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IFA Wartburg

Introduction

IFA Wartburg was a german band founded by two swedes (Magnus Michaeli and Nils Lundwall under the nicknames of Rolf Kempinski and Heinz Klinger) in the 80s that liked the german language.

The band was named after the east-german "Industrieverband Fahrzeugbau Wartburg" that produced cars.

Music

The genre of music varied from bossa nova, pop/ska and jazz/swing.

What makes it special is that the vocabulary of the GDR is used in the songs, while the music stays apolitical and playful.

List of songs:

In total 2 Albums were released, with many unknown songs yet to be discovered.

Im Dienste des Sozialismus (In service of socialism) released on CD and Vinyl(Picture disc) in 1998
Der Berliner (The Berliner) released on CD in 1998

Im Dienste des Sozialismus

Freie Deutsche Jugend (Free German Youth, The central youth organisation in the GDR)
Frau Gorbatschowa tanzt Bossanova (Mrs. Gorbachev dances bossa nova)
Kosmoskost (cosmos delicacies)
Zur Konferenz in Rostock (To the conference in Rostock)
Es ist nicht so schlimm auf der Insel Krim (It's not too bad on the isle of crimea) ( if only they knew at that time :-( )
Der alte böse Kapitalismus (old bad capitalism)
Hey, Radiofunker (Hey, radio operator)
Agrarwissenschaft im Dienste des Sozialismus (Agrarian science in the service of socialism)
Zwei Tage in Berlin (Two days in Berlin)
Hallo, guter Kommunist (Hello, good communist)
Volksfest in Ukraina (carneval in ukraine)
Der Berliner (The Berliner)
Nightclub in Berlin (Night club in Berlin)
Spassjazz (fun jazz)

Der Berliner

Der Berliner (The Berliner) (Modified Version with a cover of "Der Erlkönig")
Zwei Tage in Berlin (Two days in Berlin)
Hey, Radiofunker (Hey, radio operator)
Nightclub in Berlin (Night club in Berlin)

Other songs (Youtube only)

Das Mauer Power - The Wall Power

Im Dienste des KGB - In service of the KGB

Sorbisches Fischerlied - Sorbian fishing song

Sessel aus Kassel

Sessel aus Kassel is one of the "lost" IFA Wartburg songs that has been found again.

It was found after someone messaged Nils Lundwall directly on LinkedIn and just asked for the song.

Here it is:

Sessel aus Kassel - IFA Wartburg

IFA Wartburg today

An official webpage of the band exists, but it is mostly filled with jokes:

ifwartburg.se

The site administrator has been hinting that new songs are going to be released:

Other things going on right now is that we've hired a sound engineer and he's now trying to get all those tape reels spinning.

Gunther - the site administrators' identity.

An official(?) YouTube Channel for IFA Wartburg also exists, which uploaded most IFA Wartburg songs and an audio recording from a concert they held in switzerland in 1999.

IFA Wartburg Channel

IFA Wartburg has also appeared in German Television:

"IFA Wartburg in german TV" - 'Communistmann' on YouTube

Even though this band seems "dead" a lot of people have actually atleast listened to their music once, reaching close to 2 million views on a music video featuring their song:

IFA Wartburg - The free German youth / IFA Wartburg - Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ)

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