Landser is a right-wing neo-Nazi rock band from Germany. The band, which is officially outlawed in Germany, was previously called Final Solution, a reference to the Nazi plan to eliminate the Jews.

The band records its music in Germany, but has the CDs manufactured abroad, mainly in the US and Canada, where it is distributed by underground dealers. Their first CD was called The Reich Will Rise Again. Other Landser albums include Ran an den Feind, or Get the Enemy, where the title song -- a punk-rock remake of the 1940 German military march "Bomben auf England" -- calls for the bombing of Israel. Other tunes glorify one of Adolf Hitler’s top aides, Rudolf Hess, and, in "Grandpa was a Sturmführer," pay tribute to a grandfather who was a Nazi SS officer.

In Germany, the group has been deemed a criminal organization. Three members of Landser were convicted of forming a criminal organization in December of 2003 under laws that make the publication of neo-Nazi materials a crime in Germany. Two members received nearly two years probation, while the band’s leader, Michael Regener , was sentenced to more than three years in prison. On March 10, 2005, Germany's highest court (the German Constitutional Court) rejected Regener's appeal of his sentence.

At the few live concerts they have performed, all the band members have appeared heavily disguised. Landser is an old German word for a low-ranking foot soldier or private.

Discography

Albums

• Das Reich Kommt Wieder
• Berlin Bleibt Deutsch
• Republik Der Strolche
• Rock Gegen Oben
• Ran an den Feind

See also

• Anti-semitism