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Techno Viking is an internet phenomenon and Internet meme based on a video from the 2000 Fuckparade in Berlin, Germany.
The camera then follows the Techno Viking as the parade continues. Another observer comes from the back of the scene and offers an inverted bottle of water to him. The Techno Viking starts to dance down Rosenthaler Straße () after drinking from the bottle.
After being posted on Break.com, it peaked on 28 September at more than 1million views per day and was watched by over 10million people over 6 months. More than 700 responses and edited versions were posted. KNEECAM No.1 at The Technoviking ArchiveCarmela Thiele, "Das Musik-Video Technoviking" , Corso, Deutschlandfunk Cologne, 5 May 2009, interviewing Matthias Fritsch (mp3) We,TechnoViking at WorldNews.com. It was the #1 clip on Rude Tube series-three episode Drink and Drugs.Clip 16, position #1; E4 transmission 17 December 2008. Mathew Cullen and Weezer wanted to include Techno Viking in their compilation of Internet memes for the "Pork and Beans" music video but were unable to. "Weezer's 'Pork & Beans' Director on the Band's Viral Hit, Plus Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Video" , Rolling Stone June 16, 2008. Techno Viking was also rendered in oils as part of a series on internet memes. "Techno Viking in Oil – Painting Internet Memes" , Crackunit.com 11 March 2008.
By mid-2010, the video had generated over 20million hits on YouTube alone; , the original version had more than 16million views. Fritsch mounted an installation and the online Techno Viking Archive "to research the strategies of participatory practice in digital social networks"Judith Staines with Ghislaine Boddington, Interview with Matthias Fritsch, Excited Atoms: an exploration of virtual mobility in the contemporary performing arts, On the Move April 2010, p. 43 (pdf) and presented lectures on the reception of the video. His Music from the Masses project was suggested by the Techno Viking experience: it explores web collaboration by providing silent films for artists to provide soundtracks. In response to legal action by the man featured in the video, access to the Techno Viking video itself has been restricted and annotations on YouTube blocked since late 2009.
The unnamed man's court case against Fritsch concerning infringement of personality rights opened in Berlin on 17 January 2013. "All Heil Technoviking! Der Technoviking verklagt seinen Schöpfer" , Zeitjung.de, 18 January 2013 Leonhard Dobusch, "Der Technoviking-Prozess: Urheberrecht und Internet-Memes" , Netzpolitik.org, 21 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.Leonhard Dobusch, "Interview zum erstinstanzlichen Urteil im Technoviking-Prozess [Update]" , Netzpolitik.org, 20 June 2013, retrieved 1 July 2013 Ana Samways, "Pronunciation Sought" , Sideswipe, New Zealand Herald, 1 July 2013.Olivia Solon, "Filmmaker gagged by the Technoviking, bankrupted by legal bills" , Wired, 27 June 2013, retrieved 1 July 2013.Kevin Morris, "Technoviking prevails in court, still can't erase Internet fame" , Daily Dot, 26 June 2013.Henry Steinhau and Till Kreutzer, "Technoviking: Ein Internet-Mem vor dem Berliner Landgericht" , iRights.info, 25 June 2013, retrieved 1 July 2013 , with link to verdict (pdf)
Identity and lawsuit
Fritsch did not know the man's name at the time of filming. A man who appeared in the 2009 "Bodybuilding" broadcast of the German television show segment Raab in Gefahr "Bodybuilding" (Sendung 8888) , Raab im Gefahr 20 February 2009, TV Total, Brainpool, 2011, retrieved 7 February 2011 ; the man calls himself "Harry the old Teuton". was taken to be Techno Viking in a YouTube upload. Technoviking on "Raab in Gefahr" , uploaded to YouTube 1 October 2007, removed 25 December 2009; documented at YouTomb with screenshots; YouTomb presents him as being Techno Viking and says he calls himself "Harry the old Viking". In 2008, fans claimed MMA fighter Keith Jardine was Techno Viking. Keith Jardine Talks Thiago Silva Fight, Brock Lesnar, and Techno Viking" , MMA Fighting, 25 August 2008, retrieved 1 February 2011. The lawyer of the Techno Viking asserts that his client had never been a public figure and that he did not want to become one.
Documentary film
Fritsch raised money with a crowdfunding campaign to make a documentary film about the case, The Story of Technoviking, which was released in 2015.Attila Nagy, "Here is the Crowdfunded Film about Technoviking, One of the most Popular Memes" , Gizmodo, 20 October 2015, retrieved 23 October 2015.
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