Do we like them?

Do we like Christian Flake Lorenz?

Our score: 5 out of 10. No harmful words turned up, but denied and untested allegations plus thin evidence of good deeds keep him in the middle.

Flake is the keyboard player and resident jester of Rammstein, and a punk at heart. In a December 2024 interview he said punk shaped him most in his youth: “And I stuck with it.” Rammstein is on a break, and in February 2026 a remark of his at a reading set fans guessing about a comeback. That article is paywalled, so we can't tell you exactly what he said.

The cloud over him started in July 2023. Two women told NDR and the Süddeutsche Zeitung about alleged sexual contact without their consent. One described a 2002 night at his country house, when she says she was 17. The other said she woke up unclothed beside him after a 1996 hotel party but couldn't recall the night or definitively attribute it to him. His lawyers vehemently deny the allegations, and neither woman had gone to the authorities when it was published.

The fallout has been real, even without a charge. In 2024 a public broadcaster kept him in a Tatort cast after a musician pulled out, saying she didn't want to be tied to the Rammstein system. The broadcaster said the allegations had never been put before a court and that the presumption of innocence applies. Where you land depends on whether you read that as fair process or as brushing it off. We found no charge, court outcome or statement from Flake himself.

One more thing from the same reporting. Side-Line quoted a 2016 interview in which Flake said: “When I was drunk, the consequences of sex didn't matter to me.” That's his own line, not an allegation. It's thin on its own, but it sits awkwardly next to the claims above.

On the harm test, we went looking for anything on LGBTQ+ people, women's rights, migrants, climate or conspiracy talk and found nothing. No campaigning, no grievance slide, and no run of projects with people who push harm in what we read. That's an absence of evidence rather than a deep dive into his politics, so we're not claiming more than that.

The good stuff is modest. In late 2022 he made a self-mocking video with the Better World Cup initiative, pushing reusable cups over disposable ones. He even gets a dig in about the band's touring footprint. A Christmas covers album is also reported, but we couldn't verify where the money goes, so we've left it out.