Franz Josef Degenhardt (3 December 193114 November 2011) was a German poet, satirist, novelist, and – first and foremost – a folksinger/songwriter (
Liedermacher
A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted th ...
) with decidedly left-wing politics. He was also a lawyer, bearing the academic degree of Doctor of Law.
Degenhardt was born in Schwelm,
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regi ...
. After studying law from 1952 to 1956 in
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
and
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
, he passed the first German state bar examination in 1956 and the second in 1960. In 1961, he worked for the Europa-Institut of the University at Saarbrücken, where he obtained his doctorate in 1966. Degenhardt joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in 1961, but was forced out in 1971 because of his support for the German Communist Party (DKP), which he joined in 1978.
From the early 1960s onward, in addition to practicing law, Degenhardt was also performing and releasing recordings. He is perhaps most famous for his song (and the album of the same name) "
Spiel nicht mit den Schmuddelkindern
''Spiel nicht mit den Schmuddelkindern'' (Do not play with the grubby kids) is a 1965 album by ''liedermacher'' (singer-songwriter) Franz Josef Degenhardt, named after the track of the same name. It was his second album, after ''Rumpelstilzchen''. ...
" ("Don't Play With the Grubby Children," 1965), but has released close to 50 albums, starting with '' Zwischen Null Uhr und Mitternacht'' ("Between 00:00 and Midnight," 1963), renamed ''Rumpelstilzchen'' (original title: ''Zwischen Null Uhr Null und Mitternacht''); his most recent albums ''
Krieg gegen den Krieg
Krieg (German: " war") may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Krieg (character), a fictional character from the ''Borderlands'' video game series
* Don Krieg, a character from the One Piece manga series
* Death Ko ...
'' ("War against the War") and ''Dämmerung'' ("twilight") came out in 2003 and 2006. In 1968, Degenhardt was involved in trials of members of the German student movement, principally defending social democrats and
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
. At the same time, he wasin his capacity as a singer-songwriterone of the major voices of the 1968 student movement. In 1972 he translated the song "Here's to You" under the title ''Sacco und Vanzetti'' with five new verses. On his 1977 album ' he criticized many of his former comrades from that era for what he saw as their betrayal of socialist ideals and shift towards a social-liberal orientation. The album's title (roughly, "man with velour coat") mocks the style of clothing they had supposedly adopted.
Notably, the songs on Degenhardt's 1986 album ''
Junge Paare auf Bänken
Junge ("Boy") is a song by German rock band ''Die Ärzte''. It is the sixth track and the first single from their 2007 album ''Jazz ist anders''. It debuted on the radio on 31 August 2007. The song is about teenagers experiencing criticism and ...
'' ("Young Couples on the Benches"), along with the song ''Vorsicht Gorilla!'' ("Beware of Gorilla") on the 1985 album of the same name, are his translations into German of '' chansons'' by the French singer-songwriter
Georges Brassens
Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet.
As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and a ...
, spiritually perhaps one of his closest musical allies.
Degenhardt has also written several novels, most in a rather autobiographical vein, among others: ' ("Slow Matches", 1972), ''Brandstellen'' ("Scenes of Fires", 1974), ''Der Liedermacher'' (1982) and ''Für ewig und drei Tage'' ("For Ever and Three Days", 1999).
He was a cousin of the
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
Archbishop of Paderborn
The Archdiocese of Paderborn is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany; its seat is Paderborn.Johannes Joachim Degenhardt
Johannes Joachim Degenhardt (31 January 1926 – 25 July 2002) was the Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Paderborn (Germany) from 1974 until his death in 2002. He was named Cardinal in 2001.
Life
Degenhardt grew up in Hagen, where he attended the ...
, who died in 2002. He was also the brother-in-law of the American-born illustrator Gertrude Degenhardt, who has designed many of his album covers for him. Degenhardt lived, until his death in 2011, in Quickborn, Kreis Pinneberg, in
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...
.
References
Further reading
*
Jimmy Bowien
Jimmy Bowien (born 5 February 1933 in Prussia) is a record producer, songwriter and composer. He started playing the piano at the age of 5 and studied classical music to become a professional opera singer ( Baritone). After graduating in Hamburg ...
(Record Producer)
* with discography and most song lyrics
* Biography