From the 1600s to the 1800s, Germany was the place to be for up-and-coming musical stars. What we now term ‘classical’ music was the popular genre of its day, breaking out of the former religious musical predominance and blending styles from across Europe to create the Baroque and Opera genres. Famous Germanic composers include Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel and Mozart. Some of the most well-known works come from Richard Wagner like “Ride of the Valkyries” and the world’s most popular song at weddings: “The Bridal Chorus.”

Where to go: Wagner’s adopted hometown of Bayreuth is where the composer established himself beginning in 1872. In a break with cultural norms, he built his own theater for the performance of his masterpiece “The Ring of the Nibelung” at what became the yearly Richard Wagner Festival. The 113th festival begins on July 25, 2025, visit www.bayreuther-festspiele.de for details.

Read about the Nibelung Saga and its many iterations, including J.R.R. Tolkien’s.

Folk music, especially Bavarian folk music and the “Oom-pah” style heard in festival beer halls, became popular during the late 1800s and early 1900s. At the time, Germany was experiencing an awakening of cultural identity in response to a perceived loss of identity during the Industrial Revolution. This Heimatschutz, or ‘homeland protection,’ movement saw a resurgence in wearing Tracht (traditional Bavarian clothes like dirndls and lederhosen), preserving Bavarian tavern music like Oom-pah, and modernizing folk songs.

Where to go: The most famous celebration of all things Bavarian, including the music, is Oktoberfest in Munich. Plan now to attend the 2025 festival, held Sept.21 to Oct. 5. Reservations for seats in the beer tents typically open in April. Visit www.oktoberfest.de for information.

Post-WWII, the Armed Forces Network (AFN) brought American pop music to the airwaves of West Germany where a swath of experimental music came onto the scene, much of it in response to the war legacy. In the 1960s and ‘70s, a new style grew – mockingly called krautrock – as an amalgamation of punk music, new age and psychedelic styles, and electronic sounds, all blended to create repetitive rhythms. The bands Kraftwerk and Neu from Düsseldorf and Can from Köln led the way. Electronica, industrial metal and punk find their roots in krautrock. In the 1980s, a Neue Duetsche Welle (new German wave), saw other artists take a different approach, bringing synthesized music and German lyrics into the mainstream pop arena with bands like Nena and their perennial favorite “99 Luftballoons” or the still-popular punk crossover band Die Toten Hosen. German pop has since diversified into alternative rock sounds like Tokio Hotel (albeit with English lyrics), or the indie rock and rap combo Kraftclub.

Where to go: The Altstadt (old town) in Düsseldorf is called the world’s longest bar for a reason: 260 pubs, bars and clubs are crammed into a half square kilometer. For modern Deutschrock descendants, try the Salon Des Amateurs for electronica, the Engel Rockbar for rock and the artsy KreuzherrenEcke where anything goes.

In the mid 1980s, American techno made its way into West Germany, and in West Berlin it met with an already vibrant nightlife that hadn’t experienced a curfew since 1949. After the fall of the Berlin wall, a period of newly found freedom and illegal parties led entrepreneurs to reinvigorate Berlin’s abandoned buildings as legal dance clubs. Since then, the club scene has grown and diversified. In these spaces DJs continue to reign supreme, gathering fame and following along the way.

Where to go: While Berlin is Germany’s club epicenter, Frankfurt was actually where techno first landed. The Museum of Modern Electronic Music (MOMEM), at www.momem.org, is a hub for electronica. With exhibits on musical styles, an ‘electronic classroom’ where you can get hands-on experience developing music, and DJ workshops for beginners, this is the place to delve into electronic music.

Rammstein may be the first band that comes to mind when someone mentions German heavy metal, or perhaps it is the Scorpions, Helloween or Kreator. Regardless, Germany comes in strong contending for the world’s leader in metal. Emerging in the 1980s, heavy metal seemed perfectly suited to the sounds of the German language, mixing gothic heritage and ancient mythology of Germany. Subgenres like Teutonic Thrash developed in the Ruhr region and other northern reaches of the country where metal seemed to speak to the industrial and mining heritage.

Where to go: Hardcore metalheads should beat a path to Wacken Open Air (W:O:A), from July 30 to Aug. 2, 2025. Held yearly since 1998, this is one of the world’s largest music festivals dedicated to metal. Get tickets at www.wacken.com.

New on the scene, and adopted primarily from U.S. military personnel stationed in Germany, rap and hip-hop found a solid foothold in the early 1990s. Groups like Die Fantastischen Vier from Stuttgart and Advanced Chemistry from Heidelberg found that rap was the perfect medium to express the difficulties of the immigrant subculture while allowing for the intricacies the German language. With the reunification of Germany and cultural hostility toward immigrant communities, Deutschrap became politicized, sometimes mirroring (or appropriating, depending on perspective) the genre’s roots in the Black communities of America. Nowadays, Deutschrap is popular with young people for its diversity. Try the poppy stylings of panda-masked Cro, hip-hop sounds with Ukrainian native Capital Bra, or explore issues of gender equality with Shirin David.

Where to go: In 2023, hip-hop from Heidelberg was named by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. The Grün & Gold is the place to be for their monthly “Beats & Bars” showcase of German rap and hip-hop artists, plus an open mic. It is presented by the Hip Hop Heidelberg club, which also offers courses in breakdancing, workshops for graffiti art, and weekly open dance sessions. Visit www.hiphopheidelberg.de for details.

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