In Cottbus in the 1970s and 1980s there were large orchestras, dance bands and combos, but only one ensemble for traditional jazz from New Orleans. In 1984 a youth club announced them as the Dixieland group of the wind orchestra of the Cottbus textile combine. The Stompers made their first appearance at the Schmellwitz venue „Friedenseck“, seven musicians under seven bowlers. To this day, those round hats are their trademark. At home, the Cottbuser Dixieland Stompers are also known as the Saspower Dixieland Stompers, after the Cottbus district of Saspow.
The band's leader was and remains Horst Kaschube. Born in Sandow in 1940, he learned the ropes in the wind band as a young railway worker, played in the city's dance ensembles, began distance studies in 1971 at the Hanns Eisler Berlin College of Music and became a freelance musician in 1976. With the band Mediant, he shared third prize with Elephant in a major GDR competition, behind Silly and Karat. After that, he turned to the New Orleans sound.
Kaschube plays clarinet and saxophone, and his tone shapes the band's sound. Beside him is Holger Handke on trombone and bass trumpet, an instrument rarely heard in Dixieland that gives the ensemble writing a dark, mellow middle register. Handke also acts as host. Frank Petzold on piano, a bass, and depending on the lineup tuba or bass guitar, and Frank Grunewald on drums provide a solid foundation for blues, ragtime and stomp.
The Stompers’ stages have taken them from the Arbeiterfestspiele der DDR to the Internationale Gartenausstellung in Stuttgart and the Bundesgartenschau in Cottbus, and even as far as Brazil, where the band travelled in 1999 with a Cottbus delegation. On various stages, the musicians even took on the roles of the Danish Olsenbande.
For around three decades, they have been inviting audiences to their own Dixielandfest at the Freizeitoase am Amtsteich, with guest bands and a joint jam session at the end. In recognition of their long-standing work, the city of Cottbus included the band in its Ehrenchronik at the end of 2025.
For the Lausitz musicians, Dresden has been a fixture in the calendar for years. They always take a little of the Elbe atmosphere back with them to the Spree.