ABSTRACT
Einstrzende Neubauten initially was the product of a unique situation and time in Europe's troubled twentieth century. Hence, it is vital to recognize that Neubauten grew out of the post-1968 assertion that Germanness and its language could once again be a worthy medium for art. The Cold War and the division of Germany and Berlin provided a unique place. Neubauten's use of their immediate environment as site and resource and the creating of Schwitters' merz-instruments for sounds are two of their most defining characteristics. Their list of instruments reads more like the contents of a technical manual rather than a musician's portfolio. Finally, it is imperative to recognize Neubauten's insistent attempts to remain independent of the consumerist model of music, best illustrated by their Internet-based, extended family and cottage-industry model to trial, create, produce and disseminate their work.
