This was actually the first time I saw them use their trademark SS runes (once coyly described by Simmons as "just the US sign for high voltage electricity" - I'm not sure whether that is what they were alluding to when they introduced it) in Germany, in the past, all German releases of Kiss product used a reverse double-Z:
not the runes as here:
The German release of the legendary first Alive album had the logo covered by one without the runes and even Peter's bass drum, which featured the name Kiss with runes too, was crudely airbrushed.
The SS runes are outlawed in Germany (just like the swastika or the abbreviation "NS", hence no swastika decals in model kits destined for Germany), using them outside of a historical-documentary context is a crime/felony. Kiss were never treated as an exception though Paul's and Gene's jewish origins probably exonerate them from any Nazi sympathies. How Gene's mom, an Auschwitz survivor, feels when she sees the runes in the logo of her son's band is not known, hopefully she does associate them first and foremost with high voltage electricity.
In the past, Kiss have had skirmishes with German authorities, complaining that "Germany is the one and only country in the world where we are not allowed to use our trademarked logo". It seems like this time they struck a deal with the authorities/prosecutors. Knowing the Kiss organisation, I'm sure they did not leave it up to chance. But it's still a thorny subject in Germany. While Kiss' jewish origins are hardly known in Germany, the fact that they use the SS runes certainly is and I remember catching some flak at school in the late seventies for "liking a Nazi band". Wearing a Kiss t-shirt with the runes would have very likely seen me kicked from school (not that they were obtainable in Germany in any case).
Uwe
