“Death has been part of my life ever since”

Born in Hamburg in 1936, Biermann moved to the GDR in 1953 at the age of 16. Because of his critical poems and songs, he increasingly came into conflict with the state leadership. For twelve years he was neither allowed to appear in public nor to publish. Nevertheless, he stuck to his criticism of the SED dictatorship.

To this day, Biermann still gets involved in political debates. “Wolf Biermann is and remains a strong opinion and has repeatedly sparked debates,” it said on the Elbphilharmonie’s website. He is not afraid to “express unpleasant truths in often sharp, figurative language and thus interfere in day-to-day politics.”

In an interview with the Protestant monthly magazine “Chrismon,” Biermann also spoke about his faith, his childhood and death. He described his own faith as “even more absurd” than belief in God. “It can be even less justified because I believe in people,” said Biermann. It is not important to him what tools people use to become good people. However, his life in the GDR taught him to “put aside his pride against faith”.

Biermann said he was not afraid of death itself. Rather, he fears a life in which he can no longer be active. His relationship to death was shaped by his childhood experiences. His father was murdered in Auschwitz, and members of his Jewish family were deported and killed.

Remembrance of the bombing of Hamburg

The bombing of Hamburg in 1943 also left a deep impression on Biermann's memory. “I ran through the burning streets with my mother and saw people burning like torches,” he said in the “Chrismon” interview. More than 30,000 people died in the air raids. “Death has been part of my life ever since,” said Biermann.

In his own words, he responds to sadness and crises with creativity, music and poetry. Humor also helped him in difficult situations. “Dictators don’t have one,” said Biermann. “That’s why my sharpest weapon against dictatorship was humor.”

Under the title “Don’t wait for better times!” Biermann had already given a concert in Cologne in October. He wants to perform in Leipzig on November 20th. The release of his new album “Unterm Haar nur Himmel” has also been announced for November 13th. Since Thursday, a documentary film about his life and art, “Biermann,” has been showing in the cinema.