Franz Josef Degenhardt

Who was Franz Josef Degenhardt?

Franz Josef Degenhardt was a German poet, satirist, novelist, and – first and foremost – a folksinger/songwriter with decidedly left-wing politics. He was also a lawyer, bearing the academic degree of Doctor of Law.

Degenhardt was born in Schwelm, Westphalia. After studying law from 1952 to 1956 in Cologne and Freiburg, he passed the first German state bar examination in 1956 and the second in 1960. In 1961, he worked for the Europa-Institut of the University at Saarbrücken, where he obtained his doctorate in 1966. Degenhardt joined the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1961, but was forced out in 1971 because of his support for the German Communist Party, 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 Spiel nicht mit den Schmuddelkindern, but has released close to 50 albums, starting with Zwischen Null Uhr Null und Mitternacht, renamed Rumpelstilzchen; his most recent albums Krieg gegen den Krieg and Dämmerung came out in 2003 and 2006.