Peter "Cäsar" Gläser (7 January 1949 – 23 October 2008) was a German
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
guitarist and singer. He spent most of his career and life in what was then
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, notably as a guitarist in the bands the
Klaus Renft Combo
The Klaus Renft Combo is a veteran German rock band, formed in Leipzig in what was then East Germany, in 1958. Founded by , the band enjoyed significant success in East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; g ...
and its successor,
Karussell. He also had a solo career. He was one of East Germany's best known rock musicians.
[
After nearly 25 years of negotiating his performing career around and with the East German authorities, early in 1989 he was stripped of his citizenship and expelled to ]West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
. It was a short-lived exile, as the East German government dissolved later that same year.
His autobiography appeared on 12 March 2007. Since that time much of the media focus involving his career has concentrated on the revelation that between 1967 and 1989 he provided information to the Ministry for State Security as an informal collaborator
An unofficial collaborator or IM (; both from German ''inoffizieller Mitarbeiter''), or euphemistically informal collaborator (''informeller Mitarbeiter''), was an informant in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) who delivered private i ...
. The Stasi records identified him under the code name "IM Klaus Weber".
Early years
Peter Gläser was born in Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, then administered as part of the Soviet occupation zone
The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...
in what was left of Germany when the war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
had ended, a little under four years earlier. He received music lessons at school and, while still a child, learned to play various instruments at the Leipzig People's Music School (recorder
Recorder or The Recorder may refer to:
Newspapers
* ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper
* ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US
* ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...
, piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
, clarinet and basson). He also taught himself to play the guitar. His musical role-model at this time was Acker Bilk
Bernard Stanley "Acker" Bilk, (28 January 1929 – 2 November 2014) was a British clarinetist and vocalist known for his breathy, vibrato-rich, lower-register style, and distinctive appearance – of goatee, bowler hat and striped waistc ...
. On leaving school he embarked, in 1965, on an apprenticeship with the Leipzig Electricity Supply company. Nevertheless, it was with the firm intention of making a career in music that in 1966 he sought out the band leader , whom he managed to convince of his musical qualities. At this time Renft was preparing to launch a new band, possibly involving . Soon the 17-year-old Gläser and Renft were working together as bar musicians in a Leipzig club called "Intermezzo". Gläser worked under the stage-name "Cäsar" which had been his nickname at school, where contemporaries had apparently thought that he resembled the Roman dictator, Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
.
Klaus Renft Combo
In 1967 relations between the authorities and Rock music
Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...
became less strained, and re-established his Klaus Renft Combo
The Klaus Renft Combo is a veteran German rock band, formed in Leipzig in what was then East Germany, in 1958. Founded by , the band enjoyed significant success in East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; g ...
(rockband), and invited Peter "Cäsar" Gläser to join as a guitarist. Shortly afterwards Gläser had to resign in order to undertake his military service
Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job ( volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription).
Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require ...
with the National People's Army
The National People's Army (german: Nationale Volksarmee, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990.
The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) a ...
. During this period his place in the band was filled by Jürgen Matkowitz. Meanwhile, during the next two years Gläser played in an army band with and Jochen Hohl. Released in 1969, Peter Gläser returned to the Klaus Renft Combo and stayed with them till 1975, during a period when the Combo emerged as one of the top bands in the East German rock scene. Their hit songs of the time included "Wer die Rose ehrt" / "''He who honours the rose''" (1971) (with words by Kurt Demmler
Kurt Demmler (12 September 1943 Posen – 3 February 2009 Berlin) was a German songwriter, who in the earlier part of his life was a dissident East German songwriter. Accused of alleged sexual abuse of underage girls during castings for a fem ...
), "Zwischen Liebe und Zorn" / "''Between love and rage''" (1972), "Cäsars Blues", "Apfeltraum" / "''Apple dream or a kind of nightmare''" and "Ketten" / "''Chains''".[
]
Discography (''not'' a complete list)
For Gläser's earlier recordings involving the
Klaus Renft Combo / Renft and
Karussell please consult the Wikipedia entries on those bands
Albums
* Cäsar: ''Cäsar'' (Loewenzahn GmbH/1995)
* Cäsar: ''Cäsar. Die Zweite'' (Loewenzahn GmbH/1996)
* Cäsar: ''Gläserklirren'' (Loewenzahn GmbH/1999)
* Cäsar & Die Spieler: ''Wandersmann'' (Loewenzahn GmbH/1999)
* Cäsar: ''Ich möcht mich nicht erinnern – ein Zeitdokument'' (cäsar music/2000)
* Cäsar & Die Spieler: ''Zeitsprünge'' live (cäsar music/2001)
* Väter & Söhne: ''Wie du mir – so ich dir'' (cäsar music/2002)
* Klaus Renft Combo: ''Unbequem woll'n wir sein'' (Marktkram/2003)
* Cäsar: ''Zeitlos'' (cäsar music/2005)
* Cäsar: ''Geht es dir gut'' (Buschfunk/2006)
Single
* Cäsar: ''Wer die Rose ehrt'' (cäsar music/2002)
Sampler
* ''Die Notenbude'' Vol. 1 bis Vol. 4 (Choice of music)
* ''Als ich fortging'' (Choice of music)
* ''Melodie & Rhythmus'' Vol. 1 (Choice of music)
DVD
* Cäsar & Die Spieler: ''ZeitSprünge'' live (cäsar music/2007)
* Cäsar & Die Spieler BigBand: ''Cäsar - Semper Fidelis'' (cäsar music/2010)
From 1974 the "Klaus Renft Combo" shortened its name to "Renft". started producing lyrics for the band that were increasingly critical of the system. Meanwhile, Gläser had started a course of study covering the guitar, piano and theory
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...
at the University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig in order to obtain a written professional qualification, but in 1975 he was excluded from the course due to his "bad study discipline". Another blow came on 22 September 1975 when "Renft" (the band) was proscribed. Later Gläser moved on to study, between 1975 nd 1980, at the Musikschule Friedrichshain in East Berlin, and here he finally received the professional qualification which he needed for his work as a musician.[
]
Karussell
In April 1976 Peter "Cäsar" Gläser and Jochen Hohl, formerly drummer with "Renft", formed a new band, "Karussell". For the public the new band quickly came to be seen as the successor to "Renft". Gläser was the composer of many of its most popular titles, including "Ehrlich will ich bleiben" / ''"I'll stay true"'', "Autostop" / ''"Hitchhiking"'', "Whisky" and "McDonald", which caught the mood of the country's youth for the post-hippie generation.
Karussell started out as a Rockband with "Blues" aspirations, but increasingly absorbed more recent mainstream pop influences, which gained it a stronger media presence. However, the media in general and East German television in particular did what they could to downplay or conceal Karussell's origins as a successor to the banned "Renft" group. In the context of widespread travel restrictions on East German citizens, in 1981/1982 Gläser and the band were nevertheless able to undertake an extensive tour, covering the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
and Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. Constant changes in band membership, together with repeated tensions and compromises involving the authorities, while at the same time wanting to sustain the old "Renft" traditions made Gläser "tired", as he explained in 1983 after resigning from the band in frustration.
Solo career
In 1995 Gläser began a solo career, with the album ''Cäsar''. He released eight solo albums in all, some in collaboration with the band Die Spieler.
Personal life
Peter Gläser was married four times. His five recorded children include the musicians Robert and Moritz Gläser.
Gläser died of cancer less than three months before his sixtieth birthday in 2008.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glaser, Peter
German rock guitarists
German male guitarists
East German musicians
Musicians from Leipzig
1949 births
2008 deaths
20th-century guitarists
20th-century German male musicians
People of the Stasi
20th-century German musicians