Once
 upon 
a 
time
...

Around
 1980,
 many
 young,
 creative
 people
 perceived
 the
 exceptional
 political
 situation
 in
 West
 Berlin
 as 
normal; 
and 
one 
in 
which
 it 
also 
seemed
 that 
anything 
was 
possible.


When 
Blixa 
Bargeld 
was 
asked
 whether 
he 
would 
perform 
at 
the 
“Moon” 
club 
on 
April
1,
 1980,
 he
 agreed,
 dreamt
 up
 the
 band
 EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN,
 and
 then
 called
 a
 couple
of
friends.
The 
band’s 
first 
line up
 consisted 
of 
those 
musicians, 
who
 happened 
to
 be 
free 
that 
night: 
Blixa
 Bargeld,
 Gudrun
 Gut,
 N.
U.
 Unruh
 and
 Beate
 Bartel.



In
 1981,
 Blixa
 Bargeld,
 N.
 U.
 Unruh
 and
 FM
 Einheit
 recorded
 an
 “inaudible”
 LP
 in
 a
 recording
 studio:
 Kollaps 
is 
a 
frontal 
attack 
on 
conventional 
listening 
habits 
of 
that 
time,
 which
 the
 mainstream
 had
 made
 deaf.
 For
 lack
 of
 money
 (among
 other
 reasons),
 the
 band’s
 range
 of
 instruments
 consisted
 of
 “found”
 and
 self‐built
 objects
 made
 of
 sheet
 steel,
 drills,
 hammers,
 a
 "non‐voice"
 that
 plucked
 a
 text
 out
 of
 shreds
 of
 German
 words
 and
 professional
 studio
 equipment,
 which
 was
 consistently
 used
 despite
 their
 real
 attitudes
toward
technical
modifications.


Through 
this
 approach,
 the
 construct
 EINSTÜRZENDE 
NEUBAUTEN 
has 
become
 one 
of
 the 
few 
German 
bands 
to 
produce 
genuine, 
international 
impulses 
and 
they 
have 
had 
an
 inspirational
 effect
 on
 numerous
 other
 bands
 and
 art
 genres,
 spanning
 from
 dance
 theater,
 to 
the 
fine 
arts, 
to 
film
–
from
 Christoph
 Schlingensief 
to 
Quentin
Tarrantino.


As
 a
 result
 they
 were
 invited
 ad
 hoc
 in
 1982
 
 to
 documenta
 7
 in
 Kassel
 and
 in
 1986
 as
 the
 German
 contribution
 to
 the
 Biennale
 de
 Paris,
 as
 well
 as
 to
 the
 EXPO
 in
 Vancouver,
 Canada.



Numerous
 productions 
and
 extensive
 concert
 tours 
have
 followed
 over
 the
 years.



Their
 original
 and
 radical
 redefinition
 of
 the
 concept
 of
 music
 has
 brought
 about
 inevitable
 and 
quite
 welcome 
collaborations
 like
 those
 with
 the
 Japanese
 director
 Sogho
 Iishi
 who
 recorded
 the
 film
 “1/2
 Mensch”
 during
 the
 band’s
 tour
 of
 Japan
 in
 1985
 in
 an
 empty
 factory
 building
 in
 Tokyo
 with
 a
 Butoh
 dance
 ensemble
 including
 songs
 from
 their
 album
 of
 the
 same
 name.
 (German
 premiere
 at
 the
 Berlinale
 in
 1986),
 
with
 Peter
 Zadek
 (Andi,
 Deutsches
 Schauspielhaus,
 Hamburg,
 1987),
 as
 well
 as
 Werner
 Schwab
 (“Faust...
“,
Hans
 Otto
 Theater,
 Postdam,
1994).



However,
 a
 collaboration
 with
 Germany’s
 most
 influential
 postwar
 dramatist,
 Heiner
 Müller
 (Bildbeschreibung,
 1988,
 Hamletmaschine,
 1990),
 was
 particularly
 significant.
 One
 of
 the
 legendary
 site‐specific
 performances
 –
 which
 have
 become
 a
 constant
 side
 focus
 of
 the
 EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN
 –
 was
 created
 with
 Müller’s
 dramaturgical
 collaboration,
 at
 Erich
 Wonder’s
 invitation.
 Im
 Auge
 des
 Taifun
 took
 place
 in
 1992
 to
 mark
 the
 300th
 anniversary
 of
 the
 “Academy
 of
 Fine
 Arts
 Vienna”,
 sending
 sonic
 waves
 of
music
out
into
that
city’s
Ringstraße
from
a
modified
glass
truck
pulled
by
huskies.



The
 performance
 of
 “Concerto
 for
 Voice
 and
 Machinery”
 in
 1984
 at
 the
 Institute
 of
 Contemporary 
Arts 
in
 London
 made
 such 
a 
lasting
 impression 
that 
Jo 
Mitchell 
reenacted
 it
 in 
2007
 in 
a
 reconstructed
 performance


Further
 site‐specific
 performances
 took
 place
 in
 the
 Mojave
 Desert
 (also
 in
 1984);
 “Im
 Goldenen
 Saal
 der
 Zeppelintribüne”
 (1986,
 at
 the
 former
 Nazi
 party
 rally
 grounds
 in
 Nuremberg);
 and
 Fiat
 Lingotto 
(1989,
at
 the 
old 
Fiat
 works 
in 
Turin).




In
 1994
 Mark
 Chung
 und
 F.M.
 Einheit
 left
 the
 band,
 Jochen
 Arbeit
 und
 Rudolf
 Moser
 joined
 and
 complemented
 in
 1997,
 at
 Live
 performances
 amended
 by
 Ash
 Wednesday,
 until 
2013, 
followed
 by 
Felix 
Gebhard 
since 
2014.


In 
the 
first 
decade 
of 
the 
new 
millennium 
EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN
 was 
the 
first
 and
 only 
band
 worldwide 
to 
make 
use
 of
 the 
Internet 
so 
successfully 
and 
productively,
 to 
assemble 
its 
fans 
and 
group 
its 
activities. 
Accordingly, 
beginning 
in 
2002, 
the
 EINSTÜRZENDEN 
NEUBAUTEN 
organised 
their 
official 
website 
into 
an 
epicenter 
of
 musical
 activity
–
the 
likes 
of 
which 
has 
not 
been 
seen 
before. 
Entire 
album
 productions
 were 
financed
 in 
three
 stages
 through 
a 
subscription 
model 
based 
on 
so‐called
 “Supporters” 
which 
makes
 the 
band 
to 
inventors 
of 
the 
nowadays
 common
 „Crowfunding“.


In 
2004, 
shortly
 before
 its 
demolition,
 the 
EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN
 allowed
 music
 to
 sound
 through
 the
 former
 GDR’s
 already
 gutted
 “Palast
 der
 Republik,”
 integrating
 a
 chorus 
of 
100 
voices 
recruited 
from 
the 
so called 
“Supporters”.


During
 the
 100th
 anniversary
 of
 John
 Cage’s
 death
 in
 2012,
 the
 EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN
 were
 invited
 to
 participate
 in
 two
 important
 exhibitions
 paying
 tribute
 to
 the
 composer.
 Video
 clips
 of
 the
 band
 were
 shown
 in
 “A
 House
 Full
 of
 Music”
 at
 the
 Mathildenhöhe
 in
 Darmstadt
 and
 in
 the
 HMKV’s
 award‐winning
 exhibition
 “Sounds
 like
 Silence”
 at
 Dortmunder
 U.
 Blixa
 Bargeld
 also
 wrote
 a
 catalogue
 essay
 in
 honor
 of
 John
 Cage 
for 
the 
Akademie
 der 
Künste 
in 
Berlin.




In
 2014,
 recognition
 is
 focused
 on
 the
 EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN
 themselves
 through
 an
 international,
 worldwide
 touring
 exhibition
 GENIALE
 DILLETANTEN
 on
 the
 “German
 art 
of 
1980s”, 
organized 
by 
the 
Goethe
 Institute.



Invited
 by
 the
 region
 of
 Flanders,
 Belgium
 EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN
 developed
 a
 new,
 exceptional
 composition,
 called
 “LAMENT”.
 The
 band
 produced
 a
 musical
 work
 on
 the
 outbreak
 of
 World
 War
 I
 100
 years
 ago,
 which
 had
 its
 premiere
 performance
 in
 Diksmuide,
Belgium
on
November
8,
2014.
This
musical
event
was
part
of
the
GoneWest
 artistic
 commemoration
 programme
 in
 the
 province
 of
 West
 Flanders.
 in
 remembrance
 of
 the
 Fall 
of 
Diksmuide.
 The 
historic 
commemoration 
of 
the 
fall 
of 
Diksmuide 
combined
 with
 the
 intense
 and
 profound
 musical
 composition
 by
 EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN
 was
 for
 sure
 an
 unforgetable
 and
 
 unique
 contemporary
 performance
 in
 a
 distinctive
 setting 
and
 one 
of 
the 
most 
important 
musical
 events
 of 
the 
year.

Live
 –performances
 and
 same
 named
 album
 received
 worldwide
 higly
 recognition
 and
 appreciation
 by
 fans
 and
 critics
 as
 well.
 Due
 to
 the
 major
 success
 EINSTÜRZENDE
 NEUBAUTEN 
have
 been 
again 
invited 
to 
perform
 LAMENT
 at 
Flanders 
in 
2018, 
this
 time
 to
 mark 
the 
end 
of 
World
 War 
I.



In 
2016 
the 
band`s
 first 
ever
„Greatest 
Hits“‐album
 
was 
released, 
which 
contents 
a
cross
 section 
of 
more 
than 
35 
years 
band‐oeuvre.

EINSÜRZENDE 
NEUBAUTEN will continue to search further on their eternal quest for that still undiscovered sound.