Rio Reiser:A Life for Music

With Ton Steine ​​Scherben, Rio Reiser shook up the republic in the 70s - with his solo debut "König von Deutschland" he landed a hit in the 80s. He lived for music - a fast, wild life.

by Simone Glöckler

Ralph Christian Möbius, Rio Reiser's real name, was born in Berlin on January 9, 1950 as the youngest of three children. He often moves with his parents and grows up in Mannheim, Stuttgart and Nuremberg, among other places. The music grabs him early:Little Möbius sees the film "Ben Hur" in 1961 and is enthusiastic about the film music. He begins to play the melodies of the composer Miklós Rósza by ear on the piano. When he heard the Beatles on the radio for the first time in 1963, he was fascinated. At 14 he's a "dead fan" of the Liverpool boys and their new style of music. For him it is clear:He himself wants nothing more than to make music and write songs. He teaches himself several instruments.

Rio throws school and apprenticeship for music

While the son prefers music to school, the family has to move again:to Nieder-Roden near Frankfurt. In the small Hessian town, Ralph was renamed by a friend in Rio and from then on he called himself that. Eventually he dropped out of school, as well as an apprenticeship as a photographer - in order to devote himself entirely to music.

Generational anthem:"Break what breaks you"

In January 1966, Rio met guitarist Ralph Peter Steitz, who was the same age, and he hired him to sing in his band. This encounter turns into a lifelong friendship. A year later, Rio followed his brothers to Berlin and later founded the theater group Hoffmanns Comic Theater with them. Rio is the resident composer. One of the songs from this period - "Destroy what destroys you" - later became the anthem of a generation. Although he feels connected to the theater, it remains his dream to set up a band and make German rock music.

Summer 1970:the band Ton Steine ​​Scherben was born

In the summer of 1970, Rio founded the band Ton Steine ​​Scherben with his friend Steitz, bassist Kaisichtermann and drummer Wolfgang Seidel. The boys appear in September at the "Love and Peace" festival on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn for the first time - and suddenly become famous. Jimi Hendrix will give his last concert at the legendary event. The ascent begins for the new anarchic band around Rio.

With "No power for nobody" into the heart of the left-wing scene

The first record "Why am I feeling so dirty" is produced and released. The second LP followed in 1972, entitled "Keine Macht für meine" ("No power for nobody") - and after this release at the latest, almost everyone in Germany knows the musicians who have played their way into the heart of the left-wing scene. Their songs are the non-violent antithesis at a time when the terrorist organization Red Army Faction is making a name for itself. Above all, they speak to the heart of young people.

Rio and the band move to Schleswig-Holstein

In order to escape the influence of the commercial music industry, the musicians from Ton Steine ​​Scherben founded the record label David Volksmund Production and released their albums through it. Privately, Rio moved with friends and band from Berlin to Fresenhagen in Schleswig-Holstein in 1975, where they bought an old farmhouse. In the recording studio set up especially for this purpose, he writes and composes various plays and film music with his colleagues.

Ralph Möbius becomes Rio Reiser

It is also a film that transforms Möbius into Reiser:for the role of Johnny West in the television film of the same name, Rio Möbius wants to shed his surname, which sounds "too much like a doctor's novel". He took the new name from the novel "Anton Reiser" by Karl Philipp Moritz. In 1977, Rio Reiser received the Gold Federal Film Award for his acting. Several film roles follow. With Ton Steine ​​Scherben he releases two more albums:"When the night is deepest" and "IV", also known as "Die Schwarze".

Rio Reiser not only works for his band, he also writes lyrics and composes songs for other musicians and gives his first solo concert at the end of 1983. At Kampnagel in Hamburg, Reiser sits alone at the piano and sings pieces by Marlene Dietrich, the Rolling Stones and his own compositions. Two years later, in 1985, Ton Steine ​​Scherben separated and Reiser began his solo career.

"King of Germany" makes Reiser a "folk singer"

The year 1986 was the musically most successful of his solo career. With songs like "Alles Lüge" and "Junimond" from his first release "Rio I." he catapulted himself into the German charts. His most successful song from this album, "König von Deutschland", will be associated with him from then on:the "folk singer" newly appointed by the press has landed his biggest hit with it.

A year later, Rio Reiser joined the anti-nuclear movement and approved his song "Alles Lüge" for the Greens as an election campaign song. The restless artist releases two more solo albums. These cannot commercially match the success of the first record, but Reiser continues to work tirelessly. He composes film music again, including for a "crime scene", takes on smaller roles in television films and writes an opera for the city of Unna in 1989.

"König von Deutschland" becomes the PDS election campaign song

Shortly thereafter, to express his displeasure with the way the reunification was carried out, the singer joined the PDS in 1990 because he had "always stood up for outsiders" and allowed the party to nominate its "King of Germany" for the to use campaigning. For some time the play is unpopular and boycotted by radio stations. But the singer can also make himself heard without the radio. Further concerts followed with his friends and former colleagues from the time of the Ton Steine ​​Scherben, alone at the grand piano in the "Midnight Show" of the Hamburger Schmidt Theater or as a guest in various talk shows.

Health Issues - The King Resigns

His tireless work for music and increased alcohol consumption are noticeable from 1992 onwards. Despite the onset of physical weakness, Rio Reiser released more records. When his sixth and last one appeared in 1995, a music journalist for Rolling Stone magazine wrote:"No one in Germany writes such true, sincerely radical and empathetic lyrics as this melancholic minstrel." Another "Tatort" song from the episode "Im Herzen Eiszeit" comes from the last album, in which Reiser can be seen in a leading role.

Reiser dies at the age of 46

In May 1996, against medical advice, the musician went on another tour of Germany, but had to cancel it. Physically exhausted, he returned to Fresenhagen and died there on August 20, 1996 of circulatory failure and internal bleeding. Countless mourning fans say goodbye together with fellow musicians on September 1, 1996 in Berlin's "Tempodrom" at the "Concert of Friends".

With a special permit, Reiser can be buried on the private property in Fresenhagen - and his grave at the "Rio-Reiser-Haus" becomes a place of pilgrimage for his fans in the years that follow. When the property was to be sold, Reiser's grave was reburied in Berlin in 2011.

A Rio Reiser Square in Berlin?

In June, Heinrichplatz in Berlin-Kreuzberg - as decided by a majority of the district council in 2019 - was actually to be renamed Rio-Reiser-Platz. According to information from rbb, objections from the population initially put the project on hold. the legal clarification must now be awaited.

"His utopias will survive this world"

Reiser's influence on today's music world can also be seen in the successful interpretations of the songs by Jan Plewka. The front man of the Hamburg band Selig is always on the road with his Rio Reiser program, "because Rio had visions until after his death. His lyrics, melodies and utopias for humanity and justice will survive this world." Plewka carries them on.