Jürgen Bartsch, the founding and one constant member of pioneering German extreme metal band Bethlehem, has passed away after an undisclosed illness. The news was shared by current Bethlehem singer Yvonne “Onielar” Wilczynska.
On Instagram, Onielar wrote (as translated from German), “He has died many times… But death was only temporary. After a serious illness, perseverance, and great fighting spirit, our beloved friend and esteemed founder of Bethlehem – Jürgen Bartsch – passed away on August 27, 2025. In deep sorrow and with a broken heart, In the name of Bethlehem, We will never forget you, Jürgen. Rest in peace.”
Bartsch was the founding bassist and chief songwriter of Bethlehem, whom he founded in 1991. The band is credited with pioneering the DSBM (Depressive Suicidal Black Metal) genre, combing black metal with doom metal on a series of influential 1990s albums, including its debut Dark Metal (1994) and its follow-up Dictius te necare (1996).
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Overall, Bethlehem has released 10 albums, most recently 2022’s The Gospel According to Alexander, with their sound evolving over the years. Two of the band’s songs appeared on the soundtrack to Harmony Korine’s 1997 cult movie Gummo.
In a 2017 interview, Bartsch was asked about Bethlehem being called the forefathers of the DSBM genre, to which he responded, “Yes, we are! [laughs]. Basically, we don’t have anything in common with that scene, but yes, we are their godfathers! … In the nineties, we were playing in front of ten people. People were saying: ‘This is shit! It’s not black metal, it’s about suicide, what kind of shit is this?’ So yeah, we were lucky that somehow some kids got interested in that.”
Our condolences go out to Jürgen Bartsch’s family, friends, and bandmates during this difficult time.