Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft or D.A.F. is an influential German electropunk/Neue Deutsche Welle band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978. Since 1981, the band has consisted of Delgado-López and Görl. In the very first beginning we didn’t want to imitate any American pop, rock or whatever. We think there is a very strong American influence in culture, television, music, everywhere. In the very first beginning one of our main content was to refuse to imitate rock ‘n’ roll, to refuse to sing in English. We don’t do that. We have our own identity.

DAF’s ironic and parodic intentions inreference to Germany’s fascist past are evident in their “Tanz den Mussolini,” which inspired a dance based on a charicature of the Nazi salute. The song’s lyrics invite a comparison between popular culture’s “dance crazes” and facism. When an icon is presented in an ironic context, does the audience give itself to the irony, or to what Barthes calls “the primary virtue of the spectacle”?

The Federation of German-American Clubs (Verband Deutsch-Amerikanischer Clubs) was founded in 1948 and currently consists of 31 local clubs from all over Germany. The Federation is committed to fostering cultural exchange and cooperation between the U.S. and Germany. Student- and youth exchange programs belong to their projects. The German-American Friendship Garden in Washington, DC stands as a symbol of the positive and cooperative relations between the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany. German Americans (German: Deutschamerikaner) are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and form the largest ancestry group in the United States, accounting for 17 percent of US population. Over 50 million people in the United States identify German as their ancestry.