Rosenstolz

German pop duo

Rosenstolz was a German pop duo from Berlin that was active between 1991 and 2012 and had chart hits in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The duo consisted of singer AnNa R. and musician Peter Plate, who occasionally provided vocals. Rosenstolz achieved major chart success after the nineties, with five studio albums going to No. 1 in the German albums chart. Although the duo split up to pursue separate music careers, they left open the possibility of a future reunion. Rosenstolz's music was described by critics as containing elements of various genres, including pop and chanson. However, comparisons with Schlager were strongly disputed by the duo, who defined themselves simply as a pop group. Rosenstolz's repertoire included ballads and quirky pop songs, though later years saw the duo eschewing their quirky side. Common themes in the songs written by Rosenstolz were sex, love and emotions.

Prior to the formation of Rosenstolz, native Berliner AnNa R. had ambitions of becoming a bar singer,

The duo began to meet regularly to work on new songs despite their different music tastes – AnNa R. had a preference for singing chanson, while Plate's interests lay in making English language pop music. They initially attempted to work with English songs, but they were not satisfied with the results and consequently turned to German, their mother tongue. Within about four months, they had enough material to produce their first cassette and were eager to give their first concert. They considered various possibilities for the name of their band, one of the early favourites being A & P, but eventually settled on Rosenstolz, a made up name which somehow occurred to them and which immediately appealed to them. Both were released by Traumton Records, a small record label to which the band had moved following a disagreement with Pool. In 1997, Rosenstolz was invited by the Goethe Institut to perform at a concert in Novosibirsk, Russia. The audience of about 10,000 people was the band's largest so far. Towards the end of the year, Rosenstolz went on a concert tour and entered the German charts for the first time with Die Schlampen sind müde, the band's fifth studio album. Despite the lack of airplay, the album remained in the charts for several weeks, peaking at No. 31. Rosenstolz gained more exposure in 1998 by participating in the televised competition to find Germany's next representative for the Eurovision Song Contest. Although Rosenstolz did not win and came second, the song performed by the band, "Herzensschöner", was the first Rosenstolz song to enter the German singles chart, peaking at No. 34. "Herzensschöner" was included in the Rosenstolz compilation album Alles Gute, which was released in April 1998 and directly followed by a concert tour. The album itself reached No. 10 in the German albums chart. Also in 1998, Rosenstolz parted ways with Müller. Rosenstolz's next studio album, Zucker, was produced by Plate and released in 1999. It charted more highly than the band's previous album, entering the charts at No. 2. Rosenstolz toured the same year and released the band's first live album, Zuckerschlampen:live, which also charted highly, entering the charts at No. 5. Rosenstolz additionally released the song "Ja, ich will" in 1999, which was in support of the introduction of same sex marriage. At the time, Germany had not yet legalized registered partnerships for same sex couples. The song was a collaboration with German comedian Hella von Sinnen, who sang a duet with Plate in the song.

The start of the new millennium saw Rosenstolz topping the German albums chart for the first time with Kassengift, the band's seventh studio album. Released in September 2000, Kassengift was the first Rosenstolz album to credit Ulf Leo Sommer, Plate's partner since 1990, as both co songwriter and co producer. The release of the album coincided with Rosenstolz starting to receive airplay on music television stations through the music video for "Amo Vitam", a song from the album sung entirely in Latin. Two songs from Kassengift – "Total Eclipse" and "Die schwarze Witwe" – were re recorded with guest singers Marc Almond and Nina Hagen, respectively, and released as a double single in March 2001. Later that year, Rosenstolz went on another concert tour and released the single "Es könnt' ein Anfang sein", which became the band's first top 10 hit in the German singles chart. Macht Liebe reached No. 3 in the German albums chart, and the accompanying concert tour was a sell out, including seven sold out concerts in the Columbiahalle in Berlin. At the concerts, Rosenstolz performed "Laut", an anti war protest song which preceded the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The summer of 2003 saw the release of Rosenstolz's second live album and first live DVD album. Both were titled Live aus Berlin and recorded during the Macht Liebe tour. Rosenstolz's first open air concert tour also took place that summer, ending in Berlin in front of an audience of 17,000 people at the Kindl Bühne Wuhlheide. In March 2004, Rosenstolz's ninth studio album, Herz, was released, featuring a mix of ballads and pop and rock songs. Herz reached Gold status after one week and then Platinum status shortly afterwards. The singles "Liebe ist alles", "Ich will mich verlieben", and "Willkommen" from the album were top 10 hits in the German singles chart, The last concert of the tour, which took place outdoors at the Kindl Bühne Wuhlheide in Berlin, was recorded and released as the live DVD album Willkommen in unserer Welt (2004).

During the whole of 2005, Rosenstolz took a break from public appearances and worked on Das große Leben, the band's tenth studio album, which was released in March 2006. Consisting mostly of ballads, the album was the most successful in the band's history, staying at No. 1 in the German albums chart for four consecutive weeks and selling over one million copies. It was also the band's first album to top the Austrian albums chart and to enter the top 10 of the Swiss albums chart. All the singles from the album entered the German top 20: "Ich bin ich (Wir sind wir)", "Nichts von alledem (tut mir leid)", "Ich geh in Flammen auf", "Auch im Regen", and "Aus Liebe wollt ich alles wissen". In August 2008, Rosenstolz topped the German singles chart for the first time with "Gib mir Sonne". Two further singles from the album, "Wie weit ist vorbei" and "Blaue Flecken", reached the top 10 of the German singles chart. During the band's forced break, Rosenstolz released another live CD/DVD album, Die Suche geht weiter live (2009), which was recorded during the tour in Munich. After a break of nearly three years, Rosenstolz returned to public attention in September 2011 with the release of the single "Wir sind am Leben" and a new studio album of the same name. Wir sind am Leben was well received by fans, reaching No. 1 in the German and Austrian albums charts and No. 3 in the Swiss albums chart. 2011 was also Rosenstolz's 20th anniversary. To mark this occasion, German broadcaster ARD broadcast the one hour documentary Rosenstolz – Wir sind Wir! – Die Erfolgsgeschichte eines Popduos by Marc Boettcher.

In February 2012, there were rumours in the media of Rosenstolz splitting up. These rumours were fuelled by cancellations of appearances on a television show and at the 2012 ECHO awards. However, the band's record label said the cancellations were due to illness. At the end of 2012, AnNa R. and Plate posted a message on the official Rosenstolz website and on Facebook and Twitter to announce that they would be taking a break from Rosenstolz for an indefinite period of time. After many years together, the duo felt now was the best time to give each other some space and to go their separate ways. In 2013, the duo announced their new music projects, with Plate releasing a solo album and AnNa R. becoming a member of Gleis 8, a newly formed four piece band.

Various German music awards were awarded to Rosenstolz during the band's career. These included a Goldene Stimmgabel (six times), an ECHO award (five times) and a Comet award (two times). a Comet award for best national music video ("Es tut immer noch weh"), and a Goldene Stimmgabel for best German pop duo. A few years later in 2007, Rosenstolz received six awards. The band won a Goldene Kamera for best national pop act, an ECHO award for best national rock/pop group, and two DIVA awards, one for best artist and the other for best album. and Plate received the Paul Lincke Ring in recognition of his contribution to music.

Scenes from one of Rosenstolz's first concerts can be seen in the 14th episode of German gay television series Licht und Schatten by Andreas Weiß. The song "Willkommen" from the album Herz (2004) forms part of the soundtrack for Sommersturm (2004), a German film about a teenage boy coming out, and is played during the closing credits. Scenes from the film can be seen in the music video for "Willkommen". Another song by Rosenstolz, "Gib mir Sonne" from the album Die Suche geht weiter (2008), was used as the title song for Anna und die Liebe, a German telenovela starring Jeanette Biedermann. Rosenstolz wrote and sung the title song for Tiger Taps, a series of German audio dramas for children about the adventures of a tiger and his jungle friends. The title of the song is "Weil wir Freunde sind (Der Tiger Taps Song)" (2011).