Gerhard Gundermann

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"Gundermann" redirects here. For other uses, see Gundermann (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Gunderman, New South Wales.

Gerhard Gundermann
Gundermann in 1994
Gundermann in 1994
Background information
Birth nameGerhard Rüdiger Gundermann
Also known asGundermann
Born(1955-02-21)February 21, 1955
Weimar, Bezirk Erfurt, East Germany
OriginHoyerswerda, East Germany
DiedJune 21, 1998(1998-06-21) (aged 43)
Spreetal
Genres
Occupation(s)
joiner
Instrument(s)Guitar
Years active1986–1998
LabelsSPV
Websitemembers.aol.com/seilschaft/index2.htm

Gerhard Rüdiger Gundermann, who generally performed as simply Gundermann (February 21, 1955 – June 21, 1998), was a German singer-songwriter and rock musician. A skilled excavator operator, his musical career began in the former East Germany, where he became known for his clever, often melancholic lyrics imbued with social commentary. After German reunification, he became especially popular among former East Germans who felt alienated and marginalized in the reunited country.

Career

Born in

military academy in Löbau, but was expelled in 1975, after which he was forced to seek work in the coal mining area of the Spreetal (in today's Saxony). In 1976 he began evening school, and was recruited by the East German domestic intelligence service, the Stasi, as unofficial collaborator (codename "Grigori"). In 1977 he applied to join the ruling party, the SED
, but was asked to leave the following year (after uttering contrary opinions), although this was reduced to a "strong rebuke" after he appealed. In 1983 he married Conny. The following year he was again expelled from the party and also from the Stasi.

Gundermann's first appearances as a singer-songwriter came in 1986, and a year later he won the grand prize and a recording contract in the East German national song contest. His first LP Männer, Frauen und Maschinen (Men, Women, and Machines) appeared in 1988, but in contrast to his solo acoustic performances it was a rock record album with a backing band, with uptempo numbers like "Halte durch" ("Hang in there!"). It included a song of praise for his hometown Hoyerswerda, "Hoy Woy."

After the

Fall of the Wall, Gundermann ran unsuccessfully for a parliamentary seat in the Volkskammer
in the March 1990 elections as a candidate for the leftist alliance Aktionsbündnis Vereinigte Linke.

Gundermann lived an ascetic lifestyle, eschewing alcohol,

rotary excavator, digging up seams of brown coal. He was worried that his music would lose its authenticity if it became his sole way of life. Perhaps because of overwork exhaustion, Gundermann died of an apoplexy on June 21, 1998, at the age of 43 at his home in Spreetal. He left behind a wife and four children. His decease followed that of his friend and co-musician Tamara Danz
, also gone at an age of 43 years, by less than two years.

In 2018, a biographical movie by director

Deutscher Filmpreis) in 2019 of 10 nominations, among them the "German Oscars" for the Best Film, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Screenplay (Laila Stieler [arz; de; fr; ru
]) and Best Director.

Discography

References

  1. ^ a b "Sänger ohne Schutzengel". Der Spiegel (in German). June 29, 1998. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  2. ^ "Andreas Dresen verfilmt Leben von DDR-Sänger Gerhard Gundermann - klatsch-tratsch.de". Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved March 3, 2020.

Sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gerhard Gundermann.
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