Bernd-Lutz Lange

Bernd-Lutz Lange (born July 15, 1944 in Ebersbach , Loebau district , Saxony ) is a German author and cabaret artist . He was one of the six from Leipzig whose joint appeal on October 9, 1989 in Leipzig was of great importance.

Life

Bernd-Lutz Lange grew up in Zwickau . After an apprenticeship as a gardener, he worked for the LPG “Victory of Socialism” in Mosel near Zwickau. In 1963, Lange became an assistant in a folk bookstore and completed a second vocational training as a bookseller. During this time he gained his first stage experience as a singer in the three bands "The Playboys", the "KFZ-Band" and the "Club-Band". In 1965 he moved to Leipzig to begin studying at the specialist school for booksellers in Leutzsch (now part of the University of Technology, Economics and Culture ). He was also the editor of the East German branch of the Börsenblatt for the German book tradeactive. From 1968 to 1972 he worked for the Leipziger Kommissions- und Großbuchhandelsgesellschaft (LKG).

In 1966, Lange was a founding member of the student cabaret " academixer " together with Gunter Böhnke , Christian Becher and Jürgen Hart . In the summer of 1968 he took part in the Leipzig reservoir reading , which resulted in further political reprisals, but also the discovery of Wolfgang Hilbig as a poet. In 1978 he became a professional cabaret artist. In 1988, Lange left the academixer. He set out as a writer and comedian, together with Gunter Böhnke independently . He wrote all the lyrics for the cabaret duo. From 1988 to 2004, Lange and Böhnke performed together on various cabaret stages in Germany. The first program was called "I'll start right away!" With the Jewish artist Küf Kaufmann he produced the program “Fröhlich und Meschugge”. After separating from Gunter Böhnke, he mainly worked with the singer and cabaret artist Katrin Weber . Lange played the program “Das Kaffeegespenst” with Gunter Böhnke and Tom Pauls. On May 28, 2014, Bernd-Lutz Lange said goodbye to the cabaret stage with a final performance in which his former colleagues Katrin Hart , Gunter Böhnke, Küf Kaufmann, Katrin Weber and Tom Pauls participated. He wants to continue working as an author.

During the mass protests in 1989, Lange publicly campaigned for peaceful change. He became known above all through the appeal of the “ Six from Leipzig ”, which made a significant contribution to the fact that the Monday demonstration on October 9, 1989 with over 70,000 participants went off peacefully. For this he had together with Roland Wötzel , the well-known education secretary of the SED district leadership in Leipzig , the internationally respected Gewandhaus conductor Kurt Masur , the well-known SED district secretary for culture, Kurt Meyer (as well as Wötzel one of the few reformers in Leipzig SED, which, however, could never prevail until then), the theologian Peter Zimmermann and the district secretary for agitation and propaganda Jochen Pommert , who was previously a hardliner but decided to turn back due to the threat of escalation of violence , wrote a text that he confessed and recognized at the time in Leipzig popular Kurt Masur on the city ​​radio and which was also read in all churches after the peace prayer.

From 1990 on, Lange published several books that deal with life in the GDR, but also with the survival of Leipzig's Jews during the Nazi era.

Private

Lange lives in Leipzig- Südvorstadt and has been married to his wife Stefanie since 1969. Their son is Alexander "Sascha" Lange (* 1971, historian, author and musician), who wrote books about the Leipzig packs (youth opposition under National Socialism) and about Depeche Mode . In 2019, father and son together published the book "David and Goliath" about what happened in Leipzig before, on and after October 9, 1989.

Awards

• In 2014, Lange was awarded the Federal Republic of Germany's Cross of Merit 1st Class .

• In January 2019, Lange became an honorary citizen of the city of Zwickau.

Book publications

• Liederliches Leipzig - A short city tour with songs and poems , 2 volumes, Edition Peters 1985
• Nischd reached and droddähm happy! zp-Verlag, 1990
• German-Saxon: Machense geene Fissemaddenzchn! Eichborn Verlag, 1991, ISBN 978-3-8218-1263-2
• Saxon jokes , 5 volumes, Eichborn Verlag, 1991–1997
• Jewish traces in Leipzig . Leipzig, Forum Verlag, 1993, ISBN 978-3-86151-049-9
• Star of David and Christmas Tree - Memories from Survivors. Forum Verlag Leipzig, 1993, ISBN 978-3-86151-034-5
• SACHSEN Dictionary, Saxon-German German-Saxon , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1995, ISBN 978-3-453-09516-8
• Twilight pint. Stories from inside and outside . Gustav Kiepenheuer, 1997, ISBN 978-3-378-00607-2
• Bonz throws and racing cardboard. The vernacular in the GDR . Forum Verlag Leipzig, 1997, ISBN 978-3-86151-055-0
• Skimmed milk and long stockings . Gustav Kiepenheuer, 1999, ISBN 978-3-378-00621-8
• Matter of opinion . Peace Distribution Association, 2000, ISBN 978-3-932900-38-9
• Everything stays very different . German-German oddities. Hohenheim Verlag, 2000, ISBN 978-3-89850-021-0
• Wall, Jeans and Prague Spring . Gustav Kiepenheuer, 2003, ISBN 978-3-378-01066-6
• Tea kettle and Othello: My favorite Saxon jokes . Hohenheim Verlag, 2004, ISBN 978-3-89850-122-4
• Perplexed transition: in my new Germany . Gustav Kiepenheuer, 2006, ISBN 978-3-378-01086-4
• Instructions for use for Leipzig . Piper, 2008, ISBN 978-3-492-27560-6
• Life is a somersault: From the serenity of being . Construction Verlag, Berlin, 2011, ISBN 978-3-351-02737-7
• with Tom Pauls : Nischd wie hin: Our favorite places in Saxony . Construction Verlag, Berlin, 2013, ISBN 978-3-351-03541-9
• That didn't exist in the past: An obsolete model takes stock . Construction Verlag, Berlin, 2016, ISBN 978-3-351-03650-8
• Bernd-Lutz Lange, Sascha Lange: David versus Goliath - memories of the Peaceful Revolution . Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-351-03787-1 (221 pages).

Audio book publications

• Skimmed milk and long stockings. MDR / Der Audio Verlag, Berlin 2001, ISBN 978-3-89813-142-1
• with Küf Kaufmann : Fröhlich and Meschugge. Löwenzahn Medien, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 978-3-9804766-6-9
• Tea kettle and Othello. My favorite Saxon jokes. Hoerwerk Leipzig / Militzke Verlag, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 978-3-86189-912-9
• Wall, Jeans and Prague Spring. MDR / Der Audio Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-89813-276-3
• Perplexed transition. MDR / Der Audio Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89813-643-3
• Instructions for use for Leipzig. MDR / Der Audio Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-89813-834-5
• Life is a somersault: From the serenity of being. Hoerwerk, Leipzig 2012, ISBN 978-3-86189-941-9
• Time leaps - all over my life. Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-351-03288-3

Web links

• Literature by and about Bernd-Lutz Lange in the catalog of the German National Library
• Janina Fleischer: “You shouldn't be less forgiving today than in 1989” - Hasn't everything been said 30 years after the Peaceful Revolution? No, say Bernd-Lutz Lange and Sascha Lange, especially not always the right thing. “David versus Goliath” is the name of a book with memories of October 9th in Leipzig. In an interview, the 75-year-old cabaret artist and the historian born in 1971 talk about errors and wishes. Leipziger Volkszeitung , online portal, October 5, 2019, interview with Bernd-Lutz Lange and Sascha Lange about the Peaceful Revolution (Leipzig) . Retrieved October 7, 2019 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Book "Life is a somersault", p. 330
2. ^ Press release from the Office of the Federal President of October 1, 2014