Stephan Krawczyk

Stephan Krawczyk (born 31 December 1955) is a German writer and songwriter. Before 1989 he was a noted East German dissident.

Life Provenance and early years Stephan Krawczyk was born in Weida, a small industrial town in the hilly countryside between Erfurt and Karl-Marx Stadt (as Chmenitz was known at that time). His father, a miner, was employed in the uranium mines to the east and died while he was still a child. The Amiga record label issued a Liedehrlich album on which he starred, and which under the conditions operating in the German Democratic Republic was tantamount to recognition as a "national artist".

After Liedehrlich

"The authorities wanted to stifle individual expression, which of course is the essence of being an artist.... I asked myself, “But why shouldn’t I sing as I want?” If I agreed to their constraints, I would no longer be an artist." In April 1985 he resigned his party membership and the party reacted by expelling him. These received supportive responses from audiences of church groups and in community halls. The authorities responded by pressuring the church authorities to block their appearances. But as matters turned out there were more and more churches and community groups that continued to provide them with venues for their presentations. Klier and Krawczyk (who married in 1986) also found themselves deluged with official fines, ordinances and injunctions. Copies of this letter were widely distributed through the usual informal channels across East Germany and it was also published in the West German media. It was read out at a church concert on 9 November 1987. The letter criticised social conditions in East Germany and called for extensive reforms. It demanded respect for human rights,

Arrest On 17 January 1988 Krawczyk was arrested while making his way to the officially backed Liebknecht-Luxemburg Demonstration, the mass parade was held each year in January to honour Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two pioneers of German Communism who had been assassinated during months of revolution that followed the First World War. Klier and Krawczyk intended to join in so as to display banners of their own devising. The idea was to draw attention to their own work bans and to highlight more generally their criticisms of the East German social structure. However, at the last minute they learned that other dissident demonstrators had planned to use the event to highlight government refusal to permit them to emigrate to the west, an issue that had never gone away. It was anticipated that western television teams would attempt to report the demonstration, and in order to avoid the risk of "mixed messaging" Klier and Krawczyk decided to leave their own alternative banners at home. (Other sources give the number arrested as 160.) Along with Krawczyk, those arrested directly ahead of the event included Vera Wollenberger and Herbert Mißlitz. ) Through his lawyer Krawczyk was told to expect a twelve-year prison sentence. Alternatively, he could agree to deportation to the west. Although held in isolation, Krawczyk and Klier were able to communicate by passing messages through their lawyer, Wolfgang Schnur, whom they had both known for a long time and in whom they had complete trust. Having both agreed to deportation, on 2 February 1988 Stephen Krawczyk and Freya Klier were unceremoniously delivered across the border to West Berlin.

After the changes Directly after reunification, Krawczyk was less frequently in the public eye than his wife. The marriage ended in divorce in 1992. In 1994 Krawczyk was a prominent supporter of the successful independent candidate Stefan Heym in the Bundestag (national parliamentary) election.

Since the 1990s, he has published several books, strongly autobiographical, and dealing in particular with the life-experiences of the generation subjected to East Germany's take on socialism as they were growing up, such as "Das irdische Kind" (loosely: "The worldly/mortal child"). He also returned to his career as a musician, for instance issuing as "Stephan Krawczyk and Band" the CD album "Die Queen ist in der Stadt" ("The Queen's in town"). After the old Stasi jail at Berlin-Hohenschönhausen was converted into a memorial-museum, in 2002 Krawczyk was one of the first to use it as a concert venue. During the 2007/2008 winter season he undertook a performance-tour in the east of Germany with his former wife, Freya Klier. Further stage appearance together followed.

Unintended faux pas In 2009 Krawczyk was present at a ceremony at the Bellevue Palace at which twelve former East German civil rights activists received the Order of Merit from the president. The president at one stage turned to Krawczyk and asked him to provide an impromptu rendering of the national anthem. Krawczyk did so, beginning with the first verse. Although the anthem had been reinstated in West Germany in 1952, only the third verse is normally used. The first verse was considered gratuitously bombastic and within Germany carried painful associations in the aftermath of the Nazi years. In East Germany, till 1990, a completely different national anthem had been used. Klier was also present and intervened, causing Krawczyk to break off his rendering, and start again, this time with the third verse. He subsequently issued a public apology for the "unintended lapse" ("unbeabsichtigten Lapsus").

Output (selection) LPs and CDs as a solo artist

1987: Wieder stehen 1989: Wie geht s 1990: Schöne wunde Welt 1993: Terrormond 1995: Milonga 2000: Die Queen ist in der Stadt 2002: Kontrastprogramm (Live in Bremen-Vegesack) 2004: Heute fliegt die Schwalbe hoch 2009: Lieber Lieder 2009: Ein All 2012: Erdverbunden, luftvermählt (Stephan Krawczyk and Martin Luther)

Opera and theatre

Der Taubstumme. Opera libretto (Komposition: Rolf Baumgart). Premier performance, Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Kleine Szene), 1993 Faustchen. Schauspiel. Kunsthaus Verlag, Boddin 2000,

Prose and lyrics

Wieder stehen. song lyrics. Knaur, München 1988, Schöne Wunde Welt. Prose, lyrics. self-published, Berlin 1990 Das irdische Kind. Tales. Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1993, Bald. Novel. Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1998, Steine hüten. Musings. Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 2000, Feurio. Musings. Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 2001, Der Narr. Novel. Pendo Verlag, Zürich 2003, Das Wendedankfest. Satire. Illustrationen: Rainer Hofmann-Battiston. Kunsthaus Verlag, Boddin 2005, Der Himmel fiel aus allen Wolken. Eine deutsch-deutsche Zeitreise. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Leipzig, 2009,

Awards and honours (selection)

1981: Main prize at the National Chanson Contest ("Chansontage der DDR"). 1992: Bettina von Arnim short story prize 2001: Order of Merit of Berlin 2005: The word not silenced ("Das unerschrockene Wort")“, Prize from the "Association of Luther towns".