Editing Rammstein (section)

==Political views==
{{quote box|width=23em|align=left|Rammstein fights with sarcasm and satire against the "bland americanization" of local cultures in "Amerika" by attacking US Cultural imperialism in the form of popular culture, food, fashion, and yes, even politics.|salign=right|source=— Jill E. Twark, Axel Hildebrandt on the song "Amerika"<ref name=rammsteinincage>{{cite book|title=Envisioning Social Justice in Contemporary German Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hOH9CAAAQBAJ&q=rammstein+amerika+political+imperialism&pg=PA100|access-date=6 October 2019|year=2015|author=Jill E. Twark, Axel Hildebrand| publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn = 9781571135698}}</ref>}}

Early on, Rammstein were accused by media outlets in Germany of being [[neo-Nazi]]s due to their imagery. The band released the song "[[Links 2-3-4]]" (''Links'' being German for "left") in 2001 to affirm to the public that they reside on the [[Left-wing politics|left]] of the political spectrum. In a 2011 interview with ''[[Rolling Stone|Rolling Stone Germany]]'', when asked about Nazi accusations, Lindemann stated "We come from the East and we have grown up as [[Socialism|socialist]]s. We used to be either punks or Goths – we hate Nazis! And then suddenly there is such a far-fetched accusation. We are doing exactly the same thing today, but no one in America or in Mexico would even get the idea to come up with something like that. This only happens in Germany. Our reply to this animosity was 'Links 2-3-4', and with that we had made it clear where we stand politically."<ref name="RS DE interview">{{Cite magazine |date=4 January 2019 |title=Rammstein: Exklusives Interview mit Till Lindemann und Flake |url=https://www.rollingstone.de/rammstein-exklusives-interview-mit-till-lindemann-und-flake-lorenz-343190/ |access-date=1 March 2023 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone|Rolling Stone Germany]] |language=German}}</ref> Regarding the song, Kruspe said: {{"'}}My heart beats on the left, two, three, four'. It's simple. If you want to put us in a political category, we're on the left side, and that's the reason we made the song".<ref>{{cite news |author= Serba, John |title= Operatic Vocals, Industrial Rhythms Mix For a Sound Distinctly ... German |newspaper= Grand Rapids Press |date= 22 July 2001 |page= B6}}</ref> The song's title refers to the refrain of the [[Communist Party of Germany|German Communist Party]] song ''[[Einheitsfrontlied]]'', written by [[Bertholt Brecht]]: "Drum links, zwei, drei! Drum links, zwei, drei! / Wo dein Platz, Genosse ist! / Reih dich ein, in die Arbeitereinheitsfront / Weil du auch ein Arbeiter bist".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/subject/art/music/lyrics/de/die-einheitsfront.htm |title=Die Einheitsfront |publisher=Marxists Internet Archive |access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> (Turn left, two, three! Turn left, two, three! / Here's the place, Comrade, for you! / So fall in with the Workers' [[united front]] / For you are a worker too.) Another key lyric expressing the band's allegiance to the left paraphrases the titles of newspaper columns published side by side for several years in the German newspaper ''[[Bild]]'': "Mein Herz schlägt links" ("My heart beats on the left") by [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] Party co-chair and former [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]] chair [[Oskar Lafontaine]], and "Mein Herz schlägt auf dem rechten Fleck" ("My heart beats in the right place") by [[Peter Gauweiler]] of the conservative [[Christian Social Union of Bavaria|Christian Social Union]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bild.de/politik/2008/oskar-lafontaine-zum-65-geburtstag-5824596.bild.html |title=Hier gratuliert der schwarze Peter dem roten Oskar |date=15 September 2008 |publisher=bild.de |access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref> Lorenz stated that the song was created to show the band could write a harsh, evil, military-sounding song without being [[Nazism|Nazis]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://herzeleid.com/en/press/2005-11_flake_chat_english |title= Herzeleid.com (Press) |access-date= 10 April 2007 |publisher= Herzeleid.com |archive-date= 16 February 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070216063348/http://herzeleid.com/en/press/2005-11_flake_chat_english |url-status= dead}}</ref>

The band also wrote the song "[[Amerika (song)|Amerika]]" as a critique of the worldwide cultural and political imperialism of the [[United States]]. In their book ''Envisioning Social Justice in Contemporary German Culture'', Jill E. Twark and Axel Hildebrandt found that the song's text and most of its video's images point toward a critique of America's cultural imperialism, political propaganda, and self-assumed role as global police force. The song responds critically to the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|US invasion of Iraq]] in 2003. They also found that another song of theirs that is critical of the United States is "[[Mein Land]]", believing that it critiques American racism and nationalism.<ref name=rammsteinincage/>

During the Eastern European leg of their [[Europe Stadium Tour]], the band showed support for the [[LGBT]] community on several occasions. At a concert in [[Chorzów]], Poland on 24 July 2019, drummer Christoph Schneider surfed the crowd in a rubber boat, holding a [[Rainbow flag (LGBT)|rainbow flag]]. At their concert in Moscow five days later, guitarists Kruspe and Landers kissed onstage, while they embraced each other during a concert in [[Saint Petersburg]] on 2 August.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rammstein Protests Homophobia in Russia With On-Stage Kiss in Moscow |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/07/31/rammstein-protests-homophobia-in-russia-with-on-stage-kiss-in-moscow-a66650 |work=The Moscow Times |date=31 July 2019}}</ref> The band's support for gay rights was met with criticism from some Russian politicians. [[Vitaly Milonov]], a member of the [[State Duma]], called the band "idiots" and said: "If they think it possible to behave in such a way, they should also consider it possible to keep this garbage away from us."<ref>{{cite news |title=Wenn sie sich küssen wollen, sollen sie das in der Ukraine tun |url=https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/panorama/russischer-duma-abgeordneter-ueber-rammstein-wenn-sie-sich-kuessen-wollen-sollen-sie-das-in-der-ukraine-tun/24871460.html |access-date=6 August 2019 |work=[[Der Tagesspiegel]] |date=5 August 2019 |language=de|trans-title=If they want to kiss, they should do it in Ukraine}}</ref>