March 18th 2025, on my way home in the Berlin subway, a news item on one of the small monitors installed in each carriage caught my attention. AnNa R, former lead singer of the duo Rosenstolz, had been found deceased in her apartment at the age of 55. The cause of death, at this time, was still unclear, although it would only a day later be described as having been “unexpected but of natural causes.”

It was a short message, as they tend to be on the subway's mostly ad-filled TV system, but it instantly took me a long way back, to the summer of 2001, when, for a brief moment, one of the band's songs had been all I listened to.

That song was “Es könnt' ein Anfang sein” and an exclusive single off Rosenstolz's Best of Compilation Alles Gute. I would come home, turn the stereo on and play the piece continuously.



My housing situation was very particular that year. I had just started working for a marketing agency on the basis of an arrangement which meant that I would initially not get paid but receive free lodging. The place I had been given was a huge, empty, loft-like space with a large window bank. Temperatures in this greenhouse-style apartment rose almost to the levels of a sauna, so I would open the windows and allow the sounds of “Es könnt' ein Anfang sein” to spill onto the streets.

I must have stumbled upon it on the rotation of VIVA, Germany's very own version of MTV. I certainly knew next to nothing about the band other than its chart success and the duo's playful take on sexual topics, inspired by their own experiences as members of Germany's LGBTQ+ community.

So what did I hear in “Es könnt ein Anfang sein” which captivated me? The song has an almost pedestrian arrangement and all the hallmarks of a 90s pop-rock production, based on acoustic guitar and a sampled drum loop. The basic chord structure is repeated throughout its entire duration which lends it this very distinct, dense mood and locks you in for the entire duration.

This compositional sparsity offers plenty of space for the pivotal lyrics of the chorus:

This could be a beginning
If only you'd have the guts
This could be love
But you'll never wake up.

The song is clearly dealing with a relationship but I think that, in a way, I had the distinct sense that it was speaking to my own path in life: Did I want to take the plunge and go for something big? Or did I want to “stay asleep” and carry on as usual? Hermann Hesse coined the famous line that “in all beginnings dwells a magic force.” In life, however, there is always something holding us back somehow, “reality gets in the way,” as they say, and before you know it, the force has lost its potency. Perhaps I was listening to this track so obsessively in an effort to shake me up, to wake me from my slumber.

There is a fascinating historical parallel to the release of that single and the career of Rosenstolz. The band, by the time Alles Gute was released, were still very much a niche topic. Their albums would go to number one based on the unwavering support of a growing fan community, while the general public saw them as exotic and eccentric.

“Es könnt ein Anfang sein,” however, did have an impact. Not long after, their album Herz provided them with he long-awaited mainstream breakthrough and between 2004 and 2008, AnNa R and her congenial songwriting partner Peter Plate were arguably the biggest German-language band beside Rammstein. For me, too, something was about to change. Not long after that weird Summer, I got my first job as a reviewer, writing mostly about metal and classical music for a good few years before starting my own website.

The irony here is that in terms of my relationship with Rosenstolz, that song did absolutely nothing. Eventually, the need to put it on gradually dissipated and eventually ebbed away. It remained a distant memory and it would be years before I played it again. I also never dove deeper into the band's catalogue which feels surprising considering my intense affair with this piece. Until today, it is the only song I consciously know by them.

There is nothing inherently unique about the experience of getting stuck on a song. Many of us do at some point in our lives. We get obsessed about something, and then we eventually move on. But with this piece, there was something different going on. A song about possible but not actual beginnings creates a closed loop – it's always right at the cusp of departure but it never truly goes anywhere. When I did eventually stumble upon it again, these feelings came right back again - I remained the sleeper who never woke up. It could have been a beginning, but it never was.

I recently saw a Rosenstolz live video of “Es könnt ein Anfang sein,” performing at the start of their commercial peak and in front of a huge audience. It is a remarkable performance.



The band are playing at a notably higher tempo which increases its urgency and Plate is jumping around on stage like a kid on too much sugar. When AnNa starts singing, she is horribly off-key which made me fear for the worst. But then, with every line, she gains in confidence, going from strength to strength, finally arriving at a euphoric climax.

The concert was a triumph and marked the moment of liftoff for the project, both on and off stage: AnNa knows fame is about to explode, and she is celebrating it with every fibre of her being.

Watching this after the news of her passing made the power of the song come back in full force. The bewildering sensation is that AnNa R's final farewell has only made the impact of “Es könnt ein Anfang sein” stronger.

Whatever beginning she was singing about was has become entirely impossible in the space of her own life. The paradox is that the song simultaneously negates this premise. Although Anna R. will never wake up from her final dream, the song is still there, pretending the road is forever wide open. And for as long as it is playing, it actually is – you just have to have the guts to take that step. Will you?