Chat with GPT: Are the Böhsen Onkelz right-wing extremists?

This article examines whether the Böhsen Onkelz can be classified as a right-wing extremist band in their early phase and whether their problematic past and subsequent transformation need to be viewed in a more nuanced way.

Disclaimer

In this blog series, I ask ChatGPT on a variety of topics, from world politics to everyday issues, to get concise summaries and answers. The answers provided by ChatGPT are generated from large datasets, which may include biases, for example from Western perspectives. While the model strives for accuracy, it can sometimes produce incorrect or misleading information. I do not take responsibility for the validity of the content. Though I aim to ensure that the answers reflect common sense, I encourage you to cross-check facts and verify information through trusted sources. You are also welcome to reach out to me with suggestions for improvement.

ChatGPT’s answer

Wer sind die Böhsen Onkelz?

The Böhsen Onkelz are a German rock band that emerged in the early 1980s from the skinhead and Oi scene and later became one of the most commercially successful and controversial rock bands in the German-speaking world. They played their way out of the underground into large halls and stadiums, but remained the subject of heated debate due to their early lyrics and their environment. For many people, they remain a symbol of the difficult question of whether and how a band can credibly break away from a problematic past.

Evidence of an early phase of right-wing extremism

In the band’s early phase, there are numerous indications of a clear affinity with right-wing and, in some cases, right-wing extremist circles. The Böhsen Onkelz emerged in the early 1980s in the skinhead and Oi scene and released their early recordings on the Rock-O-Rama label, which later became known primarily for its clearly neo-Nazi bands such as Skrewdriver. This location in a subcultural environment in which right-wing rock groups played an important role alone suggests a clear right-wing connotation in the early days.

This affinity becomes particularly clear when you listen to an early demo tape, which includes the songs “Türken raus” (“Turks out”) and “Deutschland den Deutschen” (“Germany for the Germans”). These songs contain clearly xenophobic and racist lyrics, such as the line “Skinheads im Zusammenhalt gegen euch und eure Kanakenwelt” (“Skinheads united against you and your world of foreigners”). The band itself now lists these songs on its own timeline as “scandal songs” and cites them as the source of its bad reputation. These examples alone make it clear that these are not just provocative phrases, but an open denigration and exclusion of people with a migration background.

The debut album “Der nette Mann” from 1984 also plays a central role. This album was indexed by the Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Minors in 1986, partly because of songs that were considered to glorify violence and National Socialism. According to the official statement, the album was not only problematic because of its harsh or violent content. The review board also saw references in it that could be classified as close to Nazi ideology and thus as right-wing extremist. The LP is still indexed today, even though the song “Der nette Mann” was separately re-evaluated in 2019.

In the public perception of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Böhsen Onkelz were therefore repeatedly mentioned in close connection with right-wing extremist violence. In the early 1990s, when racist riots such as those in Rostock-Lichtenhagen or the attacks in Mölln took place, the band’s name frequently appeared in media reports about right-wing extremist youths. Major retailers, radio stations, and event organizers responded with boycotts and in some cases removed the band from their programming entirely.

This reputation also had legal repercussions. In 2001, the band lost a lawsuit against the newspaper taz, which had described them as a “notorious right-wing extremist band.” The court ruled that this wording was a permissible value judgment and thus an assessment covered by freedom of expression, based primarily on the documented past of the Onkelz.

All these aspects together, from their roots in the skinhead/Oi scene to their demo tape with songs like “Türken raus” (“Turks out”) and “Deutschland den Deutschen” (“Germany for the Germans”), the explicitly racist line “Skinheads im Zusammenhalt gegen euch und eure Kanakenwelt” (“Skinheads united against you and your world of foreigners”), the indexing of “Der nette Mann” (The Nice Man) for glorifying violence and Nazism, to public and legal classification, are very clear indications that the early phase of the Böhsen Onkelz did indeed have clear right-wing and right-wing extremist connotations.

Distancing and change within the band

From the second half of the 1980s and especially in the 1990s, the band increasingly emphasized an internal and external change. In interviews, the musicians described a conscious break with parts of the skinhead and right-wing rock scene and distanced themselves from their former environment and from the label Rock-O-Rama, which had since become clearly associated with neo-Nazism. According to their own account, they no longer wanted to serve as a projection screen or mouthpiece for neo-Nazis and later viewed their early right-wing and racist lyrics as serious mistakes of youth.

This distancing also extends to the band’s approach to early songs such as “Türken raus” (“Turks out”) and “Deutschland den Deutschen” (“Germany for the Germans”). Today, the band itself refers to these songs as “scandal songs” and identifies them as the decisive trigger for their bad reputation. Looking back, the members speak of stupidity, naivety, and an environment in which they got caught up in a spiral of provocation and increasingly radical rhetoric. From their point of view, these songs no longer represent what the band wants to stand for, but rather what it expressly distances itself from.

Their later lyrics therefore take on a different tone. Songs such as “Ohne mich” (“Without Me”) and “Deutschland im Herbst” (“Germany in Autumn”) are seen by the band as a clear rejection of political extremism and, in particular, right-wing extremist violence. They increasingly present themselves as a band that does not want to be lumped together with neo-Nazis or other extremist groups. According to their own statements, people wearing Nazi symbols or giving the Hitler salute at concerts were repeatedly asked to leave the premises or were removed by security. In this way, the Böhsen Onkelz send the signal that right-wing extremist symbols and attitudes will not be tolerated at their events.

Opinions still differ on how credible this change is. For some, it is a logical development for a band that has grown out of a problematic youth phase and has evolved both in terms of content and personality. For others, the distancing seems primarily like a belated image correction intended to facilitate commercial success and soften the band’s public image. What is undisputed, however, is that the lyrics, self-image, and public appearance of the Böhse Onkelz have changed significantly since the early 1980s and are clearly intended to distance themselves from the openly racist and right-wing extremist connotations of their early days.

How are they classified today?

Today, there is no consensus on how the Böhsen Onkelz should be classified politically. Many observers emphasize that the band clearly presented itself as right-wing to right-wing extremist in its early days, but that its current lyrics no longer contain any overtly right-wing extremist content. From this perspective, it is a rock band with a heavily burdened past that has distanced itself from its early positions in terms of content, without forgetting that past.

At the same time, the band remains highly controversial. Critics point out that part of the fan base continues to come from right-wing or right-leaning circles. There are repeated reports of people wearing relevant symbols or expressing right-wing extremist views at concerts. The band states that such individuals are unwelcome and refers to security personnel who are supposed to intervene when Nazi symbols are openly displayed. Nevertheless, the question remains as to why the Onkelz continue to play an identity-forming role for certain groups and why right-wing extremist symbols appear at their concerts in the first place.

This ambivalence is clearly identified in expert discussions. In 2017, youth researcher Klaus Farin said on Deutschlandfunk Kultur that the Böhse Onkelz are no longer a right-wing band, even if their past and parts of their fan base remain problematic. He thus describes an intermediate position in which the band itself is no longer understood as an active right-wing rock group, but the historical burden and the composition of part of the audience continue to be viewed critically.

In the public perception, opinions range from a fundamental rejection of the band as a symbol of right-wing rock and exclusion to the view that the Onkelz are an aging rock band that has come a long way in distancing itself from its past. Many who have studied the group’s history in depth have come to the conclusion that the Böhsen Onkelz can neither be celebrated unreservedly today nor hastily reduced to their early phase. Their current classification remains a field of tension between a documented right-wing extremist past, later distancing, and an impact in certain milieus that remains controversial to this day.

Conclusion

In summary, there is very clear evidence of an early phase of right-wing extremism in the Böhse Onkelz. Their roots in the skinhead and Oi scene, their early releases on the Rock-O-Rama label, which later became clearly neo-Nazi, the demo tape with songs such as “Türken raus” (“Turks out”) and “Deutschland den Deutschen” (“Germany for the Germans”) and explicit lines such as “Skinheads im Zusammenhalt gegen euch und eure Kanakenwelt” (“Skinheads united against you and your world of foreigners”), as well as the indexing of their debut album “Der nette Mann” for glorifying violence and Nazism, speak for themselves. Media reports, boycotts by retailers and broadcasters, and the court ruling that recognized the designation as a “notorious right-wing extremist band” as a permissible value judgment further reinforce this finding.

However, it is equally clear that the band has been trying to distance itself from this for many years and no longer conveys openly right-wing extremist content in its newer lyrics. The Böhsen Onkelz themselves now refer to the problematic songs as “scandal songs” and admit that they were mistakes of their youth. Songs such as “Ohne mich” (“Without Me”) and “Deutschland im Herbst” (“Germany in Autumn”) are interpreted as a rejection of extremism, and according to the band, openly right-wing extremist symbols are not tolerated at concerts. Experts such as youth researcher Klaus Farin no longer describe the Onkelz as a right-wing band, but at the same time point out that their past and parts of their fan base remain problematic.

Against this backdrop, many today view the Böhsen Onkelz as a controversial rock band with a well-documented history of right-wing extremism, rather than a classic neo-Nazi band of the present day. Anyone who takes a closer look at them will find it difficult to ignore both aspects. On the one hand, there is an early phase that had clear right-wing and, in some cases, right-wing extremist connotations. On the other hand, there is a long-standing distancing that some see as a credible development, while others view it more as a belated image correction. The tension between these two poles and the continuing mixed composition of the audience are likely to ensure that the debate about the Böhsen Onkelz is far from over.