At the end of June, Britta Häfemeier started a petition. The addressees: the Berlin Senator for the Interior, the Senator for Culture and the Managing Director of the Olympic Stadium. The goal: to prevent the three Rammstein concerts in Berlin. Häfemeier had followed the stories that a number of women had recently told in the media. It was about alleged incidents at Till Lindemann’s after-show parties, about knockout drops and not always consensual sex. Till Lindemann denies all allegations about his lawyers. It is the presumption of innocence.
In the end, Häfemeier had 77,000 signatures, but the concerts in the Olympic Stadium still took place. The 34-year-old received threats that she “does not want to repeat,” as she says. And a letter from Till Lindemann’s lawyers arrived at the Campact petition platform. Lindemann’s lawyers want to take legal action against Häfemeier’s “No stage for Rammstein” petition.
But Campact, who is also Häfemeier’s employer, does not want to sign the cease-and-desist declaration, and Häfemeier also wants to continue using terms such as “abuse” and “perpetrator”.
“We’ll wait and see,” says Häfemeier in an interview with the star. She says it’s “an attempt at intimidation, but I won’t be intimidated. I’ll keep going. Dogs that are hit may bark, too.” For her there is “a system behind it. They want to silence the women and me too.” She thinks: “Lindemann and his people should rather put their energy into clarifying the allegations of abuse.”
She herself considers the allegations and the stories of the women to be realistic. They would gain nothing from messing with Rammstein’s band members. “For the women, this means effort and danger, they don’t benefit from it themselves. On the contrary: they have to be publicly insulted, there is a lot of victim blaming.” They would be asked “why they were at the parties or the concert at all.”
Häfemeier also wishes that backstage employees or even other band members would make statements, that could also be done anonymously. “These are very valuable witnesses because they have such extensive insights. Anyone who does not position themselves against Lindemann supports and receives the system.” Rammstein drummer Christoph Schneider recently distanced himself from Lindemann’s parties in an Instagram post.
“I find it disgusting that Lindemann rewrote the lyrics at the Berlin performances. And that the band let him do it.” For example, in the song “Angst” Lindemann sang instead of the actual line “everyone is afraid of the black man” now “everyone is afraid of Lindemann”. He also rewrote the lyrics in another song, turning “the birds no longer sing” into the sentence “the singers no longer fuck”.
For Häfemeier, this is “pure disrespect” and a “slap in the face for all those affected”. Häfemeier himself was also at a demonstration that took place on July 15 before the first Rammstein concert. Audio contributions from those affected were also played there, reporting on their experiences. “They were interrupted by bullying and laughing at a number of Rammstein fans. I’m really shocked that so many people, especially women, still go to the concerts and don’t show solidarity with the victims.”
Lindemann was unimpressed at his last Berlin concert, and finally said to his fans: “Three times in our city, three times in Berlin. Thank you for being there. And always remember: you don’t believe evil tongues. The truth comes to light anyway.”
