Palais Schaumburg were formed in Hamburg by Holger Hiller (who had already published a solo single and EP) and Swiss keyboardist Thomas Fehlmann The band debuted with the singles "Macht Mich Glucklich Wie Nie" 'Make Me Happy Like Never Before', "Telephon", "Rote Lichter" 'Red Lights' and "Wir Bauen Eine Neue Stadt" 'We're Building A New City", mostly compiled on "Das Single Kabinet". Their style was a bizarre kind of dance music. Hiller left after their debut album, "Palais Schaumburg "(Phonogram, 1981). Fehlmann led the band through two more albums, "Lupa" (1982) and "Parlez Von Schaumburg" (1984). Holger Hiller released the solo album "Ein Buendel Faulnis in der Grube / A Bunch of Foulness in the Pit" (Ata Tak, 1983 - Mute, 1985), a frenzied, non-stop carnival of "lo-fi" pop and sampling, the "vietnamese" EP "Hat Voi Quehuong" (Zick Zack, 1983) and the mini-opera "Guten Morgen Hose" 'Good Morning Trousers' (Ata Tak, 1983). The album "Hyperprism" (Wave, 1985), reissued as "Oben Im Eck" 'Up In The Corner' (Mute, 1986), upped the ante by employing samples, besides keyboardist Izumi Kobayashi and vocalist Kaori Kano, to mercilessly deconstruct the song format. The EP "Ohi Ho Bang Bang" (Mute, 1988) explored the manic aspect of the art of sampling (both the music and the video are made of cut-ups of a home video about making noise with house furniture). "As Is" (Mute, 1992) was an eclectic mess of pop, dance, industrial, electronic and world music. Mainly, this album adapted Hiller's extreme aesthetics to the scene of techno music. "Demixed" (1993) is a remix album. "Little Present" (1995) is an audio documentary about his son. Holger Hiller (Mute, 2000) continues his experiments with sampling.

After disbanding Palais Schaumburg, Thomas Fehlmann converted to techno with the album "Uro Breaks" (Wau Mr Modo, 1986), credited to Ready Made. Felhmann became a respected Berlin-based techno producer and joined The Orb. "Good Fridge" (Apollo) is an anthology of assorted tracks. "One To Three" (R&S, 2000) is the first album credited to Fehlmann in person. This and its follow-up "Visions Of Blah" (Kompakt, 2002) reaffirmed Fehlmann's leadership in the German "microhouse" scene (a fusion of house music and glitch music).