It has to be one of the weirdest band names, right? Rammstein. A word so German that’s even difficult to pronounce. But have you ever wondered what does it mean?
Ramstein (with one “m”) in German means “Ramming Stone” but, as it turns out, the band was named after the 1988 Ramstein airshow disaster, a mid-air collision between 3 stunt planes that killed 80 people.
On August 28, 1988 at the US Ramstein Air Base which is located at the Ramstein-Miesenbach municipality in Kaiserslautern, Germany, the Flugtag ’88 airshow was taking place. During the display, 3 stunt aircraft of the Italian Air Force collided and crashed into the ground in front of a huge crowd of about 300,000 people. More than 80 people died and hundreds of spectators sustained injuries. It was the deadliest airshow accident in history until it was overtaken in 2002 by the Sknyliv disaster. Taken from an MTV interview: (the article continues after the ad)
“The name came from the big catastrophe that happened in Ramstein. So the first song, actually, was about that accident. And then there was always like a cause when they’d say: “Ramstein, Ramstein!” So it came into our head and it stayed there. We just changed the spelling slightly because Ramstein is actually spelt with one “m”. It also became somewhat of a provocation, by just repeating it, it kind of became like a symbol for us, an anthem.”
Here’s the video of the collision:
If you like what you read, then you will definitely love this one: How Guns N’ Roses Got Their Name
Photos: necromag.co.uk, Creative Commons
Photoshop: I’m A Useless Info Junkie
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