Hamburg anymore. In particular, a local scene of germanophone bands had developed in the small town of Bad Salzuflen in Eastern Westphalia, which was centered on the label Fast Weltweit. Founders were Frank Werner, Frank Spilker (of the band Die Sterne), Michael Girke, Bernadette La Hengst (of Die Braut haut ins Auge) and Jochen Distelmeyer (then of Bienenjäger, later Blumfeld). They got in contact with the Hamburg scene through Bernd Begemann who was a native of Bad Salzuflen but moved to Hamburg where he established his band Die Antwort. This led to various gigs in Hamburg for bands from the Fast Weltweit label, eventually causing many other artists to move to Hamburg. Another first-generation Hamburger Schule band, Die Regierung, was based in Hamburg for a long time, but originated from Essen. Rise and fall By the mid 1990s, three bands met with great commercial success: Blumfeld, Die Sterne, and Tocotronic. The Hamburger Schule became known as the epitome of German indie pop music. When other German guitar bands, whose music and lyrics were of a different style, they were able to profit from this success while spurring an entirely new indie pop scene. The Hamburger Schule began to be marginalised by a movement which it had helped to create. Other artists that are considered part of the Hamburger Schule are Milch, Rocko Schamoni and the 'Mobylettes'. But as time went by, the term eventually encompassed such a broad spectrum of musical content that it could hardly be associated with a particular musical genre anymore. As several bands have started to sing in foreign languages, it has begun to lose any meaning it once had. Revival By the end of the 1990s, there emerged a new wave of German guitar music with intellectual aspirations. Examples for this new generation of artists, who clearly tie in with the Hamburger Schule tradition, are Spillsbury, Kettcar, Erdmöbel, Kajak, Justin Balk, , Astra Kid, Modus Noa, Marr and Tomte. They display a new musical homogeneity of punk-influenced guitar pop. Several small labels have sprung up to support this new musical current. Arguably the most important one is the Hamburg-based label Grand Hotel van Cleef which, like L'Age D'Or seeks to be an enabler for local bands. It was established in September 2002 by Tomte's Thees Uhlmann and Kettcar's Marcus Wiebusch and Reimer Bustorff. References External links Labels L'Age D'Or—official website of L'Age D'Or Grand Hotel