PANKOW and guests
Even just the name of the band was already a provocation. On the one hand, it could be interpreted simply as a reference to the East-Berlin district where the band hailed from; but for those in the know, it could also have been a reference to a music genre that was officially frowned upon by the GDR authorities. On the other, 'Pankow' was also often used in West Germany as a synonym for the East German elite state functionaries who lived or were believed to live there before it became fashionable to use 'Wandlitz', for the same reason.
The band PANKOW, formed in 1981, was different in many ways, not only because of their objection to the respective eastern or western misappropriation of their name. The band's music was not so much songlike and pathetic, but in fact considerably more hardcore and dynamic than the offerings of quite a few of the other popular GDR bands of that era. It was also definitely closer to 'real life'. With their critical rock spectacular Paule Panke as well as albums such as Hans im Glück and Aufruhr in den Augen, the band expressed what many young people in the GDR were feeling – which, significantly, ensured that they were blacklisted by the censorship authorities. However, this did not prevent PANKOW from becoming the GDR's most important and influential rock band of the 1980s, along with Silly.
The quality of their music and texts was also an important factor for their successful career after German reunification. The band, which has been compared to the Rolling Stones, secured itself a firm place on the music scene of the reunited Germany in the 1990s. Last year, they intended to celebrate their 40th anniversary with a tour that had to be cancelled due to Covid. They will now make up for this lack of celebration with a party on the stage in the Neuhardenberg Castle park. Their party guests are as legendary as they themselves are: AnNa R., the 'better half' of Rosenstolz, City frontman Toni Krahl, Silly keyboarder Ritchie Barton and Engerling's founder, singer, keyboarder and all-round rock veteran Boddi Bodag.
