Biography
Karl Wolf Biermann, born November 15, 1936, is a German singer-songwriter, and poet. Biermann was born in Hamburg, Germany. His mother was a Communist Party activist and his father a Jewish member of the German Resistance who was murdered in 1943 in the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Leaving school at the age of 17, Biermann immigrated from West to East Germany where he believed he could live out his communist ideals. He lived in a boarding school until 1955, and then began studying political science in Berlin. In the course of his studies he changed direction to study philosophy and mathematics. From 1960 he started writing poetry and songs. Although a committed communist, Biermann's non-conformist views soon worried the East German establishment. In 1963 he was refused membership of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED).
In 1964, Biermann first appeared in West Germany. An April 1965 performance in Frankfurt was recorded and released as an LP. Later that year, Biermann published a book of poetry. In December 1965, the Central Committee of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany denounced him as a "class traitor" and blacklisted him. In 1968 he recorded his album 'Chausseestraße 131' with equipment smuggled in from the west side of the city
In 1976, while Biermann was on an officially sanctioned tour of West Germany, the GDR government stripped him of his citizenship. Since then he has remained in West Germany and France, continuing his musical career.