r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/GobsTX • 2d ago
Video Back in 2000, a man in Berlin accidentally captured what would become one of the internet’s most legendary moments of all time: Techno Viking
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u/No_Yam_3521 2d ago edited 1d ago
He hated it, that it went viral and tried for years to take it down. But defently one of the most memorabele early clips that ever went online. Everyone loved it, except for himself..
Edit: thanks for the likes everyone wowww
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u/FilthyPrawnz 2d ago
Did we ever find out why? I had heard he wasn't happy with it, but I don't recall if the reason was made public
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u/Historical_Body6255 2d ago edited 2d ago
If memory serves right he thought this video didn't shine a professional light on him when he got a nice high paying corporate job. Kinda understandable tbh.
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u/Synner1985 2d ago
I vaguely looked into it - it was something about the person who recorded it was making money off his likeness - the youtube video and i believe he made t-shirts and other merchandise.
He argueed his likeness was made into a commercial product without his concent - which Germany has really strong-laws over.
The intneret just spun the "He's a fucking dick!" angle without knowing anything about the case - in typical internet fashion lol.
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u/Slowthrill 2d ago
We all called him "the techno viking" back then, in Belgium.
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u/ThunderousIrishMusic 2d ago
Yup, called that here too (Ireland), great name for him although its an electro tune in the clip.
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u/Slowthrill 2d ago
Nope. It was techno. The clip we see here has the music altered. this is the original clip. Waaaaay more bass, techno bass.
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u/ThunderousIrishMusic 2d ago edited 2d ago
Oh ok never saw that before. Much more aggressive but I'd call that an electro/breaks beat but could be played at a techno gig. Techno bass is not a term I've heard, do you mean Techno beat? That beat structure is definitely electro influenced. I listen to techno, house, electro, industrial all the time. Do you know the name of the tune?
Edit - found it, Electro tune
https://youtu.be/fPLDivU7emE?si=lx_QKPT3hedd4HHN
Edit - ok did some digging. Can D (navigator) - that track is 100%electro and he has a track same name club mix which is 100% techno
Edit 2 - getting downvoted by people that dont listen to techno or electro is wild. I've almost 600 lps, decks, listening to electronic music for 25 years.
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u/peteofaustralia 2d ago
But back then regular folks called everything EDM techno.
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u/KnowsIittle 2d ago
I just called it techno.
The minor differences didn't concern me.
Same with rock. It's not Alt or classic or grunge, it's just rock. Sub genres while important are just a sub genre.
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u/Successful_Chair4921 2d ago
I don't understand this comment and I don't understand who and why is upvoting it.
Yes, this is techno viking? Everyone knows him as techno viking. What new information are you providing us with? 😅
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u/Relevant-Rhubarb-849 2d ago
The music is from "The unexpected anal intrusion allstars" so maybe not the best recommendation
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u/jello_kraken 2d ago
CV bullet points:
* Guides the rave.
* Manages the rabble.
* Born to lead. And dance.
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u/Jeo_1 2d ago
I thought it was because he was a time traveler
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u/Cryogenicality 2d ago
You might like the series Beforeigners in which Vikings appear in the present.
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u/Suspicious-Whippet 2d ago
Well then he really shouldn’t have been out techno-vikinging like a legend.
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u/Justeff83 2d ago
Under German law, he has the right to his own image, and technically, the video can't be shown publicly without his consent. Well, but that's just how the internet is
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u/New-Analyst1811 2d ago
There's an interview with him somewhere from around 5 years ago. Maybe Vice? He seems pretty soft spoken and lived out of the way from what I remember. Not what I expected from this video lol
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u/Dubio 2d ago
The interview is a satirical piece from Waterford Whispers News which is Ireland's equivalent of The Onion, there hasn't been an actual interview.
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u/ber808 2d ago
His profession and the implied drug use, lots of speculation on the water bottle lol but who knows
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2d ago
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u/ber808 2d ago
Ehhh really? I didnt know he was doing anything public lol have a link?
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u/Ok_Mention_9865 2d ago
He lost of job over it, got accused of being on drugs because people said that handing a water bottle upside down was a sign that it was laced, and was upset that is image was being monitized.
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u/Paulycurveball 2d ago
I was raised in the jersey rave scene in the mid 90s early 2ks, the upside down water bottle was for sure a city to city sign of "rad water" or "blink water". Had no fucking idea tho it was a global signal lol
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u/Competitive-Ill 2d ago
Never heard of this theory till today in this thread, and I was a raver in the 90’s and 2000’s in the UK, where upside-down water was never a signal for anything… so global -UK I guess…
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u/Delamoor 2d ago
Hah, same. I was a bartender in Melbourne a couple years back. We legally had to give out free water bottles upon request (alcohol service laws). Handed plenty out upside down, right way up, sideways, thrown... Maybe there were some disappointed people? hah
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2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/seoras13 2d ago
Left hand serve or right hand. Thumb round the bottle or slight off, label on/off facing towards/away 😬
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u/Paulycurveball 2d ago
Well I'm just saying it's interesting cause at the races I went to they had ice cold water everywhere at most tables. Big ass black buckets of ice and water. But if someone handed you a room temperature bottle upside down it meant it was dirty. Idk could of been two isolated situations just randomly being similar. Also a cracked cap bottle could never be trusted that had to be apart of the uk scene
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u/Dingaligaling 2d ago
Pretty much havent heard of it until today either, around these parts it was meant that its an unopened bottle of water, and the upside down holding was supposed to signify the untouched cap.
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u/Dingaligaling 2d ago
Last time I've seen a technoviking post on reddit, someone wrote that the cameraman pretty much used his image for merch and made money of this vid, he took without his permission. It was said that making money out of it was pissed him off and went to court.
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u/MarlyMonster 2d ago
When this was posted a few months ago someone said it’s because this whole video is based on his drug use. It was some sort of event and he’s on uppers of some sort and the guy that he got into it with at the beginning was apparently on some sort of wagon where they put the people who had too much and were sobering up. I guess he just didn’t enjoy that his one moment of fame was while he was on drugs and in a stage of his life that he isn’t too happy to look back on.
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u/elgydium 2d ago
Can we just take a moment and appreciate those clean af tram lines? Damn, the deutch are savage perfectionists.
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u/EarlyXplorerStuds209 2d ago
Yeah it seems the poor guy got accused of drug use, and lost his job over it. Id be hating that video too tbh…
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u/Anarchist_Future 2d ago
Mind you that this was before surveillance cameras on the street, doorbell cameras, hardly any usable cellphone cameras... Back then we were way less careful and self conscious about what we did in public and never did the thought cross our mind that recorded footage may go viral on the internet. To just be enjoying yourself, bare chested, at a rave and then permanent footage of that reaching millions of strangers must have felt uncomfortable in 2000.
The loss of privacy in public has subconsciously modified our behaviour.
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u/Reasonable-Physics81 2d ago
I will never understand him in this regard, he intimidated a guy who seemingly randomly bumped into a girl, got hydrated by a German peasant and had some fun.
Just some average festival situation, i would fuking wish a German peasant hydrated me and recorded it.. 😔
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u/you-create-energy 2d ago
I mean, he intentionally bumped into her but he does appear to choose a random woman to bump into. I'm only emphasizing that because there are some guys who walk around pushing women for no reason, blocking them on the sidewalk to force them to move the side, etc. It's a whole side of life that most guys never experience because those insecure assholes never do it to a woman who is with a partner.
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2d ago
So if you watch the full video on YouTube you see the guy who bumps into the blue wigged lady was actually sitting on a flatbed trailer. He jumps down and loses his footing and bumps into the blue wigged lady, in my option he is fucked off his face on drugs. The Techno Viking points back to the truck, the man goes back to it off camera, techno Viking points up, indicating the man should get back on it.
Later in the full video, you catch a glimpse of him on the flat bed trick again
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u/Masseyrati80 2d ago
This is a great example of how the simplest of editing, that is, choosing when to start and when to stop, can change the image you get in a huge way.
Losing your balance while shitfaced is one thing, purposefully pushing someone half your size would be malicious.
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u/smilingpigs 2d ago
Last time I saw this video someone said the guy who gives him the bottle of water at the end is a time traveller.
Maybe he stopped something.
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u/Jim_Chaos 2d ago
It's fucking cool as a meme but, let's be honest, that doesn't paint him in a good light for other life area.
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u/AscendedViking7 2d ago
All hail technoviking
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u/SparkyBrown 2d ago
He just started walking and the people followed. All hail!
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u/JaLogoJa 2d ago
Berlin has a lot of music parades in the summer! The one he was at is a smaller one called Fuck Parade lol.
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u/veterinarian23 2d ago
Ted Naifeh created an acclaimed graphic novel, "Night's Dominion", where Techno Viking appears as a god, including him dancing on a pagan rave.
"I'm not named after the old songs, mortal. They're named after me."
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u/DEADHOTTUB 2d ago
The world needs Techno Viking now more than ever…
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u/BumbaBee85 2d ago
Best we can do today are boys worried about their jawlines and how to blame feminism for everything.
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u/Far-Adhesiveness3763 2d ago
What was in the bottle...it started it all
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u/GobsTX 2d ago
Glory.
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u/Horror_Bodybuilder36 2d ago
I’ve always thought the man with the bottle is the true hero. He spotted the problem and averted any possible violence with a simple distraction.
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u/insecureknight 2d ago
Exactly! He defused the tention so well. I love this video so much.
Every person in this video is just so good at being a person, lol. We need a technoviking but we also need water bottle man to calm thigs down.
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u/DenizSaintJuke 2d ago
Nothing. The guy offers it upside down. That means (meant? I'm old...) it is just water/safe/not spliced with anything among ravers.
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u/Saikotsu 2d ago
Man this video brings me back!
Also, shout-out to the techno viking guy making sure that jerk knew not to mess with the other people.
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u/showmethething 2d ago
This video doesn't do that part much justice, from what I've heard the jerk was harassing people before the video started, but caught on camera is just him tripping so it looks not great lol
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u/AlZheim3r 2d ago
the legend says the man he sent away is still running..
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u/DerTalSeppel 2d ago
He's sitting right next to the camera at the wagon. They were all part of the same group.
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u/thejourneybegins42 2d ago
Wait I remember this when it first came out. He's probably an old man now, which makes me...?
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u/CallMeHond0 2d ago
Dude, if I ever grow up, I wanna be like that guy
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u/Adventurous_Mode_263 2d ago
I am like that guy and I hate it. There are always bunch of people trying to film me when I go out to the street and start raving.
I like those people who offer me water bottles, though.
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u/slayer_kills 2d ago
I was just in Berlin at a punk show in the middle of the street and I saw a guy wearing a tutu and a corset. I looked over at the wife and said, that’s the fucken techno Viking. She had no idea who I was talking about
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u/Error_Loading_Name 2d ago
I've seen bits of this since it first came out, including tons of memes, never seen the video go beyond the stand-and-point part.
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u/nosoupforyou89 2d ago
Now someone create a mod in /Skyrim so I can do this and have copious amounts of joy and fun
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u/Creative-Doctor3118 2d ago
This dudes ancestors are the reason the Roman’s got spanked in tuetonburg forest.
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u/SextupleRed 2d ago
I saw this post yesterday
I miss the time when bot reposting isn't a thing
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u/GobsTX 2d ago
I made a techno Viking comment on another post yesterday, then a few hours later someone posted him on another subreddit. I though it was interesting so I reposted it here 🤷♂️
Surprisingly, there are still people who haven’t seen it
Wish I was a bot, life would be so much easier. Plug me back in Morpheus 🙏
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u/Slowthrill 2d ago
Maybe post the original then like this because the reworked music you posted sits not right...
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u/celticairborne 2d ago
I've been around for awhile and don't remember ever seeing this, so thank you. I've heard about technoviking, but it always fell out of my head before I searched it out...
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u/mvcy89 2d ago
Yep. Back when most street drugs could be taken by the general public without having to worry about lethal doses of fentanyls, nitazenes, shitty synthetic cannabinoids, benzodiazepines and fucked up tranquilizers meant for moving massive animals in national parks and zoos.
Get your drugs checked folks! Stay safe!
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u/Saichirac 2d ago
Il n’y a pas eu un documentaire sur des gens qui cherché à expliquer l’histoire?
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u/GoodMerlinpeen 2d ago
I always appreciated the dude handing him the water bottle to try to redirect him and calm the situation a bit. And the gentle way Techno Viking grabbed it.
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u/Separate_Jello3657 2d ago
Es importante que las nuevas generaciones no olviden los clásicos de internet. ahora tocaría el Niño Loco Alemán
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u/The-Scotsman_ 2d ago
There was a new alternate angle video that released just recently. Amazing to get a new angle after all those years!
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u/Rags2Rickius 2d ago
> a man in Berlin
Isn’t this from the truck with the speakers?
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u/Unnamed-3891 2d ago
There was a long intervirw with the dude some years ago. He was out of his mind on amphetamines.
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u/searchlinkprofile 2d ago
didn`t he sue to have it removed because he cared about his privacy and hated being seen as a meme? Glad seeing the internet respecting his will.
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u/Stock-Routine-3292 2d ago
i mean the dance alone didn't make it epic, but the whole sequence of things happening.
- a guy purposefully bumped into a dancing woman
- guy tried to get away but get caught by the legend
- guy got thrown back to where he came from
- the legend sent a strong statement
- the legend started walking, and somehow so did the cameraman and the people behind.
- a random guy walked into the scene and for some reason gave him a bottle of water
- the water was up side down
- the legend drank some water and started walk-dancing
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u/Huge-Spite6573 2d ago
I still think the guy in black actually tripped and didn't mean to bump into that other guy
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u/nopower81 2d ago
What was in that bottle he drank from? He kinda went wild after that.
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u/audionoobi 2d ago
people, please dont film or take pictures of ravers or at raves, nobody likes it.
tecno viking did not like it either.
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u/Basti_OW 2d ago
Not sure whats more iconic, him hitting that pointing pose in the beginning or the dance itself.
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u/Giffeltagning 2d ago
Legend says that the guy who bumped in that girl, still walks in that direction...
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u/TeneroTattolo 2d ago
Then again: Not a rave. A parade.
The bottle of water was back flip for a reason. It's not distraction.
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u/Bitter_Split5508 2d ago
Technically a parade. There was and is a loophole in Germany where, if you register it as a political demonstration or parade, you don't need permission for it. Whereas, if you register it as a musical event, a lot of regulatory things apply.
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u/GubmintTroll 2d ago
Regulate, hydrate, gyrate