Wolf Biermann | |
|---|---|
 Wolf Biermann photographed byOliver Mark, Hamburg 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Black Wolf Biermann |
| Born | (1936-11-15)15 November 1936 (age 88) Hamburg,Nazi Germany |
| Genres | Folk music, political ballads |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, poet, and dissident |
| Years active | 1960–present |
| Labels | Broadside Records |
| Website | wolf-biermann |
Karl Wolf Biermann (German pronunciation:[ˈvɔlfˈbiːɐ̯ˌman]ⓘ; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East Germandissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song "Ermutigung" and his expatriation fromEast Germany in 1976.
Biermann was born in Hamburg, Germany. His mother, Emma (née Dietrich), was aGerman Communist Party activist, and his father,Dagobert Biermann, worked on the Hamburg docks. Biermann's father, a Jewish member of theGerman Resistance, was sentenced to six years in prison for sabotaging Nazi ships.[1] In 1942, the Nazis decided to eliminate their Jewish political prisoners and Biermann's father was deported toAuschwitz concentration camp, where he was murdered on 22 February 1943.[2][3][4][5]
Biermann was one of the few children of workers who attended the Heinrich-Hertz-Gymnasium (high school) in Hamburg. After theSecond World War, he became a member of theFree German Youth (Freie Deutsche Jugend, FDJ) and in 1950,[6] he represented the Federal Republic of Germany at the FDJ's first national meeting.
Upon finishing school at the age of 17, Biermann emigrated from West toEast Germany where he believed he could live out his Communist ideals. He lived at a boarding school nearSchwerin until 1955, and then began studyingpolitical economics at theHumboldt University of Berlin.[7] From 1957 to 1959, he was an assistantdirector at theBerliner Ensemble. At university he changed courses to study philosophy and mathematics under Wolfgang Heise until 1963, when he completed his thesis. Despite his successful defense of his thesis, he did not receive his diploma until 2008 when he was also awarded an honorary doctorate degree.[8]
In 1960, Biermann met composerHanns Eisler, who adopted the young artist as a protégé. Biermann began writing poetry and songs. Eisler used his influence with the East German cultural elite to promote the songwriter's career, but his death in 1962 deprived Biermann of his mentor and protector. In 1961, Biermann formed theBerliner Arbeiter-Theater ("Berlin Workers' Theater"), which was closed in 1963 before the production of Biermann's showBerliner Brautgang, which documented the building of theBerlin Wall. The play was officially banned and Biermann was forbidden to perform for six months.[8]
Although a committed communist, Biermann's nonconformist views soon alarmed the East German establishment. In 1963, he was refused membership in the rulingSocialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), although no reason was given at the time for his rejection.[9] After theWende, documents available from Biermann's file at theStasi Records Agency revealed that the reviewers were under the impression that he was a regular user of stimulants, leading to the rejection of his application.[10]
In 1964, Biermann performed for the first time in West Germany. A performance in April 1965 inFrankfurt am Main onWolfgang Neuss' cabaret program was recorded and released as an LP titledWolf Biermann (Ost) zu Gast bei Wolfgang Neuss (West). Later that year, Biermann published a book of poetry,Die Drahtharfe, through the West German publisher Klaus Wagenbach. In December 1965, the Central Committee of theSocialist Unity Party of Germany denounced him as a "class traitor" and placed him onto the performance and publication blacklist. At this time, theStasi developed a 20-point plan to "degrade" or discredit his person.[11]
While blacklisted, Biermann continued to write and compose, culminating in his 1968 albumChausseestraße 131, recorded on equipment smuggled from the west in his apartment at Chausseestraße 131 inMitte, the central borough of Berlin.
To break this isolation, artists likeJoan Baez and many others visited him at his home during theWorld Festival of Youth and Students in 1973.Karsten Voigt, chairman of the West German Socialdemocratic Youth (Jusos) protested against the suppression of the freedom of opinion and information by the state security.
In 1976, while Biermann was on an officially sanctioned tour of West Germany, the GDR government stripped him of his citizenship.[7] He was not allowed to return to the GDR. Biermann's exile provoked protests by leading East German intellectuals, including actorArmin Mueller-Stahl and novelistChrista Wolf.
In 1977, he was joined in West Germany by his wife at the time, Christine Barg, as well as actressEva-Maria Hagen, her daughter Catharina (Nina Hagen), and Sibylle Havemann, the daughter ofRobert Havemann and mother of two of Biermann's children. In West Germany, his manager was the musicianDiether Dehm, who was secretly aStasi informer reporting on Biermann's activities to the GDR authorities.[12]
Now living in the West, Biermann continued his musical career, criticizing East Germany'sStalinist policies. He was able to perform publicly again in East Germany on 1 and 2 December 1989[7] during theWende that eventually toppled the Communist government. In 1998, he received the German national prize. He supported the 1999 NATOKosovo War and the 2003invasion of Iraq.[13] In theArab–Israeli conflict he supports Israel and is critical of the fact, as he sees it, that, under the influence ofantisemitic views, a majority of Germans lack both understanding and empathy for the Israeli side.[14] He lives in Hamburg and in France. He is the father of ten children,[15] three of them with his second wife Pamela Biermann, née Rüsche.[16]
