Jürgen Bartsch, Founder and Creative Force of Bethlehem, Dies on August 27, 2025
The extreme metal community bids farewell to Jürgen Bartsch, bassist, principal composer, and sole constant member of Bethlehem since 1991. The news was confirmed by the band’s current vocalist, Yvonne “Onielar” Wilczynska, who announced that Bartsch passed away on August 27, 2025, following an illness. Her statement appeared on Instagram and was later picked up by the international metal press.
Bartsch founded Bethlehem in Grevenbroich in 1991 and remained its creative anchor for more than three decades. Under his direction, the group fused black and doom into a unique aesthetic that defined an entire generation. Albums such as Dark Metal (1994) and Dictius te necare (1996) cemented the project’s reputation as a pioneer of what would later be identified as DSBM, while the band continued to expand its language across ten studio albums, the most recent released in 2022. Two Bethlehem tracks were even featured in Harmony Korine’s film Gummo, proof of the band’s cultural resonance beyond the underground.
Beyond his historic role as bassist and lyricist, Bartsch was a singular thinker in extreme metal. In interviews he often defended an art that faced life and death, pain and humor, without falling into cliché or posturing. That vision shaped records which, despite numerous lineup changes, always bore his unmistakable authorial mark. Since the band’s return with the self-titled Bethlehem in 2016, the press consistently praised Bartsch’s creative vigor and the rawer direction under Onielar’s vocals.
His name occasionally caused confusion with the infamous German serial killer of the 1960s who shared it, but Jürgen Bartsch the musician carried his birth name with pride. At times he even played with that shadow in subtle ways, though it never defined his artistic legacy.
Bartsch’s death closes a central chapter in the history of European-rooted black and doom metal. His catalog is recognized as a turning point, from the diseased atmospheres and texts on illness, death, and despair to the later evolution that brought Bethlehem into new territories without ever losing its identity. The confirmation of his passing by Onielar, alongside international press reports, agree on the cause—an unspecified illness—and on the immense value of his contribution to a sound that is now considered canonical. Our condolences go to his family, friends, and bandmates.
Key sources: Onielar’s public announcement on Instagram, Consequence’s coverage with translation of her message and historical context, plus archival press and specialized records for biographical and discographic background.
