In 1955, 10 years after the end of
World War II and the defeat of the
Third Reich, images discovered in Nazi records depicting uniformed officers of the
Schutzstaffel dancing a macabre dance while supposedly shouting "Halt! Hammerzeit!" started appearing in international press. The images, which had lain for ten years in the drawers of various Allied intelligence agencies were leaked by an unknown official within the Kremlin and brought back memories most residents of former Nazi-occupied Europe were ready to forget.
Die Hammerzeit was outlawed until the late 80s due to suspicion that it had been developed by
inhumane methods by scientists working under the Third Reich. In a famous ruling in
1988, the Court of Appeals overturned a decision by the District Court of
California outlawing Die Hammerzeit (e.
Hammertime), triggering a cascade of decriminalization of Die Hammerzeit across the globe. This decision fueled much activity in the field culminating in
MC Hammer releasing his
paradigmatic single,
U Can't Touch This, which heavily featured Die Hammerzeit and brought it into the public awareness as
Hammertime.
https://www.google.com/search?q=hammerzeit