Barbara

The new collection of stories by the great songwriter - featuring original recordings by the author. Poetically, humorously, and truthfully, Wolf Biermann narrates the most powerful of all feelings: love. In 18 often delightfully quirky, often tenderly fierce tales, the poet brings his contemporaries to life. There is Ruth Berlau, the tragic lover of Brecht, who refuses to let her overpowering rival Helene Weigel belittle her – and certainly not silence her! Biermann tells the true story of the "biting Barbara" and the man who believes he is Rembrandt. There's the East Berlin hustler, whose wife Monika stabs him in the back with a bread knife, and his love affair with a fragile violin-guitar. The nice old SS man in East Berlin asks: Am I a human being? And unforgettable: Biermann's quick-witted friend Manfred Krug, who drives a Volkspolizist to madness. For the first time, Wolf Biermann talks about proletarian sexual education and why his mother slapped him, just once. In his East Berlin bed of sin lies the dreamy lover Garance, who has to prostitute herself on the long leash of the Stasi in West Berlin. In these and other stories, Wolf Biermann paints a touching, diverse portrait of love and brave people in tumultuous times. The audiobook also features well-known songs from the era and previously unreleased historical recordings, including the voice of the young songwriter himself.