Franz Josef Degenhardt (3 December 193114 November 2011) was a German poet, satirist, novelist, and – first and foremost – a
folksinger/songwriter (
Liedermacher) with decidedly left-wing politics. He was also a lawyer, bearing the academic degree of
Doctor of Law
A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...
.
Degenhardt was born in
Schwelm
Schwelm is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis in the administrative region of Arnsberg within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Geography
Schwelm is situated in the southeast of the "''Ruhrgebiet''", the Ruhr district of Germany, ...
,
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 regio ...
. 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
A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction.
Australia
Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associ ...
in 1956 and the second in 1960. In 1961, he worked for the
Europa-Institut
The Europa-Institut was founded at Saarland University in 1951, before the signing of the Treaties of Rome, and is the second oldest institution focused on European Integration (after the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium). More than 5,000 stud ...
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
The German Communist Party (german: Deutsche Kommunistische Partei, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports left positions and was an observer member of the European Left. At the end of February 2016 it left the European party.
His ...
(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" ("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'' ("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
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...
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 s ...
. 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'' ("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
A (, , french: chanson française, link=no, ; ) is generally any lyric-driven French song, though it most often refers to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval and Renaissance music. The genre had origins in the monophonic so ...
'' 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 largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Archbishop of Paderborn,
Johannes Joachim Degenhardt, 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
Quickborn is a rich town in the district of Pinneberg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It belongs to Metropolregion Hamburg and is located on the north part of Hamburg on Autobahn A7.
Geography
Quickborn is located about 18 km north from ...
,
Kreis Pinneberg
Pinneberg () is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the northwest and clockwise) the districts of Steinburg and Segeberg, the city (and state) of Hamburg and the state of Lower Saxony (district Stade). The island of ...
, 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 (Record Producer)
* with discography and most song lyrics
*
BiographyHomepage of his elder son Jan Degenhardt, also a singer-songwriter
Homepage of his younger son, also a singer-songwriter
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Degenhardt, Franz Josef
1931 births
2011 deaths
People from Schwelm
People from the Province of Westphalia
Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
German Communist Party politicians
German male singer-songwriters
German male poets
German satirists
Writers from North Rhine-Westphalia
20th-century German novelists
20th-century German male writers
German male non-fiction writers
20th-century German male musicians