Wolf Biermann was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1936 to a secular Jewish family affiliated with the communist party. His father was murdered in Auschwitz. After World War II, Biermann settled in East Berlin, where he attempted to work for the socialist ideals of his father. Encouraged by the composer Hans Eisler, Biermann wrote political ballads and songs, in which he criticized not only capitalists but also the bureaucrats in his own land.
In 1963 Biermann was forbidden to perform in public and started to emerge as a symbol of the new left opposition to the East German government. His forced expulsion from East Germany in 1973 brought massive protests from literary communities, both in his own country and abroad. Living in exile, Biermann became increasingly disillusioned and eventually repudiated Marxism.
In 1992 Biermann received the prestigious Buchner Prize. He used the occasion to denounce literary figures who had worked as agents for the East German security police. Despite the naive tone he often adopts in his songs, Biermann is a highly cultivated artist whose craftsmanship has been widely praised.
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