--- title: "Wolf Biermann at 90: The German Bard Expelled by the GDR Releases an Album About Freedom and Challenges the World Anymore" description: "German bard Wolf Biermann, who survived Nazism and exile from the GDR, has released the album «Unterm Haar nur Himmel» for his 90th birthday, singing once again about freedom and answering modern challenges." date: 2026-11-13T15:42:56.847Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/wolf-biermann-90th-birthday-album-freedom tags: [wolf-biermann, german-bard, gdr, freedom, album-release] author: "Marina Slivenko, Inna Kinsheva" publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Wolf Biermann at 90: The German Bard Expelled by the GDR Releases an Album About Freedom and Challenges the World Anymore ![German bard Wolf Biermann plays acoustic guitar during a live performance](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/13/wolf-birman-90-letie-album-o-svobode/wolf-birman-90-letie-album-o-svobode-1.webp) ## Key Points - Wolf Biermann, born November 15, 1936, celebrates his 90th birthday and releases the album «Unterm Haar nur Himmel». - In his new songs, he criticizes Trump and Putin, as well as the "eternal fratricidal war" surrounding Israel. - In 1976, the GDR stripped him of citizenship after a concert in Cologne; the protest by intellectuals became a major public conflict. - Biermann links his struggle for freedom to his childhood in Nazi Germany and the bombing of Hamburg. One of the most significant German bards, poets, and singer-songwriters, Wolf Biermann, celebrates his 90th birthday in 2026. The musician, who survived Nazism, conflict with the GDR authorities, and forced exile to the West, still has no thoughts of retirement: by his own account, he has too many questions for the modern world. The release of his new album, «Unterm Haar nur Himmel», coincided with his milestone birthday and became an occasion to return once again to the themes that have defined his work for decades — freedom, war, and personal human responsibility. ### The 90-Year-Old Bard's Message: From Trump and Putin to the "Eternal Fratricidal War" In his new songs, Biermann continues to be what he has always been — a man who does not stay silent. He ridicules Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, calling them a political "love match," criticizes the "eternal fratricidal war" surrounding Israel, and returns time and time again to the image of Lady Freedom. According to the musician, this is the very freedom he painfully lacked in the GDR and which, as he sings, people dream of all over the world. The album «Unterm Haar nur Himmel» is as direct a statement as his early political songs. ### Childhood Between Concentration Camp and Firestorm Wolf Biermann was born on November 15, 1936, in Hamburg into a family of communists, while National Socialists were already in power in Germany. His father, a port worker and member of the anti-Nazi resistance, Dagobert Biermann, was arrested by the Gestapo when his son was still an infant and died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in early 1943. A few months later, British and American aviation unleashed massive bombings on Hamburg, triggering the famous firestorm that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of residents. Biermann has repeatedly admitted that these very events had the strongest impact on his entire life: hiding in a bomb shelter, he pressed his face against his mother's soft coat and, as he recalls, felt "safety in the middle of the end of the world." His mother raised him in the spirit of antifascism and communism, wishing for her son to survive, "avenge his father," and help build a just society. ### From Voluntary Relocation to the GDR to Performance Bans In 1953, when many East Germans were fleeing to the West, sixteen-year-old Biermann voluntarily moved to the GDR instead. There he studied political economy, mathematics, and philosophy; Heinrich Heine and Bertolt Brecht became his idols; he worked at the famous Berliner Ensemble and began writing his own political songs. However, the musician rather quickly realized that real socialism bore little resemblance to the ideal he believed in. In 1965, the SED leadership banned him from performing and publishing, and his apartment on Chausseestrasse in East Berlin became a meeting place for writers, artists, and dissidents, placed under constant surveillance by the secret police. ### The 1976 Exile and Unprecedented Intellectual Protest The turning point came in 1976: the authorities unexpectedly allowed Biermann to travel on tour to Cologne, where seven thousand people attended his concert, and during his performance he openly ridiculed the GDR leadership. While the musician was in the West, the state stripped him of his citizenship, and on November 16, 1976, he heard on the radio that he was forbidden to return to the German Democratic Republic. «I felt sick with fear. Everything went black before my eyes», he recalled. The revocation of citizenship provoked an unprecedented reaction: leading GDR intellectuals, including Christa Wolf, Stefan Heym, and Jurek Becker, protested, marking one of the largest public conflicts between the East German cultural elite and the authorities. According to Biermann himself, the GDR leadership was prepared for outrage in the West, but did not expect an open protest to ring out from within the republic itself. ### The Struggle for Freedom That "Does Not Change from Generation to Generation" After his exile to the West, Biermann struggled deeply with the severance from East Berlin, but continued to write, perform, and participate in public discussions: he took part in the anti-nuclear movement, spoke out against authoritarianism, and repeatedly returned to the theme of freedom in his songs. «The world changes from generation to generation. But the struggle remains the same — the struggle for freedom. It is a struggle against oppression and injustice that has continued since the beginning of human history», he said. Wolf Biermann celebrates his 90th birthday at home in Hamburg with his wife Pamela; for the first time in many years, he decided not to throw a large celebration, focusing instead on the music and the message carried by his new album. ## Fact-Check & Sources - [Вольф Бирман отмечает 90-летие выходом нового альбома](https://www.dw.com/ru/volf-birman-drakonoborec-kotoromu-i-v-90-let-est-cto-skazat/a-79921706) - Confirmed birth date (15.11.1936), father's biography (death in Auschwitz in 1943), 1965 ban, Cologne concert and deprivation of citizenship on 16.11.1976, names of protesting intellectuals, album title «Unterm Haar nur Himmel», and celebrating the milestone birthday in Hamburg with his wife Pamela. ## FAQ ### How old is Wolf Biermann? Wolf Biermann was born on November 15, 1936, so he is celebrating his 90th birthday in 2026. ### What is the title of Biermann's new album? The new album is titled «Unterm Haar nur Himmel», and its release coincided with the musician's 90th birthday. ### Why did Biermann leave the GDR? In 1976, while he was on tour in Cologne, the GDR authorities stripped him of his citizenship and banned him from returning to the republic. ### Who protested against Biermann's deprivation of citizenship? Leading GDR intellectuals, including Christa Wolf, Stefan Heym, and Jurek Becker, staged a protest.