was even more heartbroken.
I’d put the Rammstein Video in the Top 5 of all music videos ever made. The whole history of germany in a 6ish minute video, all the references, the costumes, storyline, editing, video quality and the lyrics. Perfection.
I love love love your reaction my friend. I have seen many reaction videos to this song and your is by far the best. I even shared it with some american friends, bc your analysis about the german soul and their relationship to their country is really on point. It is a love/hate relationship. The video is really art. It is impressive how much effort they have put into it. The symbolism is everywhere and so many things are often just understandable and or have a much deeper meaning when you are german. I like that you in comparison to others have your picture small and the viedo in large in the background, this shows a lot of the respect for the artist and their work. Very good. Keep it on my friend!
I'm german and I think this song represents the feelings of most germans about their country. A few years ago I visited a friend in the US who went there after school and her host family had this huuuge american flag in the livingroom. I just remember how strange that was to me because in germany nobody would have a german flag in the livingroom or backyard. I think in the US this is normal and represents pride but when people do that here it just sends out these neona*i vibes. It's sad because Germany really is a beautiful country with so much to explore. PS sorry for mistakes in the text but I think you get the message
While I cannot speak for all Americans, I can definitely tell you that a lot of us feel the same way about the people that have giant American flags like that. We, as a culture, make a big deal about how we fought the Nazis in WWII, but America clearly did not learn anything about the dangers of nationalism.
@@ElaraDreamstar That's only because you choose to change our history to your perspective. You obviously are confusing Nationalism with Patriotism, which are not the same; something you clearly did not learn.
@@MR-nl8xr Nationalism is the natural evolution of blind patriotism. Patriots want what is best for the people of a country. Nationalist want their country to be the "best". Making children pledge allegiance to the flag at the start of school every day? That's nationalist indoctrination. Involving the military in all major sporting events like Nascar, the NFL... that's nationalist propaganda. Our national anthem is about a war for fuck's sake. "America the Beautiful" is an ACTUAL patriotic song.
@@MR-nl8xr I prefer to express my Patriotism not in a flag but in living out and supporting the ideals that represent the best version of my country. A Melting Pot where immigrants are welcomed, a person can live and breathe free from persecution for their beliefs and personal identity, where opportunity is given to anyone willing to work hard for it, and where the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. A flag at the end of the day is a piece of cloth and nothing more if it doesn't represent the hopes, dreams, and diversity of its people being supported and celebrated. Its history being told with honesty, humility, and a challenge to learn from past experiences.
@@MR-nl8xr ElaraDreamstar's observation is accurate because a lot of 'patriotic' Americans ignore that U.S. history is built on a lot of innocent blood and also ignore the ingrained bigotry that's part of our current society. A lot of traditionalists don't grasp that their version of patriotism is nationalism, which is why that comment is correct.
In my opinion this is Rammstein's best work. I'm an American, don't speak German, but I've listened to their music for decades and read the lyrics in English. There's so much emotion and symbolism in this song.
Amazing, you instantly understood the numerous hints, symbols and historic backgrounds of this music video. And you directly felt the meaning of the lyrics and translated them into the right context. I have seen a lot of reactions to this music video, and nobody recognized expecially the role of the black woman as Germania.
This is one of their best songs and music videos ever made. I still find lots of new details in the video til this day. This song is absolute destruction live. A total fan favorite. When this song comes up, everybody knows now the show really starts. I love it! The song, the video, this band. Greetings from 🇩🇪
9:33 While some people may feel ashamed of their history, I always loved the fact that German history is pretty well known so we're not loving our country because we don't know about certain dark events but despite of them. Up until 2016, I've been confronted many times with people asking how "normal" people can turn into crazies, supporting something fanatical that eventually led to one of the great crimes of the worlds history. Imagine an American band that would show lynching in their music video in trying to "capture" American history, the news channels would implode where as for me as a German.. it's facts and whether some Germans like it or not, they'll have to deal with it. Imagine a Russian band showing starving Russians during WW2, prison camps etc. , unthinkable. Their recollection of WW2 is that they freed the world... and every atrocity that happened during this period is completely avoided. Same goes for China, India etc. Knowing your history and trying to learn from it doesn't mean you cannot be proud of your country. Every person is capable of doing the most amazing as well as the most horrifying things on the very same day. The moment we all realize that we are no better or worse than other people from other countries/ continents will be the first day we can all work together, accept the shadows of our past and be acutely aware whenever some rancid idea/ ideology tries to capture the masses yet again. Where we can cherish our traditions, share them with other citizen of this planet and learn what unites rather what divides us.
Sadly, if any band go to those lengths to explain the history and brutality of their country but all at once, they would face criticism and possible ban.
Believe me, the news nearly had an aneurysm once their first teaser came out. Rammstein have always been for democracy and against Nazis, but nearly everyone went ahead and ignored their previous statements about that.
an American band confronting lynching? _80_ years ago, before music videos were a thing: (audio) watch?v=Web007rzSOI Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit edit: years
>would show lynching in their music video Like thats the worst thing they done lmao >Russian band showing starving Russians during WW2, prison camps etc. Its really not, why wouldn't they show how much they have suffered in WW2? In this video they are showing what evils they have done. You can be proud of your country, but some things you shouldn't be proud of. Some things can not be forgotten, some wounds are too deep to heal, and when you westerners try to do that it comes off as disingenuous and you try to relativize things, that can not be compared. I should know, Im from Balkan, Im from Serbia
Its really cool how so many non german content creators make such reaction videos to german stuff and be so positive about us and our culture. It really makes me feel proud of what we are now instead of dwelling on the deeds of people who died long before we existed.
In fact I am a teacher (in Germany) and did use this song to teach the students how remembrance can work and be different (in parts) from what has really happened - and also why it's ok and in times necessary. That got them off hand and they really liked it.
This is a masterpiece. The thought, the effort and the execution of it are brilliant. In terms of the wider conversation, yes Germany has a history of which some of it is terrible, but you cannot condemn a country permanently for the actions taken by generation(s) prior. In many ways, Germany is one of the more moderate voices in the world right now, and its actions in terms of support for Ukraine speak for themselves. I hope they can once again be proud, absolutely and utterly clear eyed about the past, but justifiably proud.
Great reaction video! As a German, I want to be proud of my country like others are of their country. And I'm proud of it, but sometimes you want to damn it. We have a dark history and I think we can learn from it. But Germany is not the only country with a dark history. This song speaks from my soul. It's a masterpiece!
I think other countries would do well to regard their own histories in a similar way. I’m Australian and and many of the things done to Aboriginal people during the colonial wars (yes there were wars! Most people don’t even know) was just as bad as what happened during the holocaust. It was a genocide. I don’t think the numbers were quite as high but we really don’t know exactly how many Aboriginal people were killed. We still celebrate Australia Day on the day that Captain Cook invaded NSW. There’s been a lot of agitation to change the date, most millennials agree with changing the date but the older generations don’t. I think people just don’t want to deal with the complicated emotions like what Germans have about their country so they just live in denial land instead.
My family is 170 years removed from Germany and the very first time I watched this video, I had almost the same reaction and thoughts as you did in this reaction video.
You have to look on UA-cam for "Deutschland by Rammstein: An Analysis" by Three Arrows. He is a German and explains in english the background of that video. Very interesting. After that you can use it in school as a history lesson
The dogs are a special race of which I sadly forgot the name. Their race was near extinction during both world wars and so they also represent the German People which also had some rough times during the world wars. The last scene of the band members wearing protective suits and holding the dogs means something like protecting the democracy we have built out of the ashes with all costs
The band actually records most of their live-material in South America and France. Most people there don't understand the lyrics, but they still party along.
I'm Canadian of German descent, this video spoke to me, while I listened to you (I enjoyed it btw) I searched the background for the song and found an article that had a German history scholar going through the Germanic history with the different parts of the video..... As a boy I remember my mom telling me how my dad had a hard time during WW2, he was a teenager in Saskatchewan and people's attitudes towards Germans was not the friendliest. I don't ever remember him talking about that period in his life. Thanks for the video
For us germans its always that feel. I am very proud of so much in my country and still this dark shadow lingers above us making us feel in two ways about our land....i love this song as it expresses also my feelings. I am proud to be a german but also aware not to forget the dark side of the coin.....
Hör auf zu leiden, steh zu der Scheiße und mach es besser. Please also check out a clever parody and reaction from a clever German entertainer, Jan Böhmermann, in which my criticism of this Rammstein video becomes self-evident. ua-cam.com/video/HMQkV5cTuoY/v-deo.html This is how I understand my Germany.
Getting goosebumps everytime for i really can relate to that song. You however should really watch the video completly. The outro takes the song and it's emotional impact on another level.
German here, living in Austria. You did such a fine job, not only translating but also reasoning about the meaning of the song. This song (+video) to me is one of the most impressive works is art ever. It covers all the right bases, simply impressive.
To me, this song symbolizes what good patriotism should be. No country is innocent. The US also has a very dark past, and much more darkness in our recent past than Germany (looking at you Bush and the illegal Iraq war). One of the big differences between Germany and the US, and something I very much admire the Germans for, is the sobering look they take into their own past during school. I don't think any other country does this as well. It's raw, entirely without any sugar coating. I think these are very important lessons, ultimately about humanity. Coming out of high-school in the US, even college, we do not glean as much of an understanding of how human nature is both good and evil and how that can affect entire societies in very negative ways. Like most, we have trouble discussing our ugly sides, and we'd much rather glorify ourselves. That we don't face up to the dark sides of humanity that have also shaped US history and culture, is very much responsible for US society today looking ever more similar to Germany of the 1930s. Something to think about. The entire world would benefit to take a long hard and critical look at themselves the way Germans do. Ironically, this is one of the many thing Germans deserve to be proud of!
Did you really just compare the Iraq war to World War 2? The Iraq war is a drop in the bucket compared to WW2, where over 70 million people died. Also, there is no such thing as an "illegal war".
Very well said. Strangely enough, this video makes me proud to be German, not because of the atrocities or achievements of the past, but because of the seriousness and honesty with which -we- most of us now living Germans deal with that past and try to be a force for the betterment of all mankind. You can only be proud or ashamed of things you have done or failed to do yourself. That's why it's okay (and sufficient) for me to be proud of ourselves as we are today.
Your German pronounciation and how much you understood correctly was really good! Didn't know, that you are able to learn German in Sweden. The piano outtro is a classical version of their song "Sonne", which has a really creative video as well. Check it out. ;) Answering your questions... Yes, you understood the basic meaning of the video. To fully understand every image and scene, even Germans with a good knowledge of history had to watch it several times. Every dress, motion, color and detail has a meaning and a lot of things are symbolic. And I saw that some people already gave you more detailed explanations. But yes, there are also at least two really good videos with a deep analysis of the video.
That is just amazing. Germania is leaving in her space reliquary/coffin Earth and the Sun is there but in the form of a leitmotif. It's staggering how well thought out this is.
great analysation and your translations were pretty spot on (they are singing "i want to love you and condemn you" in the chorus). to me as a german this song and video means a lot. it represents perfectly how we love our country but at the same time are haunted by the demons of our past. about the part with the monks: the way i interpreted is that in medieval times the church held all the power and wealth and were "feasting off" the common people (you can see under the table the people being tortured). They are indulging in gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins, while they are supposed to be holy
"She" is Germania. Representing all the colors we fly today - Black, Red and Gold. And she wears them righteously, a proper representation of modern day Germany. Though, that doesn't mean that this is what all of the country would agree upon. The colors of the flag - yeah sure. But who's representing it - maybe not. Anyhow, I'd be the first to carry Ruby Commey (the actress that is depicting Germania in this video) on my shoulders and scream GERMANY on the top of my lungs.
Actually Ruby Commey wears the respective colors of the respective era for the greater area. Only in the medieval times did she wear black, red, and gold, because there was not unified nation to have a unified flag. In one situation she is dressed in pretty clearly Prussian officers garb, then she wears red, white and black. It is a bit difficult to notice at times, but her outfit colors do change with the era, at least some times.
@@l.a.3680 Ich störe mich an ihr nicht... aber Menschen, die sich an ihr stören, sollten auch in unserem Land leben dürfen, oder? Wohin magst Du diese Mitbürger schicken? :/
@@void1968able Die Frage ist wie man stören definiert. Ein "ist nicht so meins aber ist auch egal" ist noch kein stören. "Mitbürger" die sich grundsätzlich daran stören das es hier auch Menschen gibt die wie auch immer aussehen würde ich direkt nach Syrien schicken. Einfach nur um zu schauen wie viele von denen es zurück nach Deutschland schaffen. ---- Tatsächlich würde ich niemanden von denen pauschal irgendwo hin schicken. Ich würde darauf bauen das sie den Normalbürgern nicht auf den Sack gehen und darauf das sie, wenn es ihnen hier nicht autokratisch genug zugeht in ein Land auswandern das ihren Vorstellungen mehr entspricht.
You translated some of the key parts. This reflects basically what I as a German and many of my peers feel about our country. We are neither proud of our country nor do we love it, since we did not contribute to its history and we are born here randomly, however we know our history and we know what it teaches us and that some parts must never be allowed repeating. While we do not love our country and we are not proud of our country, but we are really really happy to be German and that is not cognitive dissonance.
Being completely proud and blindly loving Germany would be a cognitive dissonance. There have been a lot of great Germans, great Scientists & Artists, the culture is rich and fascinating, the language complex and beautiful and yet, there have been so much horrible acts committed in the name of Germany. I am not responsible for my fathers sins, so i don't feel guilty about e.g. the Holocaust, but that also means that i can not feel pride for the achievements of my ancestors. That would be cognitive dissonance.
"so young and yet so old" just because Germany has a rich history, but very young because after 1945 it became something totally different and started anew for obvious reasons. Also after 1989 it got "reborn" again.
exactly my reaction when I first saw this!! right in the gut - and for me the feeling this evokes isn't just limited to Germany, this red thread of violence runs through all history and we all stand at the end of it and need to figure out how to deal with it
As Russian I feel this lyrics so deep and so close. You can put Russland instead of Deutschland and the lyrics would still be correct. It’s so painful, especially these days. And it’s so beautiful… Such different countries with same illness. Germany was able to recover and that gives me hope
As a Swede who studied German for a couple of years over 20 years ago (98 to early 00), this song and most other Rammstein songs makes me want to pick up German again because I want to understand their lyrics more than a word here and there, and I just really enjoy listening to the language and want to get to a conversational level of proficiency in it.
I’m french and that’s video is one of strongest i ever seen. I feel like i dive into what many germans might think about their history and the darkest part of it. I cried, it hurts but it’s also beautiful. You made yourself clear because i feel the same.
It's an absolute work of art. Both the song and the video are equally brilliant. I not only love the song but I respect this band so much. I am not German, but it really hit me emotionally none the less. I think it touches on tribalism and the inner struggle we all face. Brilliant.
My first language is Russian, my second language is English. But men I love German language so much, it’s sounds so great and mighty 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻 I hope I will start learning it someday 😊
What most people forget is that the lyrics are even a rundown on Rammsteins own musical history. The obvious "Du hast (viel geweint)" in the beginning, the "Wir..Ich...Ihr"-part from "Ich will" or "Das Herz in Flammen" which refers to "Mein Herz brennt". There's tons of this stuff in the song.
you didn't say. i'm Filipino 🇵🇭 yet the pure artistry of this video makes me want to be Deutsch. Germania has many thinkers, music writers and has such a rich culture. ugh! so envious.
hey man. i am from germany and i am really into metal and rock including rammstein ofc. i liked the song, but i never really questioned any line, it just had a good flow, like most of their songs to me. the reason i am writing this comment is that i want to thank you from my heart for breaking it so well down and explaining some major details (some very obious) to me and many others. the part where you pointed out how emotional this quickly became, rushed tears into my eyes... thank you, sir.
This is one of my fave Rammstein songs. im american but I definitely have German ancestry. Being an American, i can definitely understand loving and hating one’s country. This is how i feel about the US with regards to our wanting to be the world’s police and we have done some horrible things - Guantanamo bay, Iraq and Afghanistan to name a few. This song makes me feel so many emotions.
And I really don't understand why not the Russians hate their country for all the wars, and violence they spread from Ukraine, Chechnya, Georgia, Lybia to Syria... Right?
Man muss den Stolz auch nicht zeigen. Stolz ist eh etwas komisches. Warum stolz auf ein Land sein, das im laufe der Geschichte so viele verschiedene Grenzen, sprachen und „Besitzer“ hatte. Ich liebe Deutschland, weil mir dieses Land so viel mehr gibt, weil hier Dinge funktionieren, die es in anderen Ländern so nicht gibt. Uns gehts hier fucking gut, im Vergleich zu den meisten Menschen auf der Erden. Ist das stolz? Für den einen vllt schon, für mich ist es Liebe zum Heimatland. Stolz bin ich auf meine eigene Taten oder auf Leute die etwas erreichen, wofür sie gekämpft/hingearbeitet haben. Die Liebe (oder halt auch stolz) zum eigenen Land kann man auch zeigen, ohne das man ne Flagge hoch hält. Man kann auch einfach die Werte, die Verfassung und Demokratie schützen, alles dafür geben und dankbar sein für das was man hier hat und vllt ein bisschen zurück geben, in dem man dem Land was zurück gibt (ehrenamtliche Arbeit, Erfindungen, positive Dinge eben)
You just hit the nail man. I am German and feel EXACTLY that way....unable to love my Homeland.... makes me really melancholic. Ironically that's why I can't even listen to Rammstein...makes me to sentimental. I just landed here since I enjoyed your reaction to "history of the world". However I am sincerely amazed by your level of empathy to put yourself in the shoes of a German! Good watch! Greetings 🤟
Its crazy how much I relate to this song. ANd you putting these feelings into words exactly as I feel them shows how well made this song about Germanys history is
Best reaction I've seen to this song. It really captures well a lot of what I have felt myself watching it. I was surprised how much you managed to pick up on first viewing of this. I cannot remember exactly what my first reaction was. I have been slightly obsessed with this song for quite some time. 3 Arrows has a great commentary about every little details of this song, which I watched early so I have kind of known all the details on each rewatch. I think your reaction shows a couple of things: You need have some understanding of the German language as well as some appreciation for history to get the most out of this. I am in no way fluent in German, but I feel it helps to know the most commonly used words and phrases here. I also had your reaction of sadness. It is something profoundly sad about the story of Germany and the feelings Germans have towards it. One thing I think about many times while Germany as a nation committed horrible crimes against humanity, there was a huge amount of atrocities committed against them as well. But Germans are not really "allowed" to see themselves as victims. They had to live through a bombed out country, which initially was being starved, millions of German women raped. Yet they just had to eat it. Suck it up. They were the bad guys, and had no right to complain. All are Nazis until proven otherwise. I know a lot of this feeling growing up in Norway. The intense hatred towards German that hated. My mother in childhood did not know that a German was a human being. The way grownups talked about German made her thing a German was a sort of vicious beast. Some kind of monstrous beast. Only as she got older did she learn that a German was a nationality. A people. When going on vacation I would remember how anything a German ever did got interpreted in a WWII setting. If a German took up too much space at the swimming pool, it was explains as the natural German desire to dominate and control. Fortunately I never hear stuff like this anymore. I think we have finally reached a point where Germany and Germans can be treated like normal people. With the world we live in I sometimes wonder if Germany ironically will have to carry the torch of democracy and liberty. One country after the other seems to succumb to right-wing populism. Maybe Germany gets to play the role of savior of Western democracy in the third act...
I definitely need a different name for this channel xD
Any ideas?
I suppose It will depend on what you are planning to do. You were a teacher learning history, now a teacher learning history trough music. What's Next? 😉💕
@@nekane6168 I enjoy the reacting part. Something to do outside of my job, but i dont really teach on the channel xD
@@simpleviking I meant you are a teacher LEARNING💕😉
hardcore teacher :)
Maybe "Teacher teaching himself about ..."
Hi Viking,
German is my first language - so as a native pls let me explain as concise as possible many of the hidden symbols and meanings in this great song: In advance - please apologize the mistakes that I have certainly made as English is not my first language :-)
Before I go through it just some general remarks: the black lady’s persona in the video is “Germania” and she represents Germany (the nation / the people) and in many scenes where she appears the colors black, red and gold (colors of the German flag) are dominant. The video as well as the lyrics are a critical review on Germany’s history.
Main scenes of the video: The first scene with the roman soldiers refers to the battle of Teutoburg forest, the first time the German tribes untied under Arminius against the Romans and ambushed them on their march back to their winter camp + completely annihilated several legions - the romans would never return and fortify at the Rhine - this could be seen as the birth of the German identity.
The red laser beams throughout the video I think are guiding thread (German expression “roter Faden”" translates to “red thread” and translates to guiding principle / guideline of a story)
When Germania (black lady) in golden armor (black red gold as main colors of the scene pushes the standard into the ground she raises all the dead medieval knights - a reference to the strength of the German people who recovered time after time throughout history from catastrophes (especially, but not only) in the middle ages (crusades, Hunnic invasion, plague, etc.) - the additional meaning i think is the fact that German people several times followed their countries call for War - even if they were already beaten up (e.g. after WWI going into WWII)
Next scene (fistfight) is from the roaring twenties, the period between the two world wars where upper class society was decadent on the backs of ordinary people + entertainment industry was born.
Next scene shows the Hindenburg disaster (famous German Airship which blew up in flames) during a time of growing industrialization 1930s.
Next Scene is from the communist elite in eastern Germany who was indulging in party and Champaign while ordinary people were poor and the main idea of communism should be equality of the people.
Then the scene in the middle ages - where the monks (representing the church) feast on Germania (the land) and suppress the common folk (underneath the table).
The scene in the prison again refers to the roaring twenties, as Germania is dressed in a Prussian uniform suppressing the German people. Additionally money is thrown away by everybody, a reference to the big inflation in Germany after WWI.
Then the rockets (Nazi German was working on the first warfare rockets called V1 and V2 (V standing for “Vergeltung” which translates to retaliation - fitting to the picture with the rockets, the lyrics are an alliteration on “über” a german pre-syllable/prefix meaning over. “Überheblich (overbearing / presumptuous), Überlegen (superior) Übernehmen (taking over), Übergeben (handing over), überraschen (surprise), Überfallen (ambush), „Deutschland, Deutschland über allen“ (Germany, Germany above everyONE). The line „Deutschland, Deutschland über alleN“ (Germany above everyONE) is a reference to one of the verses of former national anthem of Germany which was in use from 1922 to 1945 and got excluded after WW2 for being too nationalistic. In this verse there was a line “Deutschland, Deutschland über alleS“ (a subtle difference to the line in Rammstein’s version translating to “Germany, Germany above everyTHING”). The actual verse with this line was already written in 1842, long before the formation of Germany as a Nation (which only happened in 1871) - therefore “Germany, Germany above everything” was relating to the importance of uniting the several German ministates, kingdoms and Duchies into one nation. After WWI this verse got taken into the national anthem of Germany as it spoke to the patriotism of the German people but later officially excluded fomr the anthem since it was deemed too nationalistic. Today this verse/line is generally frowned upon and would be associated with Neo-Nationalism. Using this line in the scene with the concentration camps including the subtle change from “Germany above everyTHING” (which has already the nationalistic connotation) to “Germany above everyONE” which carries an even more nationalistic / racist meaning is a very clever double-reference to the doctrine of racial supremacy in the Third Reich.
The Concentration camp prisoners have symbols sewn on their jackets for the groups the Nazis hunted and killed (yellow star for Jews, Pink triangle for Homosexuals, red symbol for political adversaries (communists). Germania is on the side of the Nazis and has an eyepatch (representing the blind eye that many Germans turned on the atrocities of the Nazi regime.
The Scene where Till is dressed as a woman refers to the left wing terrorist group called “Rote Armee Fraktion” - a terrorist association in the 1970s responsible for several political assassinations and murders as well as a famous kidnapping of German Diplomats in Stockholm.
Then there is the scene with the stake at which books are burned by the Nazis and people are burned by the church (inquisition). Later the monk (church) and the Nazi soldier hug (as the church did not go against the Nazis when they came to power and both organizations were responsible for a lot of intolerance and suffering in their times.
The scene where Germania is dressed in white with a Halo I think refers to the positive, the strength of the German people who recovered time after time from several catastrophic disasters in their history. Later she gives birth to puppies representing the German people. The puppies are from a rare breed of dogs (Leonbergers) who’s population got almost extinct in both world wars (symbolized with the dogs wearing gas masks) but recovered after the wars. In these scenes the band members wear space suits - in my view a reference to the (hopefully) better future of the German people.
In the very last scene of the outro you can once more see Germania with national colors (black, red gold) with black lipstick, red eyes and golden armor before a red/ black background holding an eagle, the heraldic symbol of Germany. Finally, please find below the lyrics of the song as the perfectly convey the message of the problematic relationship many Germans have to their homeland, wanting to be proud of it but not being able to due to it’s difficult history:
One further remark to one of the more important lines of the lyrics: The line in this song "So jung und doch so alt" (So young and yet so old) refers to the fact that the German people with their idenitify have been around for thousands of years, however the actual state of Germany as a nation was only founded very late (1871) thorough the unification of several mini states (Prussia, Hessia, Saxonia, Bavaria, etc.) Here now the lyrics (copied from the internet):
[Verse 1]
You (You have, you have, you have, you have)
Have cried a lot (Cried, cried, cried, cried)
Separated in spirit (Separated, separated, separated, separated)
United in heart (United, united, united, united)
We (We are, we are, we are, we are)
Have been together for so long (You are, you are, you are, you are)
Your breath's cold (So cold, so cold, so cold, so cold)
The heart in flames (So hot, so hot, so hot, so hot)
You (You can, you can, you can, you can)
I (I know, I know, I know, I know)
We (We are, we are, we are, we are)
You (You stay, you stay, you stay, you stay)
[Chorus]
Germany - my heart in flames
Want to love and damn you
Germany - your breath's cold
So young, and yet so old
Germany!
[Verse 2]
I (You have, you have, you have, you have)
I never want to leave you (You cry, you cry, you cry, you cry)
One can love you (You love, you love, you love, you love)
And want to hate you (You hate, you hate, you hate, you hate)
Presumptuous, superior
Take over, hand over/puke
Surprise, invade
Germany, Germany above everything
[Chorus]
Germany - my heart in flames
Want to love and damn you
Germany - your breath is cold
So young, and yet so old
Germany - your love
Is a curse and a blessing
Germany - my love
I can't give you
Germany!
Germany!
[Bridge]
You
I
We
All of you
You (superior/overpowering, unnecessary)
I (Übermenschen (translates to “superior humans” - a term the Nazis implicitly used for themselves as the calles other races “Untermenschen” - translating to “inferior humans”), weary)
We (The higher you climb, the further you fall)
You (Germany, Germany above everything)
[Chorus]
Germany - your heart in flames
Want to love and damn you
Germany - my breath's cold
So young, and yet so old
Germany - your love
Is a curse and blessing
Germany - my love
I can't give you
Germany!
Best comment and explanation ever!!
Danke das du du das so Interpretiert hast. Das mit der Hunderasse wusste ich nicht und Germania als Symbolbild der Bevölkerung war mir nur in der Szene bewusst, in der die Mönche von ihr Aßen. Das sie das Symbolbild über das gesamte Video wiedergibt, war mir ein neuer Ansatz. Gleichzeitig ist mir bei der ersten Betrachtung der Melodie, der schrille Synthesizer beat aufgefallen und der eher altmodische Klavierklang. Der irgendwie die innere Zerrissenheit zwischen der Wahrung alter Werte undstabilität und den unbedingten und teils rücksichtslosen drang nach Fortschritt transportiert. Insgesamt ist dieses Lied ein multimediales Meisterwerk.
Wow!, thank you for sharing your knowledge and translation. What a great song.
Thank you!/Danke schön
Wow, congratulations on so much knowledge :) Did you get all these insights yourself? I only got app. 50 % of the topics.
Anyway, one of the best answers/comments I've read.
Im german and when i first saw and heard this masterpiece, i was speechless. They percectly describe my feelings for my country. This band ripens like fine wine and in my opinion its one of their best ones ever.
I work with germans among other nationalities, and the day after the release, there was just one topic, this song. None of them was a metalhead at all, but they all got the impression of being beaten hard in the way they perceived the country. I mean, you need to be brave enough to come up public with this song and video, putting Germany in front of the darkest mirror. My German friends explained me also how certain sentences are way meaningful for Germans, some of them just a letter away of saying something punishable.
Honestly, so many layers to be covered by a mere reaction. This masterpiece has many readings, and probably in 100 years is going to be remembered as we remember today Van Gogh.
On side note, the display of acceptance of Germany to this song is a great sign of maturity and introspection, my deepest congratulations to you all.
I know a lot of awesome germans I come from Norway we have a dark history when we were Vikings but like with all countries we all have bad sheep. I'm looking forward to visit Germany again. Been in kiel a few times want to visit the rock festival
Na dann!
@Klansman schäm dich!
@Klansman und Massenmörder!
If an American rock band made a video as honest as this video is about Germany history about American history you would have half the country wanting to arrest them for treason
Thats because The USA is not free, and stop saying Ameica thats canada and mexico to you moron.
German people are (at least most of them) in good terms with their past mistakes, most americans can't even recognize their country's mistakes in history.
American pride is toxic. We Brazilians are alike with our black history, we treat It like taboo and tend to forget the bad stuff we done to black people in the past, swallowing that "racial democracy" bullshit that we think we have.
True
Well America has no history
@@drunkentanker2264 well, It does have, but just like in Brazil, the europeians killed more than half of It.
Everytime someone skips the outro, my heart hurts a little. The piano version of Sonne is just so good!
not just that but it brings the closure, the quench that factually hardens the iron.
Not to mention taking away from the credits of all the people it took to make this masterpiece of a music video. Let them have their time and enjoy the last moments of the production.
I cried when he started clicking through it.....😢
Yes
absolut
As a German I can say: This song and video shows the feelings I have about my country really well.
I'm from the Netherlands and I love Germany!
@@nightgoblin29 i dont think they are saying they dont like Germany i think they are saying that they love their country but dosent like the things some of their people did in the past
@Kaeseblock True.I Love Germany for its great educational system and for the politicians such as Angela Merkel.But I hate what theyve done about 60 years ago.Holocaust,Racism and pure death!!!Mixed feelings,I can’t say more.Frohes neues übrigens
@@gapeorn8424 yeah, the song is massive mixed feelings - "want to love you, want to hate you"
@@Sunbuddy_Solaire Only if you never compare it to other countrys....
This video is probably the best ever made in music history. Rammstein are a colossal band, on every level, and this is their absolute masterpiece. Impossible to listen and watch without goosebumps and without feeling all the pain and sadness.
This "Masterpiece" is a requiem on Germany as it once existed. "Germany Must Perish!" was a booklet published in 1941. And finally now it will - suicided by its own politicians.
yes , this Video is best production ever, only the subtleties in this videos are so great but most of the people dont understand
i'm also very impressed by the symbolism of their video in Amerika.
with the moon landing filming and countries pillaged. damn... packed with everything.
Pure art. 👌🏼
As a Danish history nerd and Rammstein enjoyer, this video is a masterpiece and to date one of their greatest works.
Please also check out a clever parody and reaction from a clever German entertainer, Jan Böhmermann, in which my criticism of this Rammstein video becomes self-evident. ua-cam.com/video/HMQkV5cTuoY/v-deo.html This is how I understand my Germany.
When Rammstein makes you feel like you're watching a Sabaton video, you know you're learning something.
Yes.
As a Scotsman living in Britain, German history is honest to a fault like the music video shows how Germans understand their dark history. Wish other countries took note like the UK rather than just doing the whole let's move on routine. The acknowledgement of past misdeeds leads towards a brighter future.
To remind you... in germanay we were told we are the Bad people and we need 2 be ashamed of oure history 4 decates... so we are bad and have 2 pay 4 everything 4 the next decates.... at least....
Gernan = Bad that is what we are learning from the start....
Evil german you are.
There is a saying in Germany: „Wer die Vergangenheit vergisst, ist verdammt, sie zu wiederholen“. Which can be translated to: „Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.
I think that describes the view german people have on their history pretty well. That’s why we will never stop to remember our very dark history and to constantly fight for it no never happen again.
@@aramn8151this is one thing that always confuses me, when i hear (usually american) youtubers talk about germans feeling guilty for their past
Like... No, i don't. I'm not responsible for what people did, years before even my grand parents were born. But we are responsible for never letting anything like that happen again
@@aramn8151 well every country and especially all european countries have a „dark history“. I hate it when people call the entire german history bad because of 12 years.
@@p3chv0gel22 Мы в России отлично знаем что сделали Немцы в годы второй мировой войны. Ведь мы из всех стран , больше всех в ней пострадали и потеряли самых лучших людей нашей страны. Но не мы , не наши предки не хотели тогда и сейчас какой то расплаты за содеянное. Мы отлично знаем кто виновен в той войне, почему Германия напала на СССР(Россию) и почему даже сейчас Россию терзают тежи самые люди что Предали и вовлекли народ Германии в ту мясорубку. Это те жи люди с которыми мы воююем на Украине. Это Англосаксы(США) эти две страны принесли и приносят до сих пор горе , страдание и слёзы людям нашей Планеты.
Надеюсь с победой над Украиной(Англосаксов) мы сможем показать миру, что зло можно и нужно побеждать, что у человека только 3 пола ( пол. мужской, пол. женский и пол. под ногами)
8:38 My history teacher actually played this song when it came out and we analyzed it together. It was perfect timing because it was like a summary of the last 3 years of history class. A great way to test what we remembered. There are so many blink and you'll miss it moments.
That is exactly what I would like for history lessons in Germany.
@@alexanderg.9735 I am Slovenian and i would love (if i was young enough) that that would be shown in class. A lot of European history is intertwined and just fascinating
You have pretty good teacher, I should say.
@@heyhoe168 Yeah, he was great! Me and my former class still talk and meetup occasionally when possible.
One my favourite moments was when he once brought tea for us all during class. Before christmas we had a secret santa event (Wichteln) and he gifted my friend, who was a big fan of greek and roman history a fitting book.
All of us even filmed a little movie about a main historical topic. Fun times!
@Gerrie Ordaz Rammstein are amazing. They always make layers of ideas in music video for shallow auditory, however they have serious messages for those who listens as well.
this video isn't a music video. it's just pure art
I’m English and when I first heard the song, I didn’t think much of it. Looking up the lyrics made me cry…. Then I saw them live. I’m telling you, best concert ever.
Если взглянуть пристальнее, то с Англией и Францией происходит в точности тоже самое что в клипе с Германией. Прям один в один. Англичане берите судьбу в свои руки и выгоняйте приезжих. Зовите послов и отправляйте их в Россию, подписывать вечный мир. А NATO сотрите с лица земли, вы должны собой управлять, а не кучка бюракратов.
Мы должны стать едиными в дружбе, а не в огне Армагеддона.
@@Zeylon1 едиными в дружбе когда у страны в торговом союзе отнимает территории свое же 'содружество'
This goes so damn deep - The Piano in the end plays the melody „Sonne“ which means Sun - representing „hope“ in the German Mythology
How is Sonne equal to hope? That’s BS.
Im not even German but I felt the weight and intensity and passion of this like a ton of bricks. I got some real respect for Rammstein now
I'm not german but studied German in my young school years and yet I felt all the weight of the History of Germany, all the resentment other occidental countries made them endure... Somehow it reminds me of all the rights and wrongs my country, France, have done over the years... We are all differents but all the same finally. I heard about Rammstein a long time ago, but really discover their work now, in 2023 and I love that!!! It is so accurate, cynical and realistic at the same time!!! I'd like to thank Thagnar1978 for all the work he put in his answer/response and the accuracy he show in answering the calls of Simple Viking in the video...We can all agree this video is a real masterpiec in the history of music video since its existence. Thanks to all for your contiributions
Germany is by far one of the Oldest European Countrys right after Spain France Portugal and England and it got a hell ton of history started at the times Rom became big and goes trough medevil to World Wars and young new Time the Song Line so old but also young is a hidden easter egg and stays for the Reunion from Germany after the war if u need smt about History from any where England and Germany mostly the Countrys to go find things about history and modern as also old Sailor tells ^^
@@Lueckenphiller Germany has shapeshifted a TON though. Germany as it is today has existed very briefly.
How this video didn't win best music video everywhere is beyond me. There is nothing like it (as far as I know). The cinematography, cultural and historical messaging and the interplay between the video and sound is second to none.
rammstein videos were always top notch, even the goofy ones. i have been off the grid listening to my fave bands in the past years before seeing this one and was completely blown away, maybe not their very best song but the visuals on this is award worthy like you said.
because the inclusion of nazi symbolism is automatically and mindlessly assumed to mean they support the nazis, even though the literal words mean exactly the opposite (want to love but hate the actions), and rammstein has never, ever, shown any tendency in that directionl, and if anyone actually watched the damn thing they would see the nazis get executed. guilty until proven guilty.
Same thoughts. When a new Rammstein video is released its always a big thing in Germany. Especially with this one. It’s epic.
But this music video is definitely the best of all time. I don't know of any other video by a band that even comes close to this.
The Problem with that is that most Germans not even understand what there songs rlly mean and so they often get accused to be "Nazis" but they normal dudes just making some Bangers with Educational background that most people not understand or even say thats "Nazi stuff" thats why they not get every thing they normaly should get
As a German, I have never come across anything that describes my relationship with this country as well as this song. I have goosebumps every time I watch this video and sometimes it makes me cry because you can feel the sadness of wanting to love your country but not being able to and it's so accurate. As someone who does not live in Germany anymore I very much relate to this and sometimes it hurts.
EDIT: Now that I've finished watching the whole video I just wanted to say that I'm glad you got the gist of the song, your German is still quite good but also the visuals are somewhat clear I guess. It feels almost comforting that you also felt this heaviness despite not being German.
I understand the feeling too, as an American having grown up in the Bush era and realizing how much horror we have caused across the world. I can't be patriotic but there are a lot of things about the land I come from and the people and the beautiful art we've made that makes me proud. Ultimately, I think patriotism for its own sake is dangerous and we may all need to leave it behind to build a better world.
Germany has suffered and still suffer....
I am Italian and I think I can quite relate to what you say. I too would like to love my country, but the shadow of the past lingers and doesn't let me. Especially when you look at modern Italian politics and you see that the ideas from the forties are still there, under this or that mask...but they still exist. And that hurts so bad.
@@creepystuffchannel its like it Had wound what did not properly cured and left big scar visible for all . That scar can’t fully fade away even after centuries…
@@Dooncat I agree... it stays and lingers after decades, centuries...I would like to love my country for its art and culture and land, but there is always that stain, that "scar" as you very well say, which pulls me back...fascism, what it has done to everyone, what it has done to my family...I could never meet my grandfather, and he suffered greatly, like so many millions of innocent. And it hurts so much to see that there are still people standing by those ideals here. It makes me sick and makes me curse this place...lieben und verdammen...
As a Jew I gotta say the part in the concentration camp touched me the most. I think they dressed up both like the prisoners and the guards to show how truly both people are the same. Its definitely a critic song about the past of Germany. I definitely understand the message Rammstein delivers in this song. They want to be proud of Germany but they can't fully be proud of it becasue of it's past. I think this song is more educational than ever and perhaps one of the most important songs came to date from any rock/metal band.
top . hallo from München
Our german history has been completely changed in only just 6 years.
Everything before is now forgotten, everything afterwards was a shame for us, until today!
There is no more pride for germany .... it is a curse that we germans have come under.
Thats the curse, because we killed people which are the apple of god's eye.
We generations after that all, are still under this curse ! and God will judge our people for it sometimes .... until today God has not done so but he will still do it. We Germans know that - all of us!
I felt this was the song meaning... I thank you as a jewish person for speaking on this part of the song/video, as I felt that was the point and also the strongest emotional part for me and well done part. I am Canadian, indigenous/Irish, and such a painful awful thing that happened to your ppl.....However, not all Germans at the time or especially now suport what happened then. Going to take more time for sure to get better "heal" from that travisty ::(... And I feel it/relate in a way because of my native heritage. Much love your way for you and your ppl
I am German and what you say is absolutely correct. We, the generations after, are ashamed of what our grandfathers did to the Jewish people, We still don't understand how people could act so abnormally. That's why we're not proud of our recent German history.
@@MsMtheory Thanks for your understanding. Germany is one of the only countries in Europe that currently work so hard to ban everything related to Nazism. I live in Israel and Germany is currently Israel's biggest supporter after the US (not involving politics). Their obligation to Israel is very big and im greateful for that. I have friends in Germany which their grandparents served under Hitler's regime but I know they hated their past. I'm happy in modern times Germany is making the world better one place at a time
Nails nearly every line but still says "I understand not that much".
Man that was great! You got the overall message of the song. It tells Germanys history but also gives you an idea how many good AND even more bad things happened in the history of Germany.
Thank you so much! :)
There were some dubble meanings missed, like über alles/allen, and the young referring the modern nation only forming in the 19th century, but overall, great reaction, one of the best I’ve seen. It’s rare to see someone be so genuine with there emotions.
It's more the other way around: Germanys history is rich and goes back almost 2 millennia. But there's also some dark moments in its history.
@@XanderFenikkusu yes, good and bad. But Germanys history is pretty young and Germany exists, if you wanna be precise, for only 150 years.
There were 2 world wars, the devision of Germany, and and and.
But its true, also many good things happened, at least when you wanna look at the territory were todays Germany is located.
@@jordan4748 Every nation has the same position! Oh how we like to believe the good is a continuum through history and the bad end with every revolution or new constitution. Or even the last election... But it should be in our backpack just like the good things, and maybe we should drop that backpack somewhere... and realize we are human, nothing more, nothing less.
"So young and yet so old" is basically just that, the current, young unified Germany is still in its infancy, yet Germany as a people dates bac to before Roman times, and all throughout this history have been many highs (victory over the Romans in Teutoburg Forest for example) and many lows (obvious, Third Reich).
Its an excellent song showcasing the duality of both wanting to love and be proud of your country, yet so ashamed and condemning of things they have also done in the past.
That's incorrect
@@nalanala9725 Yet provides no examples or reasons to that effect.
@@nalanala9725 Untrue.
Another way for it is that Germany as a nation is quite a new thing, about 150 years, but the idea of being german is more than a thousand years old.
I mean the third Reich was a technological high but other then that a low
very good reaction, you really caught onto the emotional aspects of it. i wish you hadn't skipped the outro though.
01:28 she's Germania, the personification of Germany
02:19 the boxing match symbolises the division of 1920's Weimar republic, where fights between communist and nazi street gangs were common place and this split in parliament led to the nazis being able to take over power. of course everyone claimed to just want the best for the people - "im Herz getrennt, im Geist vereint" (united in heart, divided in spirit)
03:49 the monks cannibalising Germania symbolise the religious wars of the 16th and 17th century when germany was split into dozens of feudal states and the only ones profiting were the lords and the church
05:00 germany wasn't united until 1871, yet "the germans" have been around for a long time, as you can tell by the first scene in 16AD
06:44 "i can't give you my love" is exactly right. at the same time we see the 1970's far-left terrorist group RAF abducting Germania - a reference to their abduction and killing of H.M. Schleyer (at the time president of the german union of industrialists and former SS-commander)
13:00 as for recommendation: react to Rammstein's song "Radio" next, it's about them growing up in eastern germany, where everything from the west was forbidden and the radio was their window to the outside world. also musically it is very interesting.
Respect. Didn't get the RAF part and the Weimar part. Well done.
Yes I think without quite a good understanding of german history, especially the imagery/iconography is difficult to understand and interpret. I would argue that "so young" may also refer to the fact that germany had to essentially rebuild from almost nothing after ww2, getting a "new" constitution, and only limited sovereignty at first. Which would make it a very young nation indeed.
I also like how they display the church and lords literally feasting on the body of germany.
small correction its the other way around - divided in heart, united in spirit
but a really good summary
big thanks for writing down all the timestamps
you should mention that the members of rammstein are all from east germany
@@damocles8159 Germany as a political entity we know it today has only been around for 30-ish years since East and West were reunified.
DON'T SKIP THE OUTRO!!! It's an instrumental version of their song "Sonne"
This is the absolute best reaction to this song because you understood exactly the message they were trying to give. Excellent job 👏
I was really touched by your words. First time in ~20 years I’ve heard THIS kind of sympathy for German people/the feeling touched on in this song. Cheers mate. Means a lot.
From what I've gathered (as an American history fan, but no professional schooling) it's essentially trying to have the conflict of national pride while knowing the horrific moments in time. From the Germanic tribes fighting off the Romans, to the poverty of the Weimar era, the horror of religious oppression, police brutality through the ages, of course the Third Reich and beyond. The lipstick/AK hostage moment being some of the Red Army Faktion active from the 70's into the 90's. The decadence/repression of the East German government. The dogs being Leonberger's which were almost extinct due to their use as war dogs in both World Wars. Spot on as the woman being herself an embodiment of Germania. Anything I'm off on someone can correct me, but that was essentially the gist of what I've gathered. Wanting to love but also condemn your nation is a very complex feeling, and I really applaud Rammstein for tackling the topic in such a beautifully artistic and creative way.
not bad🤣👍
Pretty much spot on! I will never understand how they could miss out on the opportunity to show how modern book printing was invented in Germany. Would have contrasted extremely well with the book burning by the Nazis later on. Germany stands for both, incredible as it is.
@@wolfgangwalk337 most likely bc they purposely showed the dark parts of German history and none of its achievements
That makes sense about the dogs! So it represents Germania having to replace the generations lost in the wars?
Nailed it. Best wishes from Germany
as a german i cry for so many reasons when i watch this video. because the sad an violence history, but also because this art and music masterpiece. waht lyrics, what art work. its unbelievable. you can discover so much every two seconds in this video by pictures and lyrics. stunning.
best music video I've ever seen .... it's a shame you didn't watch the end credits of the film in full. The piano melody is beautifully paired with the pictures makes you very thoughtful ..... Thanks for your reaction .. ..
Thank you, I agree with you! I watched it afterwards, I just thought the video would be too long if I included it :)
The Piano melody is the Piano Version of an very old but very good Rammstein Song named "Sonne"
@@simpleviking a good reaction is never to long! Especially with this video. The music is very well chosen because this song is really about what you feel when you watch the outro!
@@simpleviking Just friendly advice, I suggest to watch videos until the end, the fans of the band will be frustrated if you don't. Often the end credits are part of the song itself.
Same thing happens with Nightwish videos too, reactors cut videos short as they think it's over or not important. I think it's best to pay respect to the artist and fans by watching it in full.
I enjoyed your reaction though.
It is a pity that you did not include the outro... it is also a quiltet essential part of the history told by the video.
Spanish viewer here.
Rammstein has been one of my favourite bands since I was 14 and considering spanish fascist regime (1939-1975) it also made me emotional to see this dudes (who I love) positioning against fascist pigs, the scene where they shoot the nazis in the face is so powerful gave me chills.
Funny thing, their first teaser for this song was just parts of the hanging scene. You can imagine how much uproar this caused in the press. (Nearly) everyone went straight to calling them Nazis, while ignoring all their previous songs and statements.
@@bert8731 People have always called Rammstein Nazis, it's a widespread perception of the band even though any person willing to listen to a song or two will figure out that there's usually a political message behind their songs, none of them even remotely right-wing
@@bert8731 People who still think rammstein are Nazis have not listened to Links, 2, 3, 4.
Right? They simply picked that scene for the teaser knowing that everyone would be freaking out over it and talking about it before its premiere. People that keep on telling they trivialize the Holocaust haven't watched the full video or just don't want to acknowledge this powerful scene that you mention.
It's important to talk about it, even nowadays when most of the people that lived through that hell are passing away.
@@Azaghal1988 exactly what I was thinking, they are clearly antifascist. the rolling “r” sound and n@zi references are parodies.
Wow! We can all learn from how the Germans deal with their past. They don't hide. They don't deny. They deal with it. To be admired fully.... Respect!!
Well, it's partially because most of the world and even we ourselves don't let us forget it. Not that we would want to, but currently we aren't exactly "allowed" to be proud of anything by our own society alone. And on top of that there are a lot of things that are worth all the hate we have.
But it's still our home and our history. Denying it would mean to deny our identity, even if a lot of it is pitch black with white dots. That's why even those who actually want to be proud of it simultaneously hate it. That a lot of us look down on our own history while others idealize the horrible aspects does not help either.
We are basically torn. With the desire to be proud of what came before us, but without the ability.
@@leotox6423 Sounds quite complicated. Let me tell you that a lot of Dutch people loves to spend their holiday in Germany because the nature is so beautiful and the Germans are very friendly and polite. I often am ashamed of our own behaviour. In short, always be aware of the history, but be proud of what you have become.
What a fantastic reaction from you. I think it's great that you understood the message of the video with your rudimentary knowledge of German.
On the UA-cam channel of "three arrows" there is a very good analysis of the video in English.
yup, three arrows did a heck of a job explaining aka analysing this video. give it a view, people.
@@LuGer212 +1 recoomend for the three arrows video explaining this video, it's great
ua-cam.com/video/sc-euVL8xQs/v-deo.html
Yepp, Three Arrows did an amazing analysis. But now, these few years after their first analysis, I have seen this video more than two dozens times, as well as many other youtubers' reactions to it. Each and every time something new pops out of the woodwork that I have missed before. Simply with what my wimpy little self has found since then I could probably take the 'Three Arrows' analysis and extend it to easily double time with all new things. Give me a crew of people that could bounce ideas off each other I bet we could extend it to at least five times the length of Three Arrows. That's how jam packed full this video is.
Love that your immediate reaction to the “du hast” at the beginning was “oh yeah, I know this!”. There are actually tons of references to previous Rammstein songs both visually and lyrically in “Deutschland”! Like the metal wings from “Engel” and the scene with them walking on all fours like dogs is in reference to “Mein Teil” and so on. They just get glossed over most of the time bc there’s so much else going on lol.
the burning mouth piece from feuer frei is also there if you look for it
Also the piano part from "Sonne" XD
There’s even nods to the band members individual projects (the deer from Lindemann and the wig from Emigrate’s You’re So Beautiful video).
Your german is very good. Yes, you interpreted the video very well. We Germans have a very difficult relationsship to our history. For me, a man with birth in the 70s, it is a mixture. On the one side we are proud of our achievements, on the other hand we (even my children) feel the responsibility to remember the old history. The world must not forget what happened and the symbolic in this rammstein-video shows it. Especially after the reunion of East and West Germany. The video also shows the differences between both german folks after 40 years of seperation. I am so thankful, that rammstein produced such an epic video. Greets from Lars
As a child of a German parent and living most of my early life there, this song makes me cry. When I first came to the U.S. in the early 70s, the children of the generation that fought in Europe still called us Nazi. It is hard not to have some shame for our shared past. We learn from it...and hopefully never repeat it.
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 socialst 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: UA-cam 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.
Wow! Thank you so much for this!
@@simpleviking
You are welcome. I'm glad if I was able to help! :)
My recommendation for a reaction:
The band "Feuerschwanz" and their song "Ultima Nocte".
@@megatwingo megatwingo you put a lot of effort into that text above, that's impressive! Thank you and well done! My favourite part of the Deutschlandlied is the third stanza where they sing about German wine and German women. ;-)
Hey, thanks for explaining. I love German language, though never had a chance to really learn it. Nevertheless, I know a few words. So, when I first heard this song it gave me chills. I can’t speak fur German people, but I felt so patriotic and proud for Germans that if I was a German I’d sing this song as an National Anthem
As a German, thank you for putting yourself in our situation! It was really emotional. Thank you.
The "young but yet so old" line refers to the fact that the unified german country was established as late as 1871 thought the actions of Bismarck. (not counting in the reunification that was only 30 years argo) But history of the of the land goes back to the germanic tribes that lived there for more the 2000 years. Also the (glorifed) birth myth of the german nation goes back around 2000 years to the defeat Varus thought arminius. As part of that arminius was call the first german by patriots.
Also to the fact that German has been 'broken' many times and the people now are so different to those from even 30 years ago
Have you watched Barbaren? If so, what is your opinion on the show as a German?
As a German who loves the US I am really glad that you understood the meaning of this masterpiece correctly. It’s all about our inner conflict of trying to be proud or even love a country which committed such cruelties. We must never forget.
Der Typ ist aus Schweden.. Du leckst am falschen Ei
@@donnerott44 "Du leckst am falschen Ei" haha großartig
@@donnerott44 alter, wie ich mir den spruch merken muss!!! 😂😂😂
I feel like Germans should still love the country they've become. From the ashes of tyrannical leaders to the economic recovery and rise they have now.
Throughout it all, the people of Germany always stood back up, cleaned up the rubble, and carried on. A resilient country that has made great strides to correct the errors of its past and better itself for Germany and the world.
this is the maybe best and most emotional music video I've ever seen.
For me as a native German it shows all we went through the past 2.000 years as a nation and what we've become. Even if some - not german - viewers don't understand everything shown in here - this is the right stuff to tell how a nation has grown with all the good and bad aspects of it's history.
For me this video is worth being academy awarded !
Ich weiß nicht, wie ich es sagen soll: es berührt mich ZUTIEFST ! ! !
Dr Alexandra Lloyd, lecturer in German at the University of Oxford, explain what the fuck is going on during the video's nine minutes….
The video opens in AD 16, on the ‘barbarian’ side of the limes, the border of the Roman Empire. Roman soldiers creep through the woods in the aftermath of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. The Romans were ambushed by an alliance of Germanic Tribes, led by a chieftain called Arminius (the original Hermann the German). Three legionary standards were captured, a loss symbolic and moral, as well as physical, and decades were spent trying to recover them. Rome never again attempted to take the lands east of the River Rhine, known as Germania….
‘Germania’ refers not just to a place, somewhere partly defined by where it isn’t (Rome) as well as where it is, but also to a national figurehead, traditionally representing the German people. Germania is a strong woman, usually armour-clad and battle-ready. Various symbols appear with her, among them a breastplate with an eagle, a black, red, and gold flag, and a crown. Look out for these in the video - they come up again and again - and the colours of the contemporary flag are there in every scene….
We get our first glimpse of Germania here (played by Ruby Commey), who stands holding Till Lindemann’s severed head. Next, astronauts appear carrying a metal and glass box shaped like a coffin. In the background we see a U-boat - a German submarine, used in World Wars I and II. Then we move to a scene set at a boxing match which takes us to Weimar Germany (1918-1933), a period known for its political instability but also greater cultural liberalism. Here, Germania appears in the cabaret costume of a flapper girl, and the boxers fight with knuckle-dusters as a crowd cheers them on….
We see the former East Germany, complete with busts of Marx and Lenin, the national emblem of East Germany, and a lookalike of the long-serving, insular, and repressive GDR leader Erich Honecker. There’s another astronaut, or rather a cosmonaut: Sigmund Jähn, the first German in space, who flew with the USSR’s space program (and who’s also a character in the 2003 film, Good Bye Lenin!). Medieval monks feast grotesquely on the supine Germania, tearing sauerkraut and sausage from Ruby Commey’s body, prison inmates are beaten by guards dressed in police and military uniforms from different historical periods….
The most obviously shocking scene references the Holocaust and the Nazi period. Four members of the band, in the striped uniforms of camp inmates, wait at the gallows, about to be hanged. They wear the cloth emblems used to identify their ‘crimes’: a pink triangle for homosexual prisoners, a yellow star for Jewish prisoners, a red and yellow star for Jewish political prisoners….
This sequence, teased in an earlier promo video, has already caused controversy. Have Rammstein the right to do this? Do they trivialise the suffering of Holocaust victims? How can they justify using Holocaust imagery to promote their new video? These are important questions that are part of a much bigger debate about the ethics of using the Holocaust in art and media….
Other scenes include the band walking away from a flaming airship, referring to the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster, in which 36 people died. Rats scuttle across the floor when the monks first appear, suggesting the Pied Piper of Hamelin, a legend with origins in the 13th century….
Germania walks towards the camera in a leather jacket, gold jewellery and a string of bullets across her chest, resembling the chariot drawn by four horses (the ‘Quadriga’) on top of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The band members’ heads are shown as white marble busts, taking us to the 19th century Walhalla memorial in Bavaria, built as German Hall of Fame, its sculpted heads of German worthies on display to this day….
In the prison, hundreds of banknotes fall from above, suggesting the devastating hyperinflation Germany suffered in the 1920s. Nazis burn books, intercut with religious fanatics burning witches. We recognise members of the Red Army Faction (also known as the Baader-Meinhof group), a militant organisation active in the 1970s in West Germany. And in a blink-or-you-miss-it exchange, we are reminded of the much-criticised relationship between the churches and the state during the Third Reich…
Each scene captures in a moment the icons of an era, and the video cuts between them more and more frenetically as it goes on. Events bleed into each other, linked by the presence of the band members and the red laser beam that appears throughout the video, a ‘roter Faden’ (red thread or central theme), connecting each event….
Germany engages with its history in a very particular way. Try to imagine the video about Britain, with Britannia played by Ruby Commey. What would the equivalent events be? Quite a few of the tableaux might be similar - Romans, Crusaders, monks, 18th-century soldiers, collarless shirts and bareknuckle boxing - but would it have the same impact?....
There’s no affection, and perhaps not much hope: its pessimistic tone seems to be quite an off-brand message for post-1989 Germany, which wants to acknowledge its past critically, while also looking to its future as a state at the heart of Europe. And actually, while we get a lot of medieval and twentieth-century history, the video’s tour through the past seems to stop in the late 1980s, before the fall of the Berlin Wall and Reunification of East and West Germany. Instead, we jump into the future, where the space-suited band take Germania into the unknown, travelling in that coffin-shaped glass box….
There’s an echo of the video for Sonne, where Snow White is trapped in a glass coffin. In fact, a piano version of Sonne plays over the end credits of Deutschland. This is a useful link for understanding something of what Rammstein is doing here. In Sonne, where the band’s characters free themselves of Snow White (naturally, they’ve been her sex-slaves), only to realise that they have made a mistake and long for her return, the overwhelming feeling of Deutschland seems to be that when it comes to Germania (or Germany): you can’t love her, and you can’t live without her….
www.loudersound.com/features/we-got-an-oxford-university-professor-to-explain-what-the-fcks-going-on-in-that-rammstein-video
WoW, thank you A LOT.
I think she missed some parts.
1.) There is a meaning behind why monks ate the sauerkraut & sausages from germania. This refers to the time post 30 year war, when a lot of german people starved (mostly farmer) while the church took still the "Zehnt" (land tax) froim the poorest.
2.) Germany is a dog loving country. This is why Germania has borned a german shephard.
3.) If they haven't used the holocaust scene there would be no option to use the "überleben, übergeben, überfallen...." lyrics which refers to the first verse of the "Deutschlandlied" but also that Germany is using nowadays often the economic power to secure the interests.
There would be even some more possibilities which would describe the typicall german love/hate relationship to the own country, by using topics which are still big taboo, like the mass suicides what happend especially in eastern germany, when the red army moved into the land and the germans were scared to death by the own propaganda + the question how to consider the Wehrmacht post WW2. Is it correct to consider all former Wehrmacht soldiers as nazis?
@@TonyMontanaCA just wanted to add to your second point:
The dogs in the video are not German Shepards. The breed is called Leonberger (a town in the south west of Germany, close to Stuttgart) and this breed almost went extinct in both world wars.
@Gianluca De Angelis Actually wrong. The Roman expansion up to the Elbe was in 6AD, the territory was called "Germania Magna". In 9AD, the Romans lost 20000 men in the Teutoburg forest massacre, which then prompted Augustus to order a retreat and withdrawal, which was completed in 16AD, and established the Rhine and Danube as the borders. The Romans abandoned Germania because they were losing too many men and had too many defeats, and not because it was "worthless" or whatever nationalistic lies you were taught in Italian school.
During the GDR-scene, additionally to Erich Honecker & Sigmund Jähn, to me the guitarist Paul Landers seems to represent Egon Krenz. Based on the hair, the tear sac and the dark shimmering around his eyes.
As a German, this song reflects quite well the feelings one has when looking at this country.
On the one hand there is a lot to love about Germany today: we are cosmopolitan, tolerant and colorful - on the other hand the dark shadow of the past. My generation is not responsible for the crimes of the past, but we do have a responsibility that something like this never happens again.
Nevertheless, there are people in our country who continue the traditions of that time, who propagate xenophobia and are against any form of tolerance. These people act against humanity and any form of good taste. You're ashamed of that.
On the one hand you want to love your country for the achievements of the last decades, for the country being so cosmopolitan. On the other hand, you look at the past, which in the minds of some people drags on to this day, and you are ashamed.
Coming back to the video: I think one scene gets too little attention from all the reactions, namely the scene where the Nazis are shot in the face. A clear statement and a clear positioning of the band against right-wing ideas. In addition, this shows how the majority of Germans are opposed to this body of thought, namely that this ideology no longer has a place in a modern Germany that wants to be more than just the past.
Can you explain Germania giving birth to German shepherds and ending when mob gaming takes “Germania” with them? 🙏🏼
@@mikolyantslive Of course, the video leaves a lot of room for interpretation...
I don't remember exactly what the breed of dog is called, I only know that the breed was as good as eradicated after the Second World War. I interpret this as a kind of "rebirth of German identity"... that after all the horror that Germans have spread in the past, there is still hope for a new beginning.
The whole video is mainly about taking the past for granted, the current generation has little or nothing to do with what happened. It's about being aware of one's own country's past and understanding it as a reminder. But despite everything that has happened, you have to look to the future. That's why I interpret the end of the video where "Germania" glides into space as a kind of "departure into the future" - with the past in mind but still full of hope for the future.
But thats only my personal interpretation - The video has so many meta-levels that not even I, as a German, can grasp everything exactly ^^*
Dont know which scene you mean with "mob gaming takes her with them" - could you give me a time-stamp ? ^^
Rene, Dein Englisch ist wirklich ausgezeichnet! Ich lerne zurzeit Deutsch und ich glaube dass Deutsch so schwerig ist!
@@andrewludwig9251 danke sehr :D
Ja deutsch ist eine ziemlich schwere Sprache aber halte durch , du schaffst das sie zu lernen :)
@@renekiyugamantek1010 Ich werde mich niemals ergeben!
I have to say that I feel really identified with you cause I felt the same way the first time I saw this video. I don't understand German, but I've been a Rammstein fan ever since I was a kid. I'm from Mexico, and here they are a cult band, we Mexicans are so very proud of our history, and I have always had the utmost respect for Germany because they could recover from two wars in which they were the bad guys so I can't even begin to imagine how Germans feel knowing that their country has achieved so many great things for humanity but at the same time it has done such terrible things as well, so yeah that mix of feelings and emotions towards your own country has to be very hard to swallow, congratulations imo your reaction to this video is one of the most legit out there
We used this actually as introduction to our history class, even we as Germans don’t get the whole meaning. It’s so much content and so much important yet creative content it’s so hard. I’m a huge fan of Rammstein and I even had to explain some scenes to my history teacher because I know the band really well and I could better understand what they wanted to express through the video
Please also check out a clever parody and reaction from a clever German entertainer, Jan Böhmermann, in which my criticism of this Rammstein video becomes self-evident. ua-cam.com/video/HMQkV5cTuoY/v-deo.html This is how I understand my Germany.
New Germans after the wall came down. The old we know what they did in WWII to the Jews
Every time i get goosebumbs from this song. Germany is where i was born. I can understand this feeling, i want to be proud of my country, but i can't.
Its like an inner conflict. Our history was cruel.
All Europian countryes have some shit in the past but Hitler fucked things realy up
Everyones history is cruel.
The past was cruel. The future will be cruel. As the pendulum of power switches sides one time your people are treated badly. Other times your people treat others badly. It's human nature. Germany or the areas of modern germany in the past is nothing special in that regard.
@@brudibeutel5413 I respectfully disagree... My great father was german. From Köln. Catholic. Apotheker (Farmacist?), Zentrum. When mister Hitler was nominated Chancellor thanks Hidenburg (war hero) he bought Mein Kampf. He read it. One week later he sold for a cheap price his 5 Apotheken (Farmacies?) and left the near defunct Weimar Republic. He taught me one thing : everyone knew more or less what will happen... Germans turned a blind eye bcuz homeland of Goethe and Bach cannot give birth to monsters especially in a civilized age. Btw Arbeit macht Frei is a citation of Hegel... Sorry we have a very special past. Negating that is the modern way to turn a blind eye...
Considering, that your german lessons were quite long ago, your translations were surprisingly good. Good job! :)
Bin Bosnier und muss euch Deutliche etwas wichtiges sagen. Es ist genug sich entschuldigen zu müssen für etwas was eiere Vorfahren getan haben, es ist genug sich zu schämen was wahr den ihr habt nix mit dem zu tun und es ist Zeit sein Haupt zu erheben und endlich um endlich stolz zu sein was ihr geschafft habt in einer zeit wie noch niemand in der Geschichte! Ja Ihr dürft das und Ihr müsst das um die nächste Stufe zu erreichen!!
dann sag das mal denen die sagen du bist als deutscher geboren und somit schuldig. geschichte schreiben immer die sieger. wen sollen die die beim einmarsch der siegermächte getötet, gefoltert, vergewaltigt, allem beraubt wurden anklagen?! diese Menschen haben keine stimme , denn KRIEGSBEUTE spricht nicht. und ja ich weis wovon ich rede. ich wurde 1980 geboren...in der DDR....da galt ein deutsches Mädchen wohl noch als Kriegsbeute mit der ein russischer Soldat machen konnte was er wollte.... wen kann ich dafür anklagen?!
The shame is part of the collective sense of self and it is not Germany without the shame. Don't erase what is necessary to become better.
empfindest du scham für da was dein land vielleicht vor 100 jahren getan hat? lange bevor du geboren wurdest? ich und auch mein sohn haben nichts mit dem zu tun was die nazis getan haben . auch meine mutter und meine oma waren nicht daran beteiligt und doch sollen wir uns schuldig fühlen... und doch sollen wir wiedergutmachung leisten. wann ist es genug? jedes land, jede nation hat leichen im keller, aber nur die deutschen müssen bis heute dafür büßen. was ist mit amerika und dem völkermord an den ureinwohnern und der sklaverei. der kirche und den hexenprozessen und den kreuzzügen? den muslimen und der verfolgung und ermordung ungläubiger? jedes land, jede nation, jeder glauben hat unzählige opfer gefordert, aber nur deutschland wird öffentlich an den prager gestellt zur wiedergutmachung gezwungen. nur in deutschland darf man nicht stolz auf sein land sein. nur in deutschland und als deutscher drarf man keine kritik aussprechen, weil man dann gleich ein nazi ist. ich sage auch keine macht den nazis, aber wenn man mir oft genug nachsagt das ich einer bin, egal was ich sage und tue...dann muss sich niemand von den moralaposteln wundern wenn ich tatsächlich einer werde. man kann sich eine gefahr auch selbst erschaffen.
I don't feel guilty of what happened. I feel obliged to do everyting in my might to not let it happen again.
Yes german history dark brutal worst of the worst but it is what it is..... only problem and scariest part is she is at sleep at this time but " red thin line " is on which means SHE IS COMING BACK
BIG APPLAUSE. For me one of the best reaction to this I've seen so far. Just a little bit of understanding and knowledge is really helpful in making good comments. Great reaction!!!
Wow, thank you so much! That means alot, really!
4: 58 paused on the East German part and is confused about Germany being young. The reunification of Germen was not that long ago. As a Swede I also like the pause at 6:42. On the Baader-Meinhof (RAF) crew because of the siege of the West Germen embassy in Stockholm in 1975. That also lead to the planed kidnapping of a Swedish parliament minister. The Swedish security service (Säpo) manage to stop is during what that operation they called "Ebba Röd". With the arrested of the leader of the kidnappers they used the code word "Ebba Grön" and that is how a Swedish punkrock band got its name.
interesting
Yes that, and Germany as a Nation(a national State) did just exist since the 1870´s before that.
As a german that has seen the original scratches of fingernails around the door frames of the gas chambers of concentration camp Dachau, this song brings me to tears and describes my feelings twoards my country so good. He doesn't sing I hate you germany, he sings I want to hate you but also love you. Your love is curse and blessing, my love I can't give you. So it's best described by an inhibition to be proud of your country. You don't see german flags much in private settings except every 4 years at soccer world championships for example. It feels just wrong to us.
BTW: So young and yet so old means germany was only funded after 1945 and reunified in 1990 but its history reaches back to the first germanic tribes fighting the romans and by doing so gather together and form bonds.
Germany started as Germany 1871. (Reichsgründung.)
@@share1the1road If you refer to the Nation State Germany you are correct, I was talking about the Bundesrepublik Deutschland or in English Germany…
Wooden doors, recently built smoke stacks and constantly changing number of Jews killed proves that your country is not as bad as a lot of people want you to think
Немцы почему вы не хотите гордиться своей страной, разве не вы первыми построили Ракету. Качеством немецкой стали, Бетоном, самые лучшие по качеству машины. А про танки во второй мировой я вобще молчу. Без ваших умельцев, которые вдохновили наших на создание самого лучшего в мире Автомата Калашникого (АК-47), его бы не было. А строители вы какие, здания построенные немцами после второй мировой до сих пор стоят.
У нас тоже есть твари что завели страну не туда или тежи Власовцы которые предали страну, это были наши фашисты. Мы с ними так же как и вы разобрались. И не забывайте что большой вклад в победу над Фашизмом принесли сами немцы которые воевали да против своих , но тех кто творил зло.
Фашистами вы стали не по своей воле, это всё благодоря рукам Англосаксов. Есть видео и записи разговоров, как вашими руками они хотели воевать против нас, всё в точности как сейчас произошло на Украине, одни в один. Тот же фашизм ( но они же не немцы) , а руководитель фашисткого режима у них Вобще Еврей =) ха ха ха
The best modern German opera I've ever seen. Makes me cry everytime.
I agree from Italy
Honestly, this was one of the best reactions i ever saw. You understand the language really well and you get the main message of the song and i could feel with you when you got emotional :) Really like your appreciation for this song, best greetings from germany :)
I am quite faszinated by that song and have watched dozens of reaction videos to it. Its great to see how people process its content. Yours is one of the best. There is not that many people who get as quickly as that many nuances...
THANK YOU !!! Your are in fact the first non german speaker I see that reacts to this video and took his time to interpret it and also in the right way. Thank you. You give me hope!
Great job! You caught so much of Rammsteins intentions! That was very impressive!
But for the full goosebumps you shouldn't have skipped the Outro ...🥴
Hallo, I'm from Germany and yes (!), this video shows somehow our feelings. "Love and Hate for our country". And being most ashamed when knowing what happened during WW2... Even when that was before my time, I do feel responsible and will do all for "Nie wieder!" Take care all, stay healthy and love and respect each other! *Hugs* from Hamburg in Germany!
No need to feel shame for your country. Many other countries have rough pasts as well. China,Japan,and others have done heinous things to eachother. Germany's past isnt your past. You werent there and had nothing to do with it all.
I was in Germany 7 years ago and the people were so awesome! Kind,inviting,and so much fun to be with. The entire country is so beautiful that I didnt want to return to the US. Which itself is a hard country to be proud of these days.
Ask yourself "why" you feel responsible for something that you absolutely and objectively can not have any responsibility for because it happened long before you were born.
@@xScooterAZx he/she did not say that she is ashamed about the country. It was about the WW2. Learn to read and interpret correctly. Jana aus Kassel.
@@xScooterAZx This happens when people want to lecture you, but may not understand your text themselves. Thanks for your nice words. Greetings from the Ruhrpott in Germany
@@gegenrechts7286 You commented just to be rude. That's a trolls actions.
Oh, I cried so hard the first dozen times I watched this video. I also teach geography and once I managed to translate the lyrics for myself, I was even more heartbroken.
I’d put the Rammstein Video in the Top 5 of all music videos ever made. The whole history of germany in a 6ish minute video, all the references, the costumes, storyline, editing, video quality and the lyrics. Perfection.
I love love love your reaction my friend. I have seen many reaction videos to this song and your is by far the best. I even shared it with some american friends, bc your analysis about the german soul and their relationship to their country is really on point. It is a love/hate relationship. The video is really art. It is impressive how much effort they have put into it. The symbolism is everywhere and so many things are often just understandable and or have a much deeper meaning when you are german. I like that you in comparison to others have your picture small and the viedo in large in the background, this shows a lot of the respect for the artist and their work. Very good. Keep it on my friend!
I'm german and I think this song represents the feelings of most germans about their country. A few years ago I visited a friend in the US who went there after school and her host family had this huuuge american flag in the livingroom. I just remember how strange that was to me because in germany nobody would have a german flag in the livingroom or backyard. I think in the US this is normal and represents pride but when people do that here it just sends out these neona*i vibes. It's sad because Germany really is a beautiful country with so much to explore.
PS sorry for mistakes in the text but I think you get the message
While I cannot speak for all Americans, I can definitely tell you that a lot of us feel the same way about the people that have giant American flags like that. We, as a culture, make a big deal about how we fought the Nazis in WWII, but America clearly did not learn anything about the dangers of nationalism.
@@ElaraDreamstar That's only because you choose to change our history to your perspective.
You obviously are confusing Nationalism with Patriotism, which are not the same; something you clearly did not learn.
@@MR-nl8xr Nationalism is the natural evolution of blind patriotism.
Patriots want what is best for the people of a country. Nationalist want their country to be the "best".
Making children pledge allegiance to the flag at the start of school every day? That's nationalist indoctrination. Involving the military in all major sporting events like Nascar, the NFL... that's nationalist propaganda. Our national anthem is about a war for fuck's sake.
"America the Beautiful" is an ACTUAL patriotic song.
@@MR-nl8xr I prefer to express my Patriotism not in a flag but in living out and supporting the ideals that represent the best version of my country. A Melting Pot where immigrants are welcomed, a person can live and breathe free from persecution for their beliefs and personal identity, where opportunity is given to anyone willing to work hard for it, and where the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. A flag at the end of the day is a piece of cloth and nothing more if it doesn't represent the hopes, dreams, and diversity of its people being supported and celebrated. Its history being told with honesty, humility, and a challenge to learn from past experiences.
@@MR-nl8xr ElaraDreamstar's observation is accurate because a lot of 'patriotic' Americans ignore that U.S. history is built on a lot of innocent blood and also ignore the ingrained bigotry that's part of our current society. A lot of traditionalists don't grasp that their version of patriotism is nationalism, which is why that comment is correct.
Honestly, the outro is also beautiful. And the piano rendition of their song Sonne is perfect.
Never ever skip a Rammstein Outro.
......the outro was not to be skipped sir.
In my opinion this is Rammstein's best work. I'm an American, don't speak German, but I've listened to their music for decades and read the lyrics in English. There's so much emotion and symbolism in this song.
Amazing, you instantly understood the numerous hints, symbols and historic backgrounds of this music video. And you directly felt the meaning of the lyrics and translated them into the right context. I have seen a lot of reactions to this music video, and nobody recognized expecially the role of the black woman as Germania.
This is one of their best songs and music videos ever made. I still find lots of new details in the video til this day. This song is absolute destruction live. A total fan favorite. When this song comes up, everybody knows now the show really starts. I love it! The song, the video, this band. Greetings from 🇩🇪
9:33 While some people may feel ashamed of their history, I always loved the fact that German history is pretty well known so we're not loving our country because we don't know about certain dark events but despite of them.
Up until 2016, I've been confronted many times with people asking how "normal" people can turn into crazies, supporting something fanatical that eventually led to one of the great crimes of the worlds history.
Imagine an American band that would show lynching in their music video in trying to "capture" American history, the news channels would implode where as for me as a German.. it's facts and whether some Germans like it or not, they'll have to deal with it.
Imagine a Russian band showing starving Russians during WW2, prison camps etc. , unthinkable. Their recollection of WW2 is that they freed the world... and every atrocity that happened during this period is completely avoided.
Same goes for China, India etc. Knowing your history and trying to learn from it doesn't mean you cannot be proud of your country. Every person is capable of doing the most amazing as well as the most horrifying things on the very same day.
The moment we all realize that we are no better or worse than other people from other countries/ continents will be the first day we can all work together, accept the shadows of our past and be acutely aware whenever some rancid idea/ ideology tries to capture the masses yet again. Where we can cherish our traditions, share them with other citizen of this planet and learn what unites rather what divides us.
Sadly, if any band go to those lengths to explain the history and brutality of their country but all at once, they would face criticism and possible ban.
unfortunately human hasn't gotten that far yet
Believe me, the news nearly had an aneurysm once their first teaser came out. Rammstein have always been for democracy and against Nazis, but nearly everyone went ahead and ignored their previous statements about that.
an American band confronting lynching?
_80_ years ago, before music videos were a thing: (audio) watch?v=Web007rzSOI
Billie Holiday - Strange Fruit
edit: years
>would show lynching in their music video
Like thats the worst thing they done lmao
>Russian band showing starving Russians during WW2, prison camps etc.
Its really not, why wouldn't they show how much they have suffered in WW2? In this video they are showing what evils they have done.
You can be proud of your country, but some things you shouldn't be proud of. Some things can not be forgotten, some wounds are too deep to heal, and when you westerners try to do that it comes off as disingenuous and you try to relativize things, that can not be compared.
I should know, Im from Balkan, Im from Serbia
Its really cool how so many non german content creators make such reaction videos to german stuff and be so positive about us and our culture. It really makes me feel proud of what we are now instead of dwelling on the deeds of people who died long before we existed.
In fact I am a teacher (in Germany) and did use this song to teach the students how remembrance can work and be different (in parts) from what has really happened - and also why it's ok and in times necessary. That got them off hand and they really liked it.
Ich denke dieses Video gehört in den Geschichtsunterricht in Deutschland... per Gesetz! 😋
This is a masterpiece. The thought, the effort and the execution of it are brilliant. In terms of the wider conversation, yes Germany has a history of which some of it is terrible, but you cannot condemn a country permanently for the actions taken by generation(s) prior. In many ways, Germany is one of the more moderate voices in the world right now, and its actions in terms of support for Ukraine speak for themselves. I hope they can once again be proud, absolutely and utterly clear eyed about the past, but justifiably proud.
Great reaction video!
As a German, I want to be proud of my country like others are of their country. And I'm proud of it, but sometimes you want to damn it. We have a dark history and I think we can learn from it. But Germany is not the only country with a dark history.
This song speaks from my soul. It's a masterpiece!
I think other countries would do well to regard their own histories in a similar way. I’m Australian and and many of the things done to Aboriginal people during the colonial wars (yes there were wars! Most people don’t even know) was just as bad as what happened during the holocaust. It was a genocide. I don’t think the numbers were quite as high but we really don’t know exactly how many Aboriginal people were killed. We still celebrate Australia Day on the day that Captain Cook invaded NSW. There’s been a lot of agitation to change the date, most millennials agree with changing the date but the older generations don’t. I think people just don’t want to deal with the complicated emotions like what Germans have about their country so they just live in denial land instead.
I have the same feeling about the U.S.A.....same exact feeling
Stop crying for god damn sake.
Read history of King Ghezo 2 for qtarter
Damn you, never bow down for the crimes you never did.
My family is 170 years removed from Germany and the very first time I watched this video, I had almost the same reaction and thoughts as you did in this reaction video.
You have to look on UA-cam for "Deutschland by Rammstein: An Analysis" by Three Arrows. He is a German and explains in english the background of that video. Very interesting.
After that you can use it in school as a history lesson
The dogs are a special race of which I sadly forgot the name. Their race was near extinction during both world wars and so they also represent the German People which also had some rough times during the world wars. The last scene of the band members wearing protective suits and holding the dogs means something like protecting the democracy we have built out of the ashes with all costs
Leonberger
Genau,es waren die Leonberger und fast ausgestorben
The band actually records most of their live-material in South America and France.
Most people there don't understand the lyrics, but they still party along.
I'm Canadian of German descent, this video spoke to me, while I listened to you (I enjoyed it btw) I searched the background for the song and found an article that had a German history scholar going through the Germanic history with the different parts of the video..... As a boy I remember my mom telling me how my dad had a hard time during WW2, he was a teenager in Saskatchewan and people's attitudes towards Germans was not the friendliest. I don't ever remember him talking about that period in his life. Thanks for the video
For us germans its always that feel. I am very proud of so much in my country and still this dark shadow lingers above us making us feel in two ways about our land....i love this song as it expresses also my feelings. I am proud to be a german but also aware not to forget the dark side of the coin.....
Hör auf zu leiden, steh zu der Scheiße und mach es besser. Please also check out a clever parody and reaction from a clever German entertainer, Jan Böhmermann, in which my criticism of this Rammstein video becomes self-evident. ua-cam.com/video/HMQkV5cTuoY/v-deo.html This is how I understand my Germany.
@@bordeaux1962 be deutsch ist viel älter als Deutschland. außerdem hab ich den eindruck, dass du weder deutschland noch be deutsch verstanden hast.
@@HeavyMetalGamingHD Blind?
@@HeavyMetalGamingHD Ich freue mich dass du einen Eindruck hast. Hoffentlich schmerzt das nicht zu sehr. [Edit: Deutschsprach ]
Getting goosebumps everytime for i really can relate to that song.
You however should really watch the video completly. The outro takes the song and it's emotional impact on another level.
German here, living in Austria.
You did such a fine job, not only translating but also reasoning about the meaning of the song.
This song (+video) to me is one of the most impressive works is art ever. It covers all the right bases, simply impressive.
To me, this song symbolizes what good patriotism should be.
No country is innocent. The US also has a very dark past, and much more darkness in our recent past than Germany (looking at you Bush and the illegal Iraq war). One of the big differences between Germany and the US, and something I very much admire the Germans for, is the sobering look they take into their own past during school. I don't think any other country does this as well. It's raw, entirely without any sugar coating. I think these are very important lessons, ultimately about humanity.
Coming out of high-school in the US, even college, we do not glean as much of an understanding of how human nature is both good and evil and how that can affect entire societies in very negative ways. Like most, we have trouble discussing our ugly sides, and we'd much rather glorify ourselves. That we don't face up to the dark sides of humanity that have also shaped US history and culture, is very much responsible for US society today looking ever more similar to Germany of the 1930s. Something to think about.
The entire world would benefit to take a long hard and critical look at themselves the way Germans do. Ironically, this is one of the many thing Germans deserve to be proud of!
Danke für Ihre Sicht-weise
Vielen Dank für die Worte. ❤
Did you really just compare the Iraq war to World War 2? The Iraq war is a drop in the bucket compared to WW2, where over 70 million people died. Also, there is no such thing as an "illegal war".
Very well said. Strangely enough, this video makes me proud to be German, not because of the atrocities or achievements of the past, but because of the seriousness and honesty with which -we- most of us now living Germans deal with that past and try to be a force for the betterment of all mankind. You can only be proud or ashamed of things you have done or failed to do yourself. That's why it's okay (and sufficient) for me to be proud of ourselves as we are today.
So true, germans are great people. They should be proud of their country. Cheers from Bulgaria 🍻
Your German pronounciation and how much you understood correctly was really good! Didn't know, that you are able to learn German in Sweden.
The piano outtro is a classical version of their song "Sonne", which has a really creative video as well. Check it out. ;)
Answering your questions... Yes, you understood the basic meaning of the video.
To fully understand every image and scene, even Germans with a good knowledge of history had to watch it several times.
Every dress, motion, color and detail has a meaning and a lot of things are symbolic.
And I saw that some people already gave you more detailed explanations.
But yes, there are also at least two really good videos with a deep analysis of the video.
That is just amazing. Germania is leaving in her space reliquary/coffin Earth and the Sun is there but in the form of a leitmotif. It's staggering how well thought out this is.
great analysation and your translations were pretty spot on (they are singing "i want to love you and condemn you" in the chorus). to me as a german this song and video means a lot. it represents perfectly how we love our country but at the same time are haunted by the demons of our past.
about the part with the monks: the way i interpreted is that in medieval times the church held all the power and wealth and were "feasting off" the common people (you can see under the table the people being tortured). They are indulging in gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins, while they are supposed to be holy
"She" is Germania. Representing all the colors we fly today - Black, Red and Gold. And she wears them righteously, a proper representation of modern day Germany.
Though, that doesn't mean that this is what all of the country would agree upon. The colors of the flag - yeah sure. But who's representing it - maybe not.
Anyhow, I'd be the first to carry Ruby Commey (the actress that is depicting Germania in this video) on my shoulders and scream GERMANY on the top of my lungs.
Mitbürger die sich an Ruby Commey als Germania stören haben in unserem Land nichts mehr verloren. ;)
Actually Ruby Commey wears the respective colors of the respective era for the greater area. Only in the medieval times did she wear black, red, and gold, because there was not unified nation to have a unified flag. In one situation she is dressed in pretty clearly Prussian officers garb, then she wears red, white and black. It is a bit difficult to notice at times, but her outfit colors do change with the era, at least some times.
Your ancestors weep at how you've been conquered in mind and soul
@@l.a.3680 Ich störe mich an ihr nicht... aber Menschen, die sich an ihr stören, sollten auch in unserem Land leben dürfen, oder? Wohin magst Du diese Mitbürger schicken? :/
@@void1968able Die Frage ist wie man stören definiert. Ein "ist nicht so meins aber ist auch egal" ist noch kein stören.
"Mitbürger" die sich grundsätzlich daran stören das es hier auch Menschen gibt die wie auch immer aussehen würde ich direkt nach Syrien schicken. Einfach nur um zu schauen wie viele von denen es zurück nach Deutschland schaffen.
----
Tatsächlich würde ich niemanden von denen pauschal irgendwo hin schicken. Ich würde darauf bauen das sie den Normalbürgern nicht auf den Sack gehen und darauf das sie, wenn es ihnen hier nicht autokratisch genug zugeht in ein Land auswandern das ihren Vorstellungen mehr entspricht.
Getting views through the works of others, what a great channel and person.
You translated some of the key parts. This reflects basically what I as a German and many of my peers feel about our country. We are neither proud of our country nor do we love it, since we did not contribute to its history and we are born here randomly, however we know our history and we know what it teaches us and that some parts must never be allowed repeating. While we do not love our country and we are not proud of our country, but we are really really happy to be German and that is not cognitive dissonance.
Being completely proud and blindly loving Germany would be a cognitive dissonance. There have been a lot of great Germans, great Scientists & Artists, the culture is rich and fascinating, the language complex and beautiful and yet, there have been so much horrible acts committed in the name of Germany. I am not responsible for my fathers sins, so i don't feel guilty about e.g. the Holocaust, but that also means that i can not feel pride for the achievements of my ancestors. That would be cognitive dissonance.
"so young and yet so old" just because Germany has a rich history, but very young because after 1945 it became something totally different and started anew for obvious reasons. Also after 1989 it got "reborn" again.
exactly my reaction when I first saw this!! right in the gut - and for me the feeling this evokes isn't just limited to Germany, this red thread of violence runs through all history and we all stand at the end of it and need to figure out how to deal with it
As Russian I feel this lyrics so deep and so close. You can put Russland instead of Deutschland and the lyrics would still be correct. It’s so painful, especially these days. And it’s so beautiful… Such different countries with same illness. Germany was able to recover and that gives me hope
As a Swede who studied German for a couple of years over 20 years ago (98 to early 00), this song and most other Rammstein songs makes me want to pick up German again because I want to understand their lyrics more than a word here and there, and I just really enjoy listening to the language and want to get to a conversational level of proficiency in it.
I’m french and that’s video is one of strongest i ever seen. I feel like i dive into what many germans might think about their history and the darkest part of it. I cried, it hurts but it’s also beautiful. You made yourself clear because i feel the same.
I am from the netherlands and this song is just a masterpiece!! Just perfection! They have my respect❤️
It's an absolute work of art. Both the song and the video are equally brilliant. I not only love the song but I respect this band so much. I am not German, but it really hit me emotionally none the less. I think it touches on tribalism and the inner struggle we all face. Brilliant.
My first language is Russian, my second language is English. But men I love German language so much, it’s sounds so great and mighty 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻
I hope I will start learning it someday 😊
What most people forget is that the lyrics are even a rundown on Rammsteins own musical history. The obvious "Du hast (viel geweint)" in the beginning, the "Wir..Ich...Ihr"-part from "Ich will" or "Das Herz in Flammen" which refers to "Mein Herz brennt". There's tons of this stuff in the song.
Im so proud of my guys from Germany...❤❤Thank You for watching
you didn't say.
i'm Filipino 🇵🇭 yet the pure artistry of this video makes me want to be Deutsch.
Germania has many thinkers, music writers and has such a rich culture.
ugh!
so envious.
hey man. i am from germany and i am really into metal and rock including rammstein ofc. i liked the song, but i never really questioned any line, it just had a good flow, like most of their songs to me. the reason i am writing this comment is that i want to thank you from my heart for breaking it so well down and explaining some major details (some very obious) to me and many others. the part where you pointed out how emotional this quickly became, rushed tears into my eyes... thank you, sir.
This is one of my fave Rammstein songs. im american but I definitely have German ancestry. Being an American, i can definitely understand loving and hating one’s country. This is how i feel about the US with regards to our wanting to be the world’s police and we have done some horrible things - Guantanamo bay, Iraq and Afghanistan to name a few. This song makes me feel so many emotions.
And the Native Americans…
And I really don't understand why not the Russians hate their country for all the wars, and violence they spread from Ukraine, Chechnya, Georgia, Lybia to Syria... Right?
You are so right… es ist für uns schwer unser Land zu lieben. Wir sind stolz auf Deutschland und dennoch ist es schwer diesen Stolz zu zeigen.
❤
Man muss den Stolz auch nicht zeigen.
Stolz ist eh etwas komisches. Warum stolz auf ein Land sein, das im laufe der Geschichte so viele verschiedene Grenzen, sprachen und „Besitzer“ hatte.
Ich liebe Deutschland, weil mir dieses Land so viel mehr gibt, weil hier Dinge funktionieren, die es in anderen Ländern so nicht gibt. Uns gehts hier fucking gut, im Vergleich zu den meisten Menschen auf der Erden. Ist das stolz? Für den einen vllt schon, für mich ist es Liebe zum Heimatland.
Stolz bin ich auf meine eigene Taten oder auf Leute die etwas erreichen, wofür sie gekämpft/hingearbeitet haben.
Die Liebe (oder halt auch stolz) zum eigenen Land kann man auch zeigen, ohne das man ne Flagge hoch hält. Man kann auch einfach die Werte, die Verfassung und Demokratie schützen, alles dafür geben und dankbar sein für das was man hier hat und vllt ein bisschen zurück geben, in dem man dem Land was zurück gibt (ehrenamtliche Arbeit, Erfindungen, positive Dinge eben)
@@nachnamevorname_the_original da gebe ich dir recht.
You just hit the nail man. I am German and feel EXACTLY that way....unable to love my Homeland.... makes me really melancholic. Ironically that's why I can't even listen to Rammstein...makes me to sentimental. I just landed here since I enjoyed your reaction to "history of the world". However I am sincerely amazed by your level of empathy to put yourself in the shoes of a German! Good watch! Greetings 🤟
Its crazy how much I relate to this song. ANd you putting these feelings into words exactly as I feel them shows how well made this song about Germanys history is
To understand every scene in this video you have study history for 3 years and they but everything into 10min. the most meaningful song i ever hear. 👍
Best reaction I've seen to this song. It really captures well a lot of what I have felt myself watching it. I was surprised how much you managed to pick up on first viewing of this. I cannot remember exactly what my first reaction was. I have been slightly obsessed with this song for quite some time. 3 Arrows has a great commentary about every little details of this song, which I watched early so I have kind of known all the details on each rewatch.
I think your reaction shows a couple of things: You need have some understanding of the German language as well as some appreciation for history to get the most out of this. I am in no way fluent in German, but I feel it helps to know the most commonly used words and phrases here.
I also had your reaction of sadness. It is something profoundly sad about the story of Germany and the feelings Germans have towards it. One thing I think about many times while Germany as a nation committed horrible crimes against humanity, there was a huge amount of atrocities committed against them as well. But Germans are not really "allowed" to see themselves as victims. They had to live through a bombed out country, which initially was being starved, millions of German women raped. Yet they just had to eat it. Suck it up. They were the bad guys, and had no right to complain. All are Nazis until proven otherwise.
I know a lot of this feeling growing up in Norway. The intense hatred towards German that hated. My mother in childhood did not know that a German was a human being. The way grownups talked about German made her thing a German was a sort of vicious beast. Some kind of monstrous beast. Only as she got older did she learn that a German was a nationality. A people. When going on vacation I would remember how anything a German ever did got interpreted in a WWII setting. If a German took up too much space at the swimming pool, it was explains as the natural German desire to dominate and control.
Fortunately I never hear stuff like this anymore. I think we have finally reached a point where Germany and Germans can be treated like normal people. With the world we live in I sometimes wonder if Germany ironically will have to carry the torch of democracy and liberty. One country after the other seems to succumb to right-wing populism. Maybe Germany gets to play the role of savior of Western democracy in the third act...
This song sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to it.
This is a beautiful meditation on German history and the band's willingness to confront that history--all of it.