Herbst in Peking (''Autumn in Beijing'') is a band from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was formed in 1987 in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

by singer and mastermind Rex Joswig and keyboard player Dr Totenhöfer. Completing the band were Alexander Istschenko (guitar), Hans "Tomato" Narva (bass) and Benno Verch (drums). The band was one of Die anderen Bands who openly expressed their social and political criticism in lyrics and music. The name was derived from a book of the same title by French author

Boris Vian Boris Vian (; 10 March 1920 – 23 June 1959) was a French polymath: writer, poet, musician, singer, translator, critic, actor, inventor and engineer who is primarily remembered for his novels. Those published under the pseudonym Vernon Sulliva ...

. Fearing copyright problems they only used the abbreviation "H.I.P." in official correspondence. Their live shows featured a weird mix of Russian, Chinese and Eastern European influenced personality cult. The lyrics were sung partly in German, English and Russian. Shortly after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

in May 1989 they lost their licence to play. This was due to Joswig's appeal for a minute of silence for the victims of the massacre during a previous concert. The band became irrelevant when

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

collapsed in autumn the same year. The Herbst in Peking song "Bakschischrepublik" became the hymn of East Germany's Rock music scene during the '' Wende''. The lyrics included the line "Schwarz-Rot-Gold ist das System - morgen wird es untergehen" (''Black-red-golden is the system - tomorrow it will fall''). Unusually (for an East German band at this time), the recording received airplay in the UK from Radio 1 DJ,

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. Peel had received a copy of the single in the post, and he played it on several occasions in the winter of 1989 and spring of 1990. During the 90s the musical style of the band changed considerably, and their punk rock songs were now heavily influenced by dub, electronic music and industrial; spoken word tracks appeared on their records too. From 1991 to 1998 band mastermind Rex Joswig presented a radio show called Grenzpunkt Null (Border Point Zero) at the East German radio station DT 64 (later MDR Sputnik). Herbst in Peking concerts became more and more rare while the band line-up changed too. The last official Herbst in Peking gig was performed by Rex Joswig in May 2006 in Berlin's club

Kaffee Burger The Kaffee Burger is an artistic restaurant and club on Torstraße in Berlin-Mitte, Germany. History The restaurant has existed since 1890. The restaurant continued to be run as a private company in the GDR. Since the 1970s, the Kaffee Burger ...

. Herbst in Peking reformed in autumn 2008 and are back in the studio and on the road.

Current Lineup

*Rex Joswig (vocals) *Alexander Istschenko (electronics and guitar) *Tom Krimi (guitars)

Records

* Bakschischrepublik (7", 1989) * To Be H.I.P. (1990) * Terrible Herbst (1993) * Das Jahr Schnee (EP, 1996) * Merry X-Mas (EP, 1996) * Feuer Wasser & Posaunen (EP, 1997
Record Review
* La Dolce Vita (EP, 1998) * Les Fleurs du Mal (1999
Record Review
* German Fool (EP, 2004

* All Nights Reserved (2009) * The Tyger & the Fly (EP, 2014)

External links

http://www.herbst-in-peking.de
(Band Homepage)
http://www.myspace.com/herbstinpekingband
(Herbst in Peking on Myspace)
http://www.artdisc.org/index.php?status=13,45
(Podcasts by Rex Joswig) {{Authority control East German musical groups