Hamburg and Classical Music

Being the birthplace of Mendelssohn and Brahms, the city is important for the world of music. Many famous contemporary classical composers live (or lived) in Hamburg. The world-famous composer Alfred Schnittke spent the last years of his life in Hamburg. György Ligeti lived here for 30 years. Some other talented people also contribute to the city’s fame: Sofia Gubaidulina, Manfred Stahnke, Peter Ruzicka, Peter Michael Hamel and Babette Koblenz. Hamburg is famous for its orchestras – the Philharmonische Staatsorchester, the Symphonie-Orchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks, and the Hamburger Symfoniker.

Popular Music in Hamburg

The Beatles

Hamburg is also world-famous as one of the centres of popular music. It is here that the Beatles had their first show abroad. They lived in St. Pauli and played at the Indra, the Kaiserkeller, the Top Ten Club and the Star-Club.

Heavy Metal

Hamburg is also famous for the contribution to the development of heavy metal in the 1980s. Such bands as Helloween, Running Wild and Grave Digger started making considerable progress in their career in Hamburg. The Hamburg scene has a lot to do with establishing the subgenre of Power metal.

Hamburger Schule

Hamburg also introduced an original kind of popular music called Hamburger Schule ("Hamburg School"), it is represented by such bands as Tocotronic, Blumfeld, Die Sterne and Tomte.

Punk Rock

The Hamburg punk rock scene is renowned for its bands (Slime, Rio Beni, Antikörper and many others). St. Pauli is famous as a centre for the punk movement.

Hip-hop

In the world of hip-hop the city has also gained certain prominence thanks to such names as Fünf Sterne Deluxe, Samy Deluxe, Beginner and Fettes Brot.

Psychedelic Trance Music

Hamburg is considered to be one of the important centres for psychedelic trance music. Every summer party people from Germany and other countries come to Hamburg to attend the legendary festivals (VuuV Experience - previously known as VooV Experience, Shiva Moon, Tshitraka, Fusion Festival, etc.).

The Popular Musicians of Hamburg

Hamburg is the hometown of Sascha Konietzko, the frontman and founder of the popular band KMFDM. He comes to Hamburg quite often. Several members of the famous electronic band Kraftwerk also come from Hamburg. The enormously popular musicians of Tokio Hotel are currently living in Hamburg.