Rammstein leader Till Lindemann accused of sexual assault, drunk and had up to 5 female fans a day

The Berlin prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal investigation against Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann – he is suspected of sexualized violence, he could face up to 10 years in prison. German journalists found out how the system worked that supplied the musician with young girls for his “special” parties. Berlin-based journalist and host of the Chancellor and Berghain podcast about German politics, Dmitry Vachedin, explains why the investigation in Germany may not be as high-profile as similar cases in the United States, and Lindemann himself may not even be waiting for a full-fledged “cancellation”.

Berlin prosecutor’s office on Wednesday, June 14, confirmedthat launched an investigation into Till Lindemann, the 60-year-old frontman of the Rammstein band and, perhaps, the only German rock star on a global scale. The investigation, according to the prosecutor’s office, is being conducted in connection with possible “sexualized crimes” and “distribution of drugs.”

The beginning of the investigation was preceded by a three-week-long discussion of Lindemann’s violent actions against female fans before, after and even during concerts. In Germany, news about this became the main thing for a while (and even overshadowed the adoption of the first national security strategy in the history of modern Germany) – behind them is watching even Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the magazine Der Spiegel placed Till Lindemann on the cover of the next issue.

The day after the announcement of the investigation, Rammstein’s record label Universal announced that it would stop marketing and promoting the band’s albums until all the circumstances were clarified, and also expressed respect to the girls who “bravely came forward” with the accusations in the press. The continuation of the Rammstein European stadium tour is in doubt, which should last until early August, including three Berlin concerts on July 15, 16 and 18. At the moment, no concert of the tour has been canceled.

Before each concert, Makeeva organized a WhatsApp group for about 40-50 young girls of a similar type (a little over twenty, “gothic” appearance), whom she found on social networks – including the hashtag #Rammstein. She got to know them and invited them to attend the group’s concert for free, and she invited them not to an ordinary auditorium, but to a special fenced space right next to the stage, the so-called row zero (“Medusa” knows the girl that Makeeva added to the group for one of the upcoming concerts groups).

Before the concert, Makeeva personally met the girls from the group on WhatsApp, provided them with tickets, and also selected 10–12 people from this number, whom she invited to the pre-concert party with Till Lindemann. Selected girls from the same group subsequently received an invitation to an after-party with the musicians of the group, and then to an even more private party – the singer often stayed alone with a dozen girls. According to the publication Der Spiegel, the line of girls that Makeeva or the guards were leading there was called by the group’s employees a “fucking parade”. At any time — and even more so at parties — the girls received free alcoholic drinks, including Till Lindemann’s signature Doctor Dick Vodka (he sells it in his online store along with branded vibrators). Not only the members of the WhatsApp group were invited to the afterparty: Makeeva, according to many testimonies, invited the girls she liked right from the auditorium.

At any moment, the girls from the selected Makeeva group could receive an offer from Lindemann to have sex with him – not only before or after, but also during the concert (Der Spiegel writes that the stage at Rammstein concerts was built in such a way that there was room for a small, invisible sides of space specifically for this).

Journalists have no information that, having received a refusal, the singer raped the girls. But some of them told Der Spiegel that they were afraid or later realized that they were too drunk to make a conscious decision, and therefore not sure that the sex was really voluntary.

Because of the situation with Lindemann in Germany, they started talking about the “cancellation” of rock music in general

The story of possible sexualized violence by Lindemann combines two plots that are painful for German society. The first concerns the personality of the 60-year-old singer himself, who is still very popular in Germany. The second concerns the groupie phenomenon itself—or, more precisely, the casting system built on objectification and inequality that brings young girls from the auditorium to the dressing rooms and hotels of the musicians.

In this system itself, no matter how wild it may look from the outside, most likely there is no crime from a legal point of view, and it was not Rammstein who came up with it at all. But this case gives reason to talk about how the usual form of existence of a rock band with “harems” of female fans is appropriate in the modern world – and, ultimately, how justified the existence of rock as such.

“There is a serious suspicion that maybe the generational project “rock” should come to an end? Or maybe the good old days weren’t so good after all? The rock format is a gang of men who conquer the world and women, who often do not have the right to vote. Women in this picture get the role of objects, ”writes Der Spiegel, defending, however, the undoubted right of women to enjoy communication or even sex with the singer.

Judging by the material of the German edition, the girls were deliberately misled – the same Makeeva did not mention the possibility of sex at any stage of communication with the candidates. Each next step to a closed and then to an even more closed party could look harmless enough (especially since not everyone who wanted to get into them) until the girl was left alone with the tall and powerful Lindemann, who, in case of refusal, apparently did not consider need to hide their disappointment. According to Der Spiegel, who calls this system the “concert routine,” hundreds, if not thousands, of women have gone through it over the years—hence, there are hundreds of individual cases in which Lindemann could at least come close to performing crime.

The reputation of the musician long before the current scandal was completely unambiguous. So, rumors have long been circulating in Berlin that even the help that he provided to Ukrainian girls arriving at the capital’s railway station in the first weeks of a full-scale war, paying for their hotel rooms, was not always exclusively disinterested. However, this information has not yet been confirmed.

The “casting manager” Alena Makeeva also has a completely unambiguous profile: back in 2010 on the Russian TVC channel the story came out, in which she talked about how she achieved sex with celebrities visiting Russia in various ways, ranging from Iggy Pop to Marilyn Manson. June 7 Rammstein band announced that he “distances himself” from Makeeva and will not allow her to concerts. June 18 became knownthat Makeeva is a suspect in the case against Lindemann.

“Dude lost touch with reality”

The existence of a special sex casting system around Lindemann is indirectly confirmed by other members of the Rammstein group. “Certain structures formed that went beyond the boundaries of what was normal for other members of the group. Therefore, it is important for us that the band’s official aftershow parties are not to be confused with Till’s private parties. Till has moved away from us in recent years and created his own bubble around himself – with his people, parties and projects, ”- wrote June 16 on instagram drummer Christoph Schneider.

The fact that Lindemann has changed a lot in recent years is confirmed by his other acquaintances. “The dude just lost touch with reality,” a girl who stopped talking to Till a few years ago tells a Meduza correspondent. – The story is as old as the world: a lot of money, a lot of power, and at some point self-destruction begins, simply because you don’t give a fuck. Fuck everyone. On your family, on your friends, and lastly, on yourself.”

One of the turning points in the singer’s distance from the group, she calls the release in 2020 of pornographic clips filmed for his solo project – these clips (they starred girls from Russia), according to her, caused rejection among other members of Rammstein. The interlocutor of Meduza also gives a very clear answer to the question about Lindemann’s sexual appetites: according to her, on the day of the concert he needs “three to five new girls.”

It is unlikely that Lindemann will suffer fate Harvey Weinstein — even the “cancellation” he’s undergoing right now looks very mild. They are in no hurry to put an end to the singer, mainly because the investigation initiated by the Berlin prosecutor’s office did not start because of the appeal of the injured girls – the prosecutor’s office launched it on its own initiative. That is, so far none of the potential victims, apparently, has brought legal charges against the singer. At the same time, the lawyers defending Lindemann have already stated that they will take legal steps against those who spread unproven accusations (German Union of Journalists regarded it’s like trying to put a “muzzle” on the media).

It is no coincidence that a foreigner spoke about the “parties” – in Germany itself there has not yet been a single #MeToo case

Sex scandals in Germany itself are rare and don’t cause great response from the audience. So far, there has not been a single truly high-profile case of #MeToo in the country. And privacy, including any sexual practices not expressly prohibited by law, remains one of the basic values ​​of German society.

It is no coincidence that the Lindemann scandal was initiated by a girl not from Germany, but from Northern Ireland. We can recall the case of the German deputy Sebastian Edati, who bought child pornography directly to his work computer in the Bundestag. The investigation against Edati was launched not by German, but by Canadian intelligence services – and in Germany, several high-ranking politicians at once tried to hush up this case.

The main trouble threatening Rammstein is not the possible trial of Lindemann, but the likely disruption of the next concerts, which bring the group the main income. According to the American edition of Pollstar, on average, Rammstein sells tickets for five million dollars at each stadium concert. At the last June 7 and 8 concerts in Munich, the section of the auditorium, where Makeeva’s selected girls are usually located, remained empty, and Lindemann himself refused to use the huge phallic “sperm cannon”, through which he usually poured foam on the audience.