The story behind the Rammstein cover with a 200-year-old fetus that outraged the church

This is the story behind the more than 200-year-old fetus that Rammstein used for the cover of ‘Mutter’.

‘Mutter’ is Rammstein’s third studio album and, like almost everything these Germans do, it has been the subject of conversations, protests, even studies to analyze the true meaning of their songs and the story hidden in their cover. And in music almost everything has a reason for being and the German band knew very well how to play with its references as a symbol of protest… as always. Keep reading and discover the dark story behind ‘Mutter’ and why in Germany it became one of the most hated albums.

‘Mutter’ by Rammstein

‘Mutter’ (‘Mother’ in German) was released on April 2, 2001, being Rammstein’s third studio album, it was released in three different editions: European, North American and Japanese. Its cover has been one of the most controversial, since it is the face of a fetus in the womb (hence the name of the album) and the back is the hands of the fetus itself on its abdomen.

Likewise, within the album, there are the lyrics of each of the songs and photographs that generate impact, since they are the members of the band characterized as dead fetuses, with injuries and malformations; Each footer carries an electrocardiogram and parts of the DNA chain.

Meaning of Rammstein’s ‘Mutter’

According to Alexandra Lloyd, a professor at the University of Oxford, the album is “a journey from the cradle to the grave” where, along the way of history, stops were made to remember love, sex, politics and even German literature.

According to the expert, Rammstein’s third album is set in the 19th century, so it captures situations that were experienced at that time, such as children who were innately innocent, the Brothers Grimm who collected books of oppression, suffering and violence. Likewise, dark romanticism and Gothicism were on the surface, exploring the grotesque and supernatural.

Mein Herz Brennt, for example, is a song that talks about fear at night and nightmares, and begins with a quote from ‘Sandmännchen’, a German legend where the protagonist steals children’s eyes.

“There’s also a lot of sex of the superficial kind in ‘Rein Raus’ and self-love in ‘Zwitter.’ Nebel presents echoes of the poets Friedrich Hölderlin and Bertolt Brecht. If you read the title backwards and you get the meaning of ‘Leben’. ‘Links 2-3-4’ addresses accusations that Rammstein was neo-fascist and plays in ‘Einheitsfrontlied’ on the writing to demonstrate and unite leftists after the Nazis took power.explained the expert.

The fetus on the cover of Rammstein’s ‘Mutter’

Rammstein, always faithful to their touch of protest and controversy, decided to work with artists Geo and Daniel Fuchs to carry out the album’s art. Between discussions and a lot of creativity, they made the decision that the cover photo would be that of a dead fetus… yes, just as you read it. The band, along with the artists, would use a fetus to represent ‘Mutter’.

The photographs were taken by Geo and Daniel themselves; the fetus is more than 200 years old and it is a girl who came into the world dead due to a tumor, the body has been preserved in formaldehyde by a medical center.

Of course, both the press and the most conservative German society did not miss this detail, and Rammstein was harshly criticized, especially by religious authorities who assured that they would not allow “the undignified display of a dead person.” Despite the bad comments, ‘Mutter’ managed to meet its sales goal, even ranking as one of the best albums on German and American charts.

“What people do to get attention”said the band after German conservatives called for their censorship.

‘Mutter’

Returning to the meaning of the songs, the song that bears the same name of the album, according to Lloyd, has melodies based on the gothic world and also on the fairy world, representing that the presence of mothers is null and the little ones have been abandoned. Likewise, regarding the fragment “Nobody gave me a name / conceived without love or seme”, the expert mentioned that it could be about the relationships of the Rammstein members themselves with their mothers, since an obsession with an absent mother stands out a lot.

During Rammstein’s tour to present ‘Mutter’, the band pretended to enter the stage emerging from a giant uterus, wearing only diapers, although in some of those performances they also wore fetus masks.

‘Mutter’ could be a puzzle with many more meanings than we thought.