A stark contrast at the heavy metal festival: An 82-year-old rock star with a background in the GDR sat on a chair with his guitar and sang “Hey, wir woll’n die Eisbärn sehn”—accompanied by a string quintet. Former Puhdys singer Dieter “Maschine” Birr made his debut at Wacken Open Air in front of thousands of metal fans.
“I’m thrilled to be performing in Wacken with my Landstreicher on August 1, 2026!” he had written earlier on his Facebook page. Fans commented that this was “a long-overdue honor.”
The 35th Wacken Open Air (W:O:A) in Schleswig-Holstein kicked off on Wednesday and was once again sold out, drawing 85,000 metal fans. It wraps up late Saturday night. This year’s headliners were Sabaton, Judas Priest, and Def Leppard.
Dieter Birr launched a new musical project last year: he is on tour with a string quintet. “The musicians usually play at the Berlin State Opera, in the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper, and with the Berlin Philharmonic,” he reported.
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