Kurt Demmler (born ''Kurt Abramowitsch'', 12 September 1943 Posen – 3 February 2009

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) was a German

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

, who in the earlier part of his life was a dissident

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

songwriter. Accused of alleged

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using physical force, or by taking advantage of another. It often consists of a persistent pattern of sexual assaults. The offender is re ...

of underage girls during castings for a female pop group, he hanged himself in his Berlin jail cell.

Career

Demmler grew up in

Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

, in East Germany. He qualified as a doctor in 1969. He was a well-known dissident lyricist and songwriter for many German rock bands. Some of Demmler's compositions, such as “Come Into My Guitar Boat” and “Every Person Can Love Everyone”, were award-winning works.East German Songwriter Commits Suicide in Jail
''The Local'', February 3, 2009. He was active in the peaceful revolution against the East German communist government, which led to the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

in 1989.

Accusations and suicide

In 2009, Demmler was to stand trial for alleged

, stemming from accusations that he molested six underage girls between 1995 and 1999 during castings in his

Prenzlauer Berg Prenzlauer Berg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin, forming the southerly and most urban district of the borough of Pankow. From its founding in 1920 until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a district of Berlin in its own right ...

district apartment in Berlin for a female pop group. The day of the trial, Demmler hanged himself in his jail cell in the

Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the boroughs of Berlin, borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2022, about 84,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial sector, industr ...

district in Berlin. He was 65.

Discography

* 1971 ''Kurt Demmler – Lieder'' ( Amiga Records) * 1974 ''Verse auf sex Beinen'' (Amiga) * 1979 ''Komm in mein Gitarrenboot'' (Amiga) * 1982 ''Jeder Mensch kann jeden lieben'' (Amiga) * 1985 ''Die Lieder des kleinen Prinzen'' (Amiga) * 1989 ''Kerzenlieder 1989'' (Amiga) * 1990 ''Windsandundsternenlieder'' (DSB) * 2001 ''Mein Herz muss barfuß gehn'' (Unionton)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demmler, Kurt 1943 births 2009 suicides 2009 deaths Child sexual abuse in Germany German people who died in prison custody German rock musicians German male songwriters 20th-century German musicians Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany People who died by suicide in prison custody Prisoners who died in German detention Suicides by hanging in Germany