interestingasfuck
25 years ago today, the legendary Techno Viking video was filmed in Berlin (and became a meme in 2006!). I feel old now
Discussion
What is this, 3fps?
thanks, so i didnt needed to google myself. had the spontaneous need to watch the video.
thanks, so i didnt needed to google myself. u/StandardDeluxe3000
We found Techno Viking everyone!
Ditto
Same !
First time I have ever watched this video. A few things I noticed. The first being it definitely looks like he was gonna whoop dudes ass in the beginning. The second being the whistle and him dancing leading the crowd reminded me of White Chicks and the Terry Crews dancing scene and the third is please don’t take me back to 2006 cameras.
Recorded in 2000, probably with an actually handheld too
Makin’ my way downtown
So the story goes he hooked up with that dude that night.
Lmao no way?
back to the future? This was filmed 2000
Isn’t the original video like 25 minutes long?
It's also 11 years older.
So a guy got off of something an accidentally bumped into blue hair girl and for that he was forced by TV to stay on the truck and not even point in the direction he once wanted to go?
Exactly. But I think the guy was tripping too hard and TV in his infinite wisdom got him to sit on the truck to come down from it.
Thanks. I never understood TV's anger and thought I missed something. But no.
Yeah if you watch near the end the original guy looks like he is having a bad trip / bad buzz head rolling best not let him get into trouble in the state Lmao
That's in interesting take. Techno Viking, Public Servant
They were following a float in the parade. Guy fell into the girl when he tried to get off the float. Then they danced while following the float, as it progressed. It was the fuckparade.
Awesome to see this begin with protecting a woman.
Cool dude. I’d be MUCH more comfortable with him leading the USA.
I remember a few years back there was this really bizarre alternate angle footage released and everyone just had their minds blown that there was footage just sitting there and years later it gets released
This has to be linked, you can't just say that
Fuck, that’s monumental.
you're my hero
Whoa, far out
I think we found the guy who got permission to time travel
So, he's a Cryptid now!
he doesnt want to become popular
*sobbing Leave technoviking alone!
I see whatcha did there
correct meme era 'n all that
i move away from the mic to breathe in
Which is the most Techno Viking response.
He has an instagram account where he promotes himself
Reminds me of the goth dance club underneath that bridge. Like yeah most of them looked like Batman villains, like they work for the joker or something, but the one guy that really caught everyone's attention was just so out of place but he looked like he was in charge. If you show up to a techno goth rave, under a bridge, and you are the one everyone is staring at them you fucked up, pretty sure the whole show was playing out of his trunk though.
like seriously it's a bunch of goth the fucked out teenagers and then one dude in a torn up wedding dress covered in blood with mesh arm sleeves with what I think might be a light up ring pop on each hand. Everyone else looks pissed like how goths are supposed to look but he's out with the goofiest smile doing the god dam monkey like Johnny bravo. Then he finds a squeaky toy for like a dog and...ita Just a bizarrely goofy scene, I especially like the ones where they put it to Christmas music.
lol, I remember the Thomas the Tank Engine one.
This one makes me cry laughing it’s so good.
a real classic
these girls and guys were the pathfinders for unspeakable future club excesses. That day, under that very bridge, they rehearsed dance moves that would inspire generations of goth club dancers. They exposed themselves in broad daylight to dance and learn from eachother. These girls and guys were brave, they were not afraid to do what they love in plain sight, under a bridge, to make way for younger kids to copy their moves in dark goth clubs.
These dancers are my heroes.
He is no meme, he is a symbol of a generation. And i'm pretty shure he had a serious amount of speed inside. 😄
He just had to be watered, and then the techno'ing began.
No mortal can repeat his steps and enter Valhalla.
Yes, iirc he was on speed and some other drugs, I’m not sure who but it was confirmed by either him or somebody else there
He did an interview with Vice some years ago. He said that, back in the techno viking days, he'd done a lot of speed, but had been clean ever since
As was everyone else on this street, it was Berlin in the 00's what were you expecting
Apparently he is all about clean living and doesn’t touch anything bad.
Definition of bad please? 😄
I wonder why they did not put a statue there.
Love Parade is this upcoming weekend in Berlin. The Techno Viking in all of us will be there.
Man love parade is still a thing. Nostalgia just hit hard
The original organizers sold the parade in 2005 after facing insolvency and not being able to put on a festival in 2003 or 2004. It happened one last time in 2006 in Berlin, and then it moved to Dortmund in 2007 and Essen in 2008. It was canceled again in 2009, and then in 2010 a mass panic at the festival in Duisburg caused a crowd crush, killing 21 and injuring 500 people. This ended the festival.
But then in 2020, the original organizer revived and rebranded the party as Rave The Planet, which was supposed to happen in 2021, but the pandemic pushed it back a year to 2022.
In 2022 the parade was back. The route started on Ku'damm and weaved through West Berlin to Tiergarten. It was great, but a total shitshow for the areas it passed: piss and broken glass everywhere, people climbing lamp posts and building facades.
In 2023 and 2024, the parade route was confined to Straße des 17. Juni, which wasn't as fun, and was horrible for the park vegetation, but it was a good enough compromise to at least have the parade.
This year, it will follow the same route on Straße des 17. Juni. The forecast calls for a high of 70F and .3" of rain, so it's going to be a wet and comparatively chilly one.
edit: There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.
Thanks for the history!
the video was not recorded at the Love Parade.
but, Fuckparade on July 8, 2000
no joke
Where exactly was this video shot? I can see the TV tower back and guess it’s close to Alexanderplatz. But I need the exact location, so that I can pay my respects to the great TechnoViking.
At one point of the video I can spot Rosenthaler Straße on the street sign which also fits the tram tracks and the general view of Fernsehturm
FYI Techno Viking was at the Fuck Parade in Berlin, the extreme counter answer to the Love Parade. Still pretty much a yearly occurrence.
2 Videos showing every known appearance and angle of…The Techno Viking:
Now, more than ever, we need the Technoviking.
In this time of crisis the Technoviking will arise again, protect the blue-haired dancers of this world, and restore order to the streets at 150bpm
Thanks for reminding me to take bysoprolol, because that would be my heart rate if I don't lol
Im still watching the video on regular basis. Not sure why, maybe nostalgia, but it really has the power to improve my mood…
That look of disappointment and judment that says "Y'all need Freya."
I still hand new coworkers upsidedown bottles to suss out the real ones
It's weird being 41 cos 2000-2025 feels like it went a lot faster than 1983-2000
I was listening to techno before techno viking, i too feel old.
Me too!!!
This guy must be, what, 50-60 years old now?
Technoviking is ageless. He could be 50 years old or 50,000 years old. No one knows.
And he may have worked as a landscape gardener or tax consultant for years, is looking forward to his retirement, but is also planning to die dancing so that he is not denied access to Tekknohalla.
How dare thee invoke the Techno-Viking without uploading or linking the video!
You jeopardise your seat at the All-Father's table!!
Wait wait wait, 25 years…?
Isn’t that gif depicting happiness and satisfaction?
Oh good ol' raving viking where are thou in these times of despair
I wonder if he still vikes today....
Nah, just ings
today...
The upside down water bottle is still in my mind
Upside down bottles of champagne to celebrate
Way ahead of his time. Every 3rd white guy has this aesthetic now.
Was thinking the same
I showed this video to people in their late 20s/early 30s the other day and they didn’t find it interesting at all 😭
Don’t worry! We are here, and we enjoy every time we see him again pointing his finger en then dancing! Again and again!
That's the wrong crowd then. Don't worry, my generation is still praising Techno Viking regularly
Someone get me some upside down water.
Holy fuck, it's almost been 20 years... this is the first YouTube video I can remember looking up over and over to show it to people.
Still one of my absolute favorites!
Techno Viking once danced his way past me at the Zurich Street Party in around 2013. That's my claim to fame.
I still listen to this song today:3
I know the guy who recorded the video. Did some sound design for one of his movie projects.
Some say, that dude he pointed to is still hiding...
Is this the song that sounds like they’re singing “Jumbo hot dog”
How is he doing now
That’s definitely Charlie Hunnam
Bjorn Ironside
A meme in 2006!? Did they even HAVE the internet back then?
Yes... and electricity too. Steam was so passé...
Da war Berlin noch in Ordnung
Technoviking has been found! There’s an interview with him with the guys who found out his identity. Do not look it up! Seriously! Technoviking is a good guy, but the mundanity of his life now ruins the myth. Keep him where he belongs. At a Berlin rave getting handed a waterbottle upside down. Rave on!
This really feels and looks like it should be older than that!
I still love watching this occasionally!
Legend and this video is so random , saves a girl , gets water from a dude.. dances xd
Long live techno culture
I am pretty sure we will never see anything like this again. LEGEND.
Here's one for you OP, I first heard about Techno Viking from Rocketboom
Honestly tho body goals
I wanted to be blue hair girl for Halloween but was wondering if anyone would get it.
RIP King
I was born that year wtf
Techno Viking v Chuck Norris would be interesting. The fight would probably be infinite.
I was just thinking about him
Oh didn't he mellow out and take up gardening? Lol
🤡
There is a german documentary on Vimeo from Mathias Fritsch: The Story Of Technoviking - Kurzfassung - Deutsche UT auf Vimeo
The Techno Viking itself is blured out but the video gives us a lot of background informations.
Where in Berlin is this?
Makes me want a bottle of upside down water.
Is the guy still alive?
Is the guy still alive?
2025-2006=25???
Clip was recorded in 2000 but went viral in 2006!
💡
I met a guy who wrote one of the background tunes at a Punk Club in Berlin this year!
I remember downloading this video over limewire. Crazy it's still around.
25 years ago??
[deleted]
Filmed earlier according to the title.
Epic
We don't talk enough about the absolute hero who releases techno viking from his battle fugue via the power of hydration
OP, I feel old every time I remember when I bought half life during Christmas 1998
One of the many great things about playing WoW then
I thought of him yesterday. It was nice.
except its 19 years ago, not 25.
Became a meme 19 years ago, bit was filmed 25 years ago.
Lawyered.
Liar!
Who?
It is art
Here we go again. It took me 12 minutes to download this video om my 28k8 modem. It was worth it.
It was a meme before 2006
Jeez I feel old too. I remember when this was first posted. I love the techno viking, especially how he’s there to protect the parade people. The pointing and warning to others basically saying fuck around and find out. Has to be one of my absolute favorites.
I’m pretty sure he’s still mostly avoiding the fame? Is that true?
If I remember correctly he also sued the guy who uploaded the video or something along those lines
He sued the cameraman for making techno viking figures and trying to profit off of it. The video itself is not an issue IIRC. However, techno viking wants to stay anonymous, gotta respect the man.
Interesting. Fortnite are profiting from his dance. They sell it as an emote on their store.
You can't copyright a dance. Other people have tried suing Fortnite for using their dances, no dice
Didnt Michael Jackson try with the moonwalk?
Frysquintingnotsureifyouaeemakingajoke.jpg
Edit:reread the comment. At first j thought it was meant to imply MJ sued Fortnite. But now I see it was meant to say MJ was trying to copyright the moonwalk.
For those who aren't aware, the moonwalk, under various names, has been around since at least the early 1900s. Michael Jackson simply introduced it to the masses.
Which is fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucking stupid. It’s an art, the same as any other. Not being able to copyright specific moves makes sense, just like you can’t copyright the use of the color red. But a dancer/choreographer should absolutely be able to copyright a specific series of moves in a specific order, AKA a full dance
That's more or less how music works. Your melody over 7 notes iirc can be copywrited but anything less is dicey and chord progressions were in dispute several years ago. Some guy used an algorithm to generate every possible chord progression of four or five chords and tried to copywrite it in an attempt to defeat the idea that progressions could be copywrited. There was a YouTube video I didn't follow it past that.
He won the lawsuit.
Yeah because iirc he was high on either ecstasy or speed and didn’t want the video being public
Taking part in a technoparade without being high on either ecstasy or speed is a federal crime. Maybe he was not high enough.
Datenschutz
Never again spotted, not a single post on any media in 25 years. That’s kind of amazing.
They (Germany) have better privacy protections that we (USA) do.
The unnamed man's court case against Fritsch concerning infringement of personality rights opened in Berlin on 17 January 2013. In June, a decision was reached for the plaintiff and Fritsch was ordered to pay the man €13,000 in damages, almost all he had made from YouTube ads and sales of Techno Viking merchandise, plus €10,000 in court costs, and to cease publication of his image.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techno_Viking
Oof, monetization sucked back then. I can't even imagine what he'd make with a comparable viral staple in 2025. Billions of views...
We also have even more powerful mechanisms now in Europe. No company wants to be fined for hosting your likeness and name without permission. Not by the EU.
Weird but surprisingly pertinent example:
All the european camgirls/onlyfans/whatever men and women who have simply vanished from the internet when they "retired", with new videos of'em being taken down whenever they pop up.
It surely would be a bit higher, but monetization has always been bad YouTube for one hit wonders. High subscriber counts with consistently high views is what brings in the money.
All of the EU and Japan have better privacy and data protections than we do.
Europe has better workers rights, privacy and data protections, and consumer protections. We're basically a free for all where business can do anything it wants to you over here. They can even write in contracts you cant sue them in regular court and you cant join someone else suing them (mandatory arbitration and class action waiver)
Fun fact: Even China has massively better laws on data protection than the US.
and they are pretty good at selling the illusion you can become one of them
Good. I don't know why we would come to put this expectation on people to just automatically live their lives in the public eye
I remember that there was an attempt to find him for a 20 year anniversary documentary but either they couldn’t or he just still didn’t want to appear.
There was a documentary that tracked him down. I think the legal case means it's now scrubbed. But the basics was he was just a guy who did speed and partied and that was it really. And he had a normal job so didn't want to be known.
Legend has it that he climbed into goatse and was never heard from again
Perhaps
Gotta say, dude has some solid friends. There is no way nobody would recognize him, the video went big.
He initiated legal action against the person who uploaded the original vid lmao
I did see a revisit some years ago
Yes, but he' sstill an iconic figure 'in the scene'.
He didn't want to be a meme, he also sued everyone for it and won and now people still post his ass because cheap internet points NOM NOM NOM
He has an instagram account where he promotes himself now
See, now I'm wondering whatever became of Jenni from Jennicam. And Wikipedia to the rescue...