History YMMV / Kraftwerk

** While not considered goth music, many goths will acknowledge Kraftwerk’s contribution to the creation of the coldwave genre, and their music gets occasional plays at goth night clubs.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Kraftwerk seem to be one out of two explicitly German bands well-known in the USA. The other one is Music/{{Rammstein}}.
** Kraftwerk are also cult favorites in the United Kingdom. They influenced Britain's synth-pop scene. Andy [=McCluskey=] saw them live when he was 16, and he was so amazed, he decided to start [[Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark his own electronic band]].

* UnPerson:
** Wolfgang Flür has become this, after he published his autobiography that deals with his experiences at Kraftwerk.
** Karl Bartos to a lesser extent. When Kraftwerk performs "The Telephone Call" live, they play it as an instrumental instead of singing it themselves or using Karl's original vocal stem.
** {{Averted|Trope}} in the case of Florian, though. It was initially assumed that Florian's departure in 2008, which made Ralf the only remaining founding member, was a big reason why most of the album covers were changed in the 2009 remastered editions to minimalist covers that didn't feature the band members; however, he's actually the only classic member Ralf will acknowledge by name without being pushed to do so, as was shown with Florian's passing, which was officially announced via a joint statement by Ralf and their record label.

** During one of the verses on "Das Model", after Ralf sings "Sie trinkt in Nachtclubs immer Sekt", a man randomly shouts "KORREKT!", and then Ralf returns to singing like nothing happened seconds later. According to WordOfGod, the man was a waiter at a discothèque the group frequented who always served champagne to new visitors, and would often greet them with "Hallöchen! Sekt? Korrrrrrrekt!", hence why he was brought in to record that one word, which, along with the preceding verse, helped form a reference to his catchphrase.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: "Intermission", "News", and "The Voice of Energy", all from ''Radio-Activity''. "Intermission" only serves as an interlude into "News", an avant-garde piece comprised of various samples of Ralf's voice, while "The Voice of Energy" is a BadassBoast from [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the voice of energy]] that serves as a ShoutOut to the Voice of America radio station.[[note]](who's German broadcasts began with "Hier spricht die Stimme aus Amerika", hence "The Voice of Energy" beginning with "Hier spricht die Stimme der Energie")[[/note]] All three come out of nowhere and have barely anything to do with the rest of the album other sharing the "radio" theme.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: Allegedly, ''The Mix'' was created to make dance club-friendly versions of the band's songs (which were more slower and melodic for electronic music at first).

* UncannyValley: The trope the band ran off with. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXa9tXcMhXQ The music video for "The Robots"]] is a perfect illustration of this trope in action.

** The Gregorian chant-like choir from "Uranium" being sampled on Music/NewOrder's "Blue Monday" and Music/{{Underworld}}'s "Dark & Long (Dark Train)".

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The single "Tour de France" was supposed to have been issued as the first single from the album ''Techno Pop'', before the production work on the album had been completed. The album was shelved when Ralf ended up in a coma from a cycling accident.

** "Morgenspaziergang".

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: By the 1980's Kraftwerk was suffering from this, because by then synthesized music was everywhere thanks to New Wave acts like The Human League and DEVO. When Kraftwerk actually made a rare televised appearance at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards, the audience seemed perplexed, with one audience member even caught on microphone asking, "[[https://youtu.be/8WCWrTLnR6s?t=197 MTV, what the fuck is this?]]"

*** Latin Americans might know it from the SpeedyTechnoRemake in Spanish "La Modelo" ("The Model") by Argentinian Clota Lanzetta.[[note]]Interestingly, Lanzetta wasn't a professional singer, but a public relationist for celebrities and TV personalities, but nonetheless also made covers of other synthpop songs, such as Music/NewOrder's "Bizarre Love Triangle".[[/note]]

* SampledUp: Most people never recognise when bands sample from Kraftwerk, but it happens a lot. A lot of Industrial and EBM acts do it, and their drum beats crop up in hip-hop, especially from the '80s and early '90s all the time. The most famous sample up, apart from Coldplay's use of "Computer Love/Computerlieb"'s main melody in their song "Talk", is the Gregorian chant-like choir from "Uranium" being sampled on Music/NewOrder's "Blue Monday" and Music/Underworld's "Dark & Long (Dark Train)".

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The live shows. Whether it's because they've changed the lineup (again), or because they changed the stage setup, it's a common opinion that contemporary Kraftwerk shows do not hold a candle to those of the 20th century—least of all to the Computer World Tour shows. This opinion's more notable holders include former band members Wolfgang Flür and Florian Schneider.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: By the 1980's Kraftwerk was suffering from this, because by then synthesized music was everywhere thanks to New Wave acts like The Human League and DEVO. When Kraftwerk actually made a rare televised appearance at the 2003 MTV Europe Music Awards, the audience seemed perplexed, with one audience member even caught on microphone asking, "[url=https://youtu.be/8WCWrTLnR6s?t=197]MTV, what the fuck is this?[/url]"

** Most fans agree that ''Music/{{Autobahn}}'' through ''Music/ComputerWorld'' represent their best work. However, ''Electric Café'' and ''Tour de France Soundtracks'' are often viewed as good albums in the fanbase, despite not being influential enough.
** Then there's the entirety of the influential ''Music/TransEuropeExpress'', which is widely considered to be Kraftwerk's masterpiece.

* GrowingTheBeard: The albums ''Music/{{Autobahn}}'' and ''Radio-Activity'' are where Kraftwerk really began to develop their style, ''Autobahn'' being somewhat of a transition between their earlier ambient style and their later one.

* OlderThanTheyThink: No, Music/DaftPunk are ''not'' the first electronic band posing as robots. (They are in fact directly giving homage to this band.)

* SampledUp: Most people never recognise when bands sample from Kraftwerk, but it happens a lot. A lot of Industrial and EBM acts do it, and their drum beats crop up in hip-hop, especially from the '80s and early '90s all the time. Just for one example: Music/NewOrder's SignatureSong "Blue Monday" was influenced by several songs, and the Gregorian chant-like section in particular was sampled from "Uranium" from ''Radio-Activity''.
** Fans of Music/LCDSoundsystem will recognise synth lines from "Home Computer" and "The Robots" in "Disco Infiltrator" and "Get Innocuous!" respectively.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: By the 1980's Kraftwerk was suffering from this, because by then synthesized music was everywhere.

** Karl Bartos to a lesser extent. When Kraftwerk performs "The Telephone Call" live, which Karl provided vocals for on the album, they play it as an instrumental.

* CriticalResearchFailure:
** Infamously, on the ''Minimum-Maximum'' version of "Radioactivity": "One point five kilograms of plutonium make a nuclear bomb."[[note]]A ''really'' effectively-made bomb would need about 4 kg—such a bomb has yet to be produced. The bomb dropped over Nagasaki used 6.2 kg. In most cases, 10–16 kg of plutonium would be necessarily, depending on the build of the pit.[[/note]]
** Every version of "Radioactivität" from ''The Mix'' onward has condemned "Kernfusion"—nuclear ''fusion.'' [[note]]The types of nuclear energy Kraftwerk protest are dependent on nuclear fission.[[/note]]

*** Latin Americans might know it from the SpeedyTechnoRemake in Spanish "La Modelo" ("The Model") by Argentinian Clota Lanzetta.[[note]]Interestingly, Lanzetta wasn't a professional singer, but a public relationist for celebrities and TV personality, but nonetheless also made covers of other synthpop songs, such as Music/NewOrder's "Bizarre Love Triangle".[[/note]]

** ''Radio-Activity'' is often considered one of Kraftwerk's weaker efforts, despite it being their first fully electronic album and the title track being an integral part of their stage show, but its fusion of melodic pop and use of early sampling technology have become more applauded in recent years.

** Fans of Music/LCDSoundsystem will recognise synth lines from "Home Computer" and "The Robots" in "Disco Infiltrator" and "Get Innocuous!" respectively.

** With the Einstürzende Neubauten fandom. Both fandoms are dedicated to experimental (West) German bands. It's fairly common on sites like Tumblr to see people get into one band via the other.

** ''Electric Café'', aka ''Musique Non-Stop'', was poorly received at the time, and is still not considered one of Kraftwerk's better albums, but it is now regarded by many to be quite a good instrumental hip-hop and electro album, showing Kraftwerk embracing their music's popularity within the hip-hop and electronic dancing scenes of the mid-80s and producing music specifically for the purpose of breakdancing.

* VindicatedByHistory: ''Radio-Activity'' is often considered one of Kraftwerk's weaker efforts, despite it being their first fully electronic album and the title track being an integral part of their stage show, but its fusion of melodic pop and use of early sampling technology have become more applauded in recent years.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: "Intermission", "News", and "The Voice of Energy", all from ''Radio-Activity''. "Intermission" only serves as an interlude into "News", an avant-garde piece comprised of various samples of Ralf's voice, while "The Voice of Energy" is a BadassBoast from [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the voice of energy]] that serves as a ShoutOut to the Voice of America radio station [[note]](who's German broadcasts began with "Hier spricht die Stimme aus Amerika", hence "The Voice of Energy" beginning with "Hier spricht die Stimme der Energie")[[/note]]. All three come out of nowhere and have barely anything to do with the rest of the album other sharing the "radio" theme.

** According to David Buckley's biography of the band,[[note]]''Kraftwerk: Publikation''[[/note]] Wolfgang was this in the 1980s, due to being perceived as "the cute one" of the group.
** Karl is one due to his musical talent, status as the OnlySaneMan of the classic lineup, and his sheer {{Adorkable}}ness.

** The fact that after Florian's departure in 2008, Ralf is the only remaining founding member was probably a big reason why most of the album covers were changed in the 2009 remastered editions. However, this is actually [[AvertedTrope averted]] in the case of Florian, though: he's the only classic member Ralf will acknowledge by name without being pushed to do so, as was shown with Florian's passing, which was officially announced via a joint statement by Ralf and their record label.