Stechapfel Produktion

Their releases feature the name Stechapfel Produktion or Stechapfel Verlag or simply Stechapfel. These names were used synonymously. One of the first independent tape labels from West-Berlin. They started as early as 1977/78 to distribute music and especially leftist political tapes. Their first mayor releases that bore the Stechapfel logo were released in 1979 when the three owners moved into a previously squatted house at Görlitzer Strasse 74 in Berlin Kreuzberg. They released tapes of readings, music theater performances, political speeches, radio plays about political grievances, as well as early West-Berlin punk rock, political rock and prog/krautrock. Sometime in 1980 or 1981 they legalised their semi-official activities and became an official company with the full name Stechapfel Verlag & Produktions GmbH. In 1981 Niggi Popp, one of the owners moved back to Switzerland and continued the label and production activities there, also releasing later some unique tapes with swiss bands or theatre groups. The swiss division was kept active until the mid-1990s. The West-Berlin section also continued to release more tapes, especially more experimental music releases in 1982 and 1983. The Berlin section stopped the activities some time in the later 1980s due to a fire destroying many of the master tapes and equipment, the loss of their apartment/office at Görlitzer Strasse and personal crisis of the remaining original founder.