German Oak was founded in Düsseldorf in the early 1970s by lead guitarist Wolfgang „Franz“ Czaika and the Kallweit brothers Harald „Harry“ on bass and Ullrich „Ulli“ on drums. The trio temporarily rented the basement of an old air-raid shelter in Düsseldorf-Hamm as a rehearsal room, mainly because it was cheap. It was there that they recorded a number of demos, together with Manfred Uhr, an occasional keyboardist for the band, and Norbert „Nobbi“ Luckas as second guitarist. Some of this material found its way onto their self-produced, eponymous and only LP, released in 1972.

The claustrophobic atmosphere of the bunker was perfect for creating an eerie and mysterious sound. Amidst the gloomy and spooky environment, they created nightmarish soundscapes in the form of instrumental, extended psychedelic space-rock jams drawing on elements of hard rock and progressive rock. According to Wolfgang Czaika, the band was by no means political. All the song titles, as well as the controversial black-and-white cover design featuring the Landser image, were the solely idea of Manfred Uhr. The band members themselves were not involved in this. The group continued to exist until around the mid-1970s with a changing line-up. Due to a tiny edition of only 200 private press copies, original German LPs of this hidden psych-rock gem are now fetching astronomical prices.