Several people who attended concerts by the German band Rammstein have come forward describing a system whereby young female fans are recruited to have sex with the shock rockers’ lead singer, Till Lindemann, during and after their shows, following one fan’s allegation that her drink had been spiked at an afterparty in Vilnius last month.
The reports have gathered momentum just ahead of Rammstein’s sold-out four-night residency at Munich’s Olympic Stadium starting on Wednesday, prompting the concert promoter to announce there would be no afterparties following the show nor a so-called “row zero” experience for select fans directly in front of the stage.
The publishing house Kiepenheuer & Witsch, which published an anthology of Lindemann’s poems in 2020, announced it was parting ways with the singer, citing the string of reports as well as a two-year-old pornographic video in which the Rammstein frontman appears to insert his penis through a hole cut into a copy of a volume of his own poetry.
In a statement on its Instagram page, the band said it was taking the reports “extremely seriously” and asked its fans to reserve judgment about the women who had spoken out, as well as the conduct of its own members.
“We tell our fans: it is important that you feel good and safe at our shows – in front and behind the stage,” the statement said.
An earlier statement on Twitter said: “With regard to the allegations circulating on the internet about Vilnius, we can rule out the possibility that what is being claimed took place in our environment.”
Known for their industrial heavy metal guitar sound and cabaret-style stage shows, Rammstein are one of Germany’s most successful musical exports, though the band’s status in their home country is more ambivalent.
Formed in 1994, the band has a long history of provocatively using images and language associated with the Nazi era, though Lindemann stated in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that “we hate Nazis”. Previously praised by critics for their poetic sensibilities, Rammstein’s lyrics have recently taken a more blatantly pornographic turn.
Allegations against the band were first raised on 25 May by a 24-year-old fan from Northern Ireland who had attended the band’s concert in Vilnius, Lithuania, two days earlier. In a series of posts on Twitter and Instagram, the woman said that ahead of her trip she had contacted a woman via Instagram who on chat forums was rumoured to be able to help fans gain access to exclusive parties before and after the show.
The woman, called Alena Makeeva, who on her Instagram page refers to herself as a “casting director on tour with Till Lindemann”, sent the 24-year-old a link to a private WhatsApp group and eventually texted her an invitation to join the “row zero” area at the Vilnius concert.
During an interval, she was led to a small changing room underneath the stage where Lindemann joined her. When the 24-year-old made clear that she would not have sex with him, she claims the singer reacted angrily.
At the pre-concert party, the woman said, she had two alcoholic drinks but then started to act erratically from about 8.30pm, with gaps in her memory, leading her to later fear that her drink had been spiked. A urine test she obtained from a pharmacy showed no sign of drugs in her system.
In a follow-up post on 30 May, the woman said: “Till did NOT touch me. He accepted I did not want to have sex with him. I never claimed he raped me.”
Several stories have since been reported in German media that show similar experiences of fans being “cast” to have sex with the Rammstein frontman.
An article in Süddeutsche Zeitung cites another woman, who had attended an after-show party following a Rammstein concert in Vienna in 2019, and had drunk alcohol.
After passing out, this woman said she regained consciousness to find Lindemann “on top of me” inside a hotel room. According to Süddeutsche, the singer then asked her whether she wanted him to stop and later left the room.
While several stories have surfaced in German newspapers and on social media, only the Vilnius case has been reported to police. This led to the woman involved being interviewed remotely by Lithuanian authorities after she had returned to Northern Ireland.
A spokesperson for Vilnius police told the Guardian a decision had not yet been reached on whether to open a criminal investigation.
On Tuesday, German media reported that Rammstein had barred Makeeva, who was not employed by the band, from future concerts.
