Neue Deutsche Welle

This article is about the musical genre. For the Fler album, see Neue Deutsche Welle (album).
Not to be confused with Deutsche Welle.
Neue Deutsche Welle
Stylistic origins
Cultural originsLate 1970s, West Germany
Typical instrumentsElectric guitar, drum kit, electric bass, keyboard
Other topics
German rock, music of Germany, Neue Deutsche Härte

Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW, pronounced [ˈnɔʏə ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈvɛlə], "New German Wave") is a genre of West German rock music originally derived from post-punk and new wave music with electronic influences.[1] The term was first coined by Dutch radio DJ Frits Ritmeester on the popular nationwide radio station Hilversum 3, which was very popular among German listeners. Soon after that, the term was used in a record-shop advertisement by Burkhardt Seiler[2] in an August 1979 issue of the West German magazine Sounds. It was then used by journalist Alfred Hilsberg in an article about the movement titled Neue Deutsche Welle — Aus grauer Städte Mauern ("New German Wave — From Grey Cities' Walls") in Sounds in October 1979.[3][4]

  1. ^ Nancy Kilpatrick, The Goth Bible: A Compendium for the Darkly Inclined, New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 2004, chapter 5, "Music of the Macabre," p. 84.
  2. ^ Neue Deutsche Welle - Blog summary includes an image of the original advertisement published in Sounds 08/ 79.
  3. ^ Neue Deutsche Welle - Aus grauer Städte Mauern (Sounds 10/ 79).
  4. ^ "Neue Deutsche Welle". Deutsche Welle. 14 July 2013. Retrieved 7 September 2021.