Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie were a German politico-prog-rock meets theatre outfit mostly active during the 1970's and early 1980's. Rivals of Floh De Cologne, but with a very different approach, Checkpoint Charlie were much more angst and proto-punk in a way. Their debut LP is well-known as one of the most challengingly angry records of Krautrock. After that they refined their style along similar lines to Oktober on their next 3 albums.
The band was founded in Karlsruhe in 1967 by [a745881] and [a745884], after the other band members didn't share their concept, other musicians as [a1037056] joined the band in 1968. The band had their first gigs on famous festivals and also produced a debut live album in 1970. The band disbanded the first time in 1971, but reappeared in slightly modified line-up in 1972. The year after, the band split a second time. After that split, von Trotha was no more available for the band until 1977.
That year, the band was recreated a third time. The line-up changes were bigger and three members of the local band "Gossip", [a652030], [a1605346] and [a1245505] joined the band.
In 1979, the band decided to move on a farm in the Pfalz region near Karlsruhe and build a community in solitude. The community was consisting of the band, but also had a theatre project, circus and a farming background. The band itself was given up around 1982, while some of the other community parts existed even decades after the band split, e.g. the theatre group [a3033914].