ZickZack
ZickZack is a German record label brand.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
ZickZack Schallplatten is an independent German record label based in Hamburg and founded in 1980 by Alfred Hilsberg, a former journalist for the music magazine Sounds. The label emerged from the experimental and oppositional music culture surrounding the late-1970s and early-1980s German underground. Its early identity was closely connected with Neue Deutsche Welle, the broad and eventually commercialized term used for a diverse wave of German-language post-punk, electronic, avant-garde, and underground music. Hilsberg helped popularize the expression through his Sounds article “Neue Deutsche Welle - Aus grauer Städte Mauern,” and ZickZack became one of the principal labels documenting the movement’s less commercial side. Rather than operating around a single conventional genre, ZickZack developed as a platform for artists who challenged mainstream rock and pop formats. Its catalogue has included post-punk groups, industrial and experimental ensembles, electronic acts, art-music projects, and independent guitar bands. Artists associated with the label include Abwärts, Xmal Deutschland, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Krupps, Palais Schaumburg, F.S.K., and Die Tödliche Doris. These associations place ZickZack within the history of German alternative music, particularly the network of clubs, fanzines, independent distributors, and small labels that supported new forms of expression during the period. The label’s importance extended beyond individual releases. ZickZack helped create visibility for music that was often too abrasive, unconventional, political, or formally experimental for established record companies. Its catalogue reflects the fragmented character of the German underground: no single sound defines the imprint, but recurring characteristics include stylistic risk-taking, German-language songwriting, unusual production approaches, and links to visual art and performance culture. The label’s role was therefore both commercial and curatorial, connecting emerging acts with listeners while helping define a historical narrative around Hamburg and the broader West German independent scene. During the early 1990s, ZickZack supported and promoted Blumfeld and other groups connected with the Hamburger Schule. That association linked the label to a new generation of German independent guitar music that combined literate songwriting, social observation, and resistance to polished mainstream conventions. Through such releases and relationships, ZickZack continued to function as a bridge between earlier post-punk and avant-garde traditions and later German alternative music. ZickZack Schallplatten remains identified with independent music culture and the preservation and circulation of German underground and alternative recordings. Publicly available reference material does not establish a detailed corporate ownership structure, financial profile, or complete current roster. The label’s official website and discographic listings are the principal public points of reference for its ongoing activities and catalogue.
History
ZickZack Schallplatten was founded in Hamburg in 1980 by Alfred Hilsberg, who had previously worked as a journalist for the music magazine Sounds. The label was created at a moment when West German musicians were developing new approaches to punk, electronic music, industrial sound, performance, and experimental songwriting. Much of this activity existed outside the established record industry, and ZickZack provided a dedicated outlet for recordings that did not fit conventional commercial categories. The label became particularly associated with the underground wing of Neue Deutsche Welle. The term referred to a heterogeneous movement rather than a single musical style, encompassing post-punk, minimal electronics, art rock, industrial music, and other forms of German-language experimentation. Hilsberg helped circulate the term through his Sounds article “Neue Deutsche Welle - Aus grauer Städte Mauern.” As the movement attracted wider attention, ZickZack stood out for retaining links to its more confrontational and unconventional origins rather than focusing exclusively on accessible pop success. ZickZack’s catalogue came to include a broad group of important German independent acts. Among the artists associated with the label are Abwärts, Xmal Deutschland, Einstürzende Neubauten, Die Krupps, Palais Schaumburg, F.S.K., and Die Tödliche Doris. Their music differed substantially in sound and presentation, but collectively represented the label’s interest in underground creativity, nonstandard production, and artistic independence. Several of these acts also connected music with visual art, performance, political commentary, or the emerging club and alternative-media infrastructure of the period. The label’s significance was not limited to issuing records. It helped establish a network through which emerging musicians could reach audiences, journalists, promoters, and distributors. In this respect, ZickZack functioned as both a record company and a cultural filter: its releases documented a changing German music landscape and gave institutional support to artists who were unlikely to receive equivalent attention from major labels. The imprint also contributed to the historical identity of Hamburg as a major center of independent and alternative music. During the early 1990s, ZickZack became connected with the Hamburger Schule, a movement associated with independent German guitar bands and intellectually ambitious songwriting. The label promoted Blumfeld and other influential groups from this scene. This period demonstrated that ZickZack’s identity was not confined to the first wave of Neue Deutsche Welle; it could also support newer forms of alternative rock that addressed language, politics, everyday life, and cultural resistance in a distinctly German context. Across its history, the label has maintained a reputation for eclecticism. Its catalogue spans post-punk, industrial, electronic, avant-garde, experimental, and independent rock recordings rather than presenting one standardized sound. That breadth is central to its brand meaning: ZickZack represents a continuing connection to German underground music and to artists willing to work outside mainstream formulas. Public reference material provides limited information about the label’s later corporate structure, staffing, finances, and complete current operations. Its official website remains the principal public source for current label information, while discographic databases provide additional catalogue documentation. ZickZack is nevertheless historically recognized as one of the independent labels that helped define and preserve important strands of German alternative music from the 1980s onward.
- 1980
ZickZack Schallplatten is founded
[1]Alfred Hilsberg establishes the Hamburg-based independent label after working as a journalist for Sounds.
The label becomes associated with underground Neue Deutsche Welle
[1]ZickZack develops a strong identity through releases by artists from the experimental and underground side of Neue Deutsche Welle.
ZickZack supports the Hamburger Schule
[1]In the early 1990s, the label promotes Blumfeld and other bands associated with Hamburg’s independent guitar-music movement.
Products and positioning
A historically influential German independent label focused on underground, alternative, post-punk, experimental, electronic, and art-oriented music, with a particular association with Neue Deutsche Welle and the Hamburg independent scene.
Music recordings · 1980
Neue Deutsche Welle and post-punk releases
A core part of the catalogue consists of recordings connected with the underground side of Neue Deutsche Welle and German post-punk. These releases commonly combine German-language vocals with minimal electronics, angular guitar work, unconventional arrangements, or deliberately abrasive production. The category reflects the label’s early historical role in documenting music that developed outside established pop and rock channels.
Music recordings · 1980
Experimental, industrial, and avant-garde recordings
ZickZack has issued or been associated with recordings by artists working across industrial, electronic, performance-oriented, and avant-garde traditions. Rather than following a uniform sonic template, these releases emphasize experimentation, unusual textures, conceptual presentation, and independence from mainstream genre expectations. The category includes music linked to the broader art and underground scenes surrounding late twentieth-century German alternative culture.
Music recordings · 1990
Hamburger Schule-related alternative rock
In the early 1990s, ZickZack promoted Blumfeld and other acts associated with the Hamburger Schule. These releases extended the label’s activity into independent guitar music characterized by German-language songwriting, literary or socially observant lyrics, and an explicit distance from polished mainstream rock. They represent an important later chapter in the label’s role as a platform for artistically ambitious German alternative music.
Music recordings
Catalogue and archival releases
The label’s catalogue functions as an archive of German underground and independent music. Depending on format and availability, its output can include original albums, reissues, compilations, and later catalogue editions. These offerings preserve recordings by acts associated with Neue Deutsche Welle, post-punk, industrial music, experimental culture, and Hamburg’s independent scene.
Recent events
- 1980
ZickZack Schallplatten founded in Hamburg[1]
Other
Former Sounds journalist Alfred Hilsberg established ZickZack Schallplatten as an independent label connected to the emerging German underground and the developing Neue Deutsche Welle scene.
ZickZack becomes associated with Neue Deutsche Welle[1]
Other
The label gained recognition for releasing artists from the underground side of Neue Deutsche Welle, a scene whose name was promoted by founder Alfred Hilsberg in his journalism.
ZickZack supports the Hamburger Schule scene[1]
Other
In the early 1990s, ZickZack promoted Blumfeld and other influential independent bands linked to the Hamburger Schule, extending its role into a later generation of German alternative music.
Sources3 sources
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