We list some of the best German rock bands to listen to right now. Many German bands establish their identity by singing songs in the German language—though some pop acts record in English—with an upbeat, anthemic sound. The great era of German avant-rock was inspired by psychedelic music during the 60s and 70s as the bands explored various experimental sounds and not particularly drugs. This led to the rise of many German rock bands who mostly sang in their native language.
Best German Rock Bands
1. Scorpions
Scorpions is a rock band from Hannover, Germany that was formed in 1965. Internationally acclaimed for their 1984 rock anthem “Rock You Like a Hurricane” as well as other popular singles such as “Big City Nights”, and “No One Like You”. The band has released thirteen consecutive studio albums that were in the top 10 in Germany, one of which reached No. 1, as well as three consecutive albums that were in the top 10 in the Billboard 200 in the United States.
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2. Die Ärzte
Die Ärzte (German for “The Doctors” or “The Physicians”) are a punk rock band from Berlin, Germany. The group consists of guitarist Farin Urlaub, drummer Bela B and bass player Rodrigo González. Die Ärzte are one of the best-known German rock bands and have released over 14 albums.
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3. Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen (literally “The Dead Trousers” in English; “tote Hose” is a German expression meaning “lifeless”, “boring”, or “nothing going on”) is a punk band from Düsseldorf, Germany. They are one of very few German-language acts who have enjoyed decades-long mass appeal in Germany. The members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephen George Ritchie), Andi (Andreas Meurer) and Breiti (Michael Breitkopf).
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4. Tokio Hotel
Tokio Hotel is a German pop rock band founded in Magdeburg, Germany in 2001 by singer Bill Kaulitz, guitarist Tom Kaulitz, bassist Georg Listing and drummer Gustav Schäfer. They have had four number one singles and have released three number one albums in their native country. The band has sold more than 10 million records worldwide.
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5. Silbermond
Silbermond is a German rock band from Bautzen. The band originally formed in 1998 under the name Jast, which comes from the first letters of the band members’ names (Johannes, Andreas, Stefanie, Thomas). Their debut album Verschwende deine Zeit, was certified double platinum in Germany and Austria and spawned the top 5 hit single “Symphonie”.
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6. Sportfreunde Stiller
Sportfreunde Stiller is a German rock band from Germering near Munich, Bavaria, consisting of Florian “Flo” Weber (drums), Rüdiger “Rüde” Linhof (bass) and Peter S. Brugger (guitar). Their album La Bum released on 3 August 2007 reached the number 1 spot in Germany with their single “Alles Roger” debuting on 20 July 2007 (reaching number 22 in Germany).
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7. Guano Apes
Guano Apes is an alternative metal band formed in 1994 in Göttingen, Germany. The group consists of Sandra Nasic (vocals), Henning Rümenapp (guitar), Stefan Ude (bass) and Dennis Poschwatta (drums). “Open Your Eyes” was their first and most successful single, followed by the release in October 1997 of their debut album Proud Like a God. The album peaked at number 4 in Germany and was certified platinum. The songs “Lords of the Boards” and “Rain” were also issued as singles, with the former being specifically commissioned for the 1998 European Snowboarding Championship.
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8. Böhse Onkelz
Böhse Onkelz is a popular german rock group. It was founded in 1980 in a town called Hösbach near Frankfurt, Germany. Böhse Onkelz started their career into the Oi! and Skinhead movement and went through a drift to the political right-wing and nationalist Despite mass-media criticism concerning their past as skinheads, several of their later records topped the German album charts. E.I.N.S. was their most successful album, with over 510,000 copies sold.
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9. Revolverheld
Revolverheld is a German rock band from Bremen, consisting of Johannes Strate (Vocals), Kristoffer Hünecke (Guitar/Vocals), Niels Grötsch (Guitar/Vocals), Jakob Sinn (Drums) and Florian Speer (Bass/ex Skatoons Bass-player). They first started gathering public attention with their song “Rock n’ Roll”, which then led to a Coaching Program in the Pop-Academy Baden-Württemberg. Their first single called “Generation Rock” was released in June 2005 and directly entered the German Charts. The song is featured on the video game ‘Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’.
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10. Juli
Juli is a German rock/pop band consisting of singer Eva Briegel, guitarists Jonas Pfetzing and Simon Triebel, bassist Andreas “Dedi” Herde and drummer Marcel Römer. This line-up hasn’t changed since 2000. The band’s name is German for “July”. They come from Gießen, Hesse. The band’s critically acclaimed debut album Es ist Juli was released in September 2004 and peaked at #2 in Germany. By July 2006, it had sold over 1 million copies, and thus reached the status of a quadruple platinum record. Though the album became the fourth most successful album of the year it stayed and in the German top 25 charts for a complete year. It also spawned another four singles, only “Geile Zeit”, the album’s second single, made it into the German Top 20.
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11. Wir sind Helden
Wir sind Helden (English translation: “We are heroes”) was a well known German rock act formed 2000 in Hamburg, Germany. The band was composed of lead singer and guitarist Judith Holofernes, drummer Pola Roy, bassist Mark Tavassol and keyboardist/guitarist Jean-Michel Tourette. In 2003 they were among the first bands to kick off a still ongoing trend for up tempo rock songs sung in German.
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12. Unheilig
Unheilig (German for “Unholy”) is a German band that features a variety of influences including various pop and electronic styles as well as harder, nihilistic hard rock. In 1999, together with Grant Stevens and José Alvarez-Brill (also of Wolfsheim, Joachim Witt, and De/Vision), the foundation for Unheilig came into being from a dark vision of singer Der Graf (born Bernd Heinrich Graf). Their first single “Sage Ja!” (Say Yes!) was released on Bloodline Records in 1999. It entered the Deutsche Alternative Charts and became popular in night clubs.
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13. CAN
CAN was a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany, in 1968. Later labeled as one of the first krautrock groups, they transcended mainstream influences and incorporated strong minimalist and world music elements into their often psychedelic music. CAN also had commercial success with singles such as “Spoon” (1971) and “I Want More” (1976) reaching national singles charts.
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14. Madsen
Madsen is a German rock band that hails from Priesseck, a section of Clenze in the Wendland. Three of the members are brothers with the surname Madsen, hence the band’s name. Their music combines elements of pop, rock, and punk together with lyrics in German. They released their self-titled debut album in 2005 and reached #23 on the German music charts.
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15. Beatsteaks
Beatsteaks is a German alternative rock/punk band founded in 1995 and residing in Berlin, Germany. The original line-up consisted of Arnim Teutoburg-Weiß (vocals & guitar), Bernd Kurtzke, Peter Baumann (both guitar), “Ali” (bass) and “Steffi” (drums).
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16. Frei.Wild
Frei.Wild is a German rock group, originating from South Tyrol. They started as a cover band of “Boehse Onkelz”, but now write their own music and lyrics. They have a growing fan base in Germany, although they are still relatively small. Their album Gegengift reached number two in the German album charts and earned the band a nomination as Best National Rock/Alternative Group at the 2011 Echo Awards.
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17. Oomph!
OOMPH! is an industrial rock band from the neue deutsche härte scene. The band was formed in 1989 in Wolfsburg, Germany. They are one of the founders of the fusion of hard metal music and industrial sounds known as Neue Deutsche Härte.
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18. In Extremo
In Extremo (Latin: At the Edge) is a German medieval metal band originating from Berlin. The band’s musical style combines metal with medieval traditional songs, blending the sound of the standard rock/metal instruments with historical instruments (such as bagpipes, harp, hurdy-gurdy and shawm).
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19. KMFDM
KMFDM (originally Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit, “loosely” translated by the band as “no pity for the majority”) is an industrial rock band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project in Hamburg, Germany. Critics consider KMFDM one of the first bands to bring industrial music to mainstream audiences, though Konietzko refers to the band’s music as “The Ultra-Heavy Beat”.
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20. Schandmaul
Schandmaul is a German rock/folk band. The band specializes in a genre of music often known as “Medieval-Folk Rock,” because they often include instruments typically used in medieval folksongs—such as the bagpipes and shawms—as parts of their rock sound. Schandmaul was nominated two times for the Echo Music Prize and has so far had six albums in the top ten German album charts and three top-ten albums in Austria.
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Honorable mentions
21. Eloy
22. Jennifer Rostock
23. Megaherz
24. Neu!
25. Ton Steine Scherben
26. Silly
27. Selig
28. Project Pitchfork
29. The New Roses
30. Axxis
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