The original line-up in 1969 consisted of members of two loose music collectives from Hamburg. In 1970, music journalist Uwe Nettelbeck used his contacts with the A&R manager at Deutsche Polydor, who wanted to try something new, to get them a record deal. They moved into a former school building in the idyllic village of Wümme in the municipality of Wistedt between Bremen and Hamburg. Financed by a generous advance from the record company, they were able to set up their studio there and rehearse, experiment and develop their music undisturbed. The band members Gunther Wüsthoff (synth, sax), Rudolf Sosna (g, keyb, voc), Hans-Joachim Irmler (org), Jean-Hervé Péron (b, voc), Arnulf Meifert (drums, vocals) and Werner „Zappi“ Diermaier (drums) called themselves Faust, in reference to Goethe's classic.

At the end of 1971, the time had come and their self-titled debut album was released. And it was a musical revolution: an explosive, surreal mix of electronic, Krautrock, experimental, musique concrète, sound collages, industrial noise and avant-garde prog, pressed on clear vinyl, packaged in a transparent plastic cover with an X-ray image of a clenched fist and a transparent text insert. Together with sound engineer Kurt Graupner, they transcended the boundaries of music and turned this extravagant sound adventure into an epochal work of music history and a blueprint for avant-garde prog, ambient and the dark industrial scene that followed.

This avant-garde masterpiece sold virtually no copies in Germany, while the band became quite popular with it in England. To this day, the debut album, along with its visionary packaging, is highly regarded as a masterpiece of Krautrock, especially by American and British fans and critics, and is therefore sought after worldwide.