Check out this (full-length, linked below) BBC Four documentary about Krautrock. The BBC says:
Documentary which looks at how a radical generation of musicians created a new German musical identity out of the cultural ruins of war. Between 1968 and 1977 bands like Neu!, Can, Faust and Kraftwerk would look beyond western rock and roll to create some of the most original and uncompromising music ever heard. They shared one common goal - a forward-looking desire to transcend Germany’s gruesome past - but that didn’t stop the music press in war-obsessed Britain from calling them Krautrock.
Note the first: You are not into Krautrock unless you have heard Deluxe by Harmonia at least 800 times.
Note the second: You are not into Krautrock unless you have read Krautrocksampler by Julian Cope.
Note the third: You are not into Krautrock unless you ARE Julian Cope.