Neue Deutsche Welle

Neue Deutsche Welle, 'German New Wave', was the West German new wave and post-punk movement of roughly 1979 to 1983, in which a generation of musicians answered British and American punk with German-language songs built on synthesizers, drum machines and deliberately reduced arrangements. Its underground wing, *Einstürzende Neubauten*, *Der Plan*, *Malaria!* and the self-styled ingenious dilettantes, pursued noise, dada and provocation, while its commercial wing carried *Trio's* minimalism, *Nena's* "99 Luftballons" and *Spliff* to the top of the charts. The movement collapsed as the industry diluted the label, but it permanently normalised German lyrics in domestic pop.