Once Dada, now Abba

Kraftwerk weren't always understood at home but now the group is a German pop-culture institution.

- CATHRIN SCHAER

In Germany these days, Kraftwerk are considered something of a musical national treasure. But it wasn't always like that. For a long time, homegrown bands were ignored in Germany - at least until they made it big outside the country, says Uwe Schütte, author of the 2020 Penguin-published book, Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany.

"From the 70s to the 90s, Germans first ridiculed the Düsseldorfers, then ignored them," Schutte told the Listener.

People didn't understand the band that had started off as an art project. At one stage, Kraftwerk members had to explain to a German radio journalist why their track Autobahn didn't mention the fact that there were a lot of accidents on the autobahn.