As you all probably already know, RAMMSTEIN was founded by Richard Zven Kruspe (Bernstein). In 1989, he emigrated (was that the reason to call his solo project "emigrate"?) from East Germany, since, in that period, East Germany was under communist regime and had major economics and social problems. The time brought Richard to Berlin, its Western part, where he had started a band in 1993. The band's name was Orgasm Death Gimmicks, and wasn't even close to Rammstein. During the period, Richard adored American music, so ODG was eventually becoming an American band on European soil.

When the Berlin wall finally fell in 1991 (Germany reunited), Richard went back to his homeland, Schwerin (Shverin) where he mat Till, Oli and Christoph. They were all in various music bands. Christoph was in Die Firma, and Oliver was in The Inchtabokatables. Till worked as a basket weaver and played drums in "First Arsch". 

At first, only Richard, Oli and Christoph made the group. Rich eventually found out that the music he used to write was not "it", so he wanted to try something different. The three of them started working on a new project.

However, it was very hard to write both music and lyrics at the same time. That's when Till, on invitation, joins the team, because Richard heard Till singing  before. In that time, there was a contest for new bands and the prize was studio time. Now four of them recorded the first Rammstein demo and won. Paul Landers knew them all and he wanted to know what they were doing. He listened, and said "YES" when they asked him if he'd like to join. Now there was only one seat empty - the keyboarder. They needed him, and theey needed him desperately.

At that time, Christian Flake Lorenz was playing for "Feeling B". But what? At first, HE REFUSED TO JOIN RAMMSTEIN! And it was a looong waiting period when they finally got him into joining.

The rest is history. In 1995, all of the group members had had relationship problems, which evolved in HERZELEID, the debut album, being recorded. Herzeleid means Heartache. They immediately received gold & platinum status and became Germany's #1 music exporter.

The name of the band actually consists of two parts: Ram (battering ram) and stein (stone). Now you are all wondering "where is double M?". Actually, RAMMSTEIN took the name from the location of a German tragedy where 80 people have died as the result of a crash during an US Air Force flight show. The base where the show was performed is named RAMSTEIN. The only thing they did is adding an extra M.

Controversies

Rammstein have not been shy of courting controversy and have periodically attracted condemnation from morality campaigners. Their stage act earned them a night in jail in June 1999 after the infamous giant dildo was used in a concert in Worcester, Massachusetts. Back home in Germany, the band has faced repeated accusations of fascist sympathies due to the dark and sometimes militaristic imagery of their videos and concerts, including the use of extracts from a propaganda film by Leni Riefenstahl in the video for Stripped. Also, when the album Herzeleid originally came out in Germany in 1995, they were met with accusations from the media and critics that they were trying to sell themselves as 'poster boys for the Master Race'. Rammstein have denied this vigorously and the members of the band have said that they want nothing to do with politics as well as supremacy of any kind. The song Links 2 3 4 was written as a riposte to these claims. According to Kruspe, it means, ''my heart beats on the left, two, three, four.' It's simple. If you want to put us in a political category, we're on the left side, and that's the reason we made the song.' (The Grand Rapids Press, Jul. 22, 2001). Of course this is a two-sided thing, since 'Links 2 3 4' is the usual command in marching practice in the German army, 'Links' referring to the left foot in that case.

In April 1999, it emerged that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold - the two boys who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre - were fans of Rammstein and had declared it to be one of their favourite bands. Rammstein came under heavy criticism from conservative and Christian groups in the United States, who claimed (among other things) that Till Lindemann's rolling Teutonic r's were an imitation of Adolf Hitler's diction. In response, the band issued a statement:

The members of Rammstein express their condolences and sympathy to all affected by the recent tragic events in Denver. They wish to make it clear that they have no lyrical content or political beliefs that could have possibly influenced such behavior. Additionally, members of Rammstein have children of their own, in whom they continually strive to instill healthy and non-violent values.

Jeff Weise of the Red Lake High School massacre was also said to have been a fan.

Following the tragic conclusion of the Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia in September 2004, Russian authorities claimed that the hostage-takers had listened to German hard rock group Rammstein on personal stereos during the siege to keep themselves edgy and fired up. The claim has not been independently confirmed, and the Russian authorities are known to have been concerned that Rammstein was too appealing to 'undesirable' elements in Russian society. A Rammstein concert in Moscow scheduled for July 19, 2002 was cancelled due to fears that it would attract skinheads.

In October 2004, the video for Mein Teil caused considerable controversy in Germany when it was released. It takes a darkly comic view of the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case, showing musicians of the band being held on a leash by a transvestite and rolling around in mud. The controversy did nothing to stop (and may even have helped) the single rising to No. 2 in the German charts.

The band's own views of its image are sanguine: 'We like being on the fringes of bad taste,' according to Paul Landers, while Flake Lorenz comments: 'The controversy is fun, like stealing forbidden fruit. But it serves a purpose. We like audiences to grapple with our music, and people have become more receptive.' (The Times, Jan 29, 2005)

The band's latest album, Rosenrot, was released on October 28, 2005. A number of songs that were left out of Reise, Reise for dramaturgical reasons make up the majority of the album, but a number of new songs have also been recorded. The band performed "Benzin", the first single from the album, at four shows in Wuhlheide Park on June 23-26, 2005, and four shows in the UK (Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff) in July 2005.