Anti-Nazi song tops German charts after appeal against refugee hate

BERLIN: A German punk song rocketed to the top of the charts 22 years after its release, according to official charts Friday, following a social media campaign against anti-refugee hate.

"Schrei nach Liebe" (Cry for Love) was first released in 1993 by punk band Die Aerzte, when Germany was hit by a wave of neo-Nazi attacks against immigrants.

The song mocks a "really dumb" fascist whose "violence is only a silent cry for love, your combat boots crave tenderness ... oh ... a#$h!#e!".

A music teacher called Gerhard Torges had launched the initiative calling on people to buy the single online or request for it to be played on the radio, as Germany experiences a spate of anti-refugee attacks by far-right extremists.

The campaign called "anti-Asshole" rapidly gained traction and just over a week after its launch, the single was at the top of the German charts.

Even pensioners have joined in, with a choir of retirees seen singing the song on a video posted by the tabloid-style newpaper Bild.

"Success of this kind is unprecedented in German chart history," said Mathias Giloth, who runs GfK Entertainment, which publishes Germany's official music charts.

Austrians and Swiss have also backed the campaign, sending the song to Number 1 in Austria and Number 2 in Switzerland, Gfk Entertainment added.

Die Aerzte ("The Doctors") said they backed the campaign and did not want to profit from it, adding that all takings from the song would be donated to refugee campaign group Pro Asyl.

"We wish all Nazis and their sympathisers a bad show," they said on their website.