Günter Holwas

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Günter Holly Holwas (born May 12, 1950 in Berlin-Mahlsdorf ; † May 11, 2014 in Tauperlitz ) was a German blues musician and, together with pastor Rainer Eppelmann, one of the two initiators of the blues masses in East Berlin .

Live and act

Holwas, whose father was a musician, grew up in Berlin-Köpenick . He discovered his interest in music at an early stage, but didn't feel the urge to become a professional musician. Shortly after he joined the beat band Rentas , he was convicted of rowdy and gang behavior . After serving his prison sentence, he worked as a crane operator at the Klingenberg power plant and later as a worker in the scrap materials trade. At 19 he had already become a father and in 1970 his second daughter was born.

His life has changed since the birth of his two daughters. He used the time to teach himself to play the guitar himself. Inspired by a friend's extensive record collection, he dedicated himself to the blues . John Lee Hooker , BB King and Muddy Waters became his musical role models. In 1975, at the age of 25, he was drafted into the National People's Army . Holwas, who later described himself as the born provocateur, refused military service. His decision to become a construction soldier arose from his aversion to any form of authority. Holwas did his job as a gardener on the property of Admiral Waldemar Verner in Bad Saarow , the then deputy minister for national defense in the GDR . With the support of Verner and his wife at the time, Holwas was released early after a year of service.

When he returned, he formed Holly's blues band. The band had their first appearance in 1978 during the renovation phase during a concert with Engerling and the Hansi Biebl Band at the Vorwärts cinema in Berlin-Karlshorst . Further appearances in the East Berlin blues scene followed.

While looking for alternative performance options, Holwas met pastor Rainer Eppelmann , also a former construction soldier, and the idea of ​​the blues masses arose. Holwas offered Eppelmann to fill the church and donate the proceeds to a church children's home. At the first blues mass on June 1, 1979, he kept his promise and mobilized over two hundred bluesers in a very short time . Between 1979 and 1986 the blues masses developed into a specific form of opposition in the GDR . His band split up in 1980. Peter Pabst founded the Jonathan Blues Band . From then on, Holwas and Plant appeared as a duo. As one of the organizers of the blues fairs, Holwas was inevitably targeted by the Ministry of State Security . With promises, pressure and reprisals one tried to persuade him to end the events. Finally, on July 31, 1981, he was banned from performing for life. On August 13, 1981, the 20th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall , Holwas then demonstratively applied for an exit visa and left the GDR for West Berlin on November 27, 1981 .

Holwas, for whom the Federal Republic of Germany was no alternative to life in the GDR, went to Canada , where he made his way as a blues musician, among others. a. as accompanist for Otis Rush and Carey Bell . Since he couldn't make a living from music alone, he also worked as a trucker . In 1991 he visited reunified Germany for the first time. Shocked at how quickly his East German compatriots had succumbed to consumerism, he returned to Canada and was living in a hippie commune north of Toronto in Ontario . In 1995 he collapsed on stage during a concert. Three years later, after the third heart attack , he followed the advice of his doctors, changed his life and was brought back to Germany by his daughter.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the first blues fair, the commemorative event Blues for East Berlin took place on October 22, 2005 in the Berlin Samariterkirche , at which Holwas appeared again for the first time. In the meantime he has re-established Holly's blues band and has performed a. a. during the 12th Köpenicker Blues and Jazz Festival in Berlin. On August 31, 2007 there was a new edition of the blues mass with Günter Holwas in the Easter church in Berlin-Wedding under the name The Freedom Concert .

In the songs Berlin, Berlin , What Do You Want from Me , When I Find that Woman and I Cry on his 1994 album Made in Toronto , Holwas processed his life story.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A candle for Günter "Holly" Holwas. Commemoration on kerze-anzuenden.de from May 24, 2014 (accessed June 3, 2014).
  2. ↑ WP Magazine: Günter "Holly" Holwas (1950-2014). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 21, 2014 ; accessed on May 22, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / wasser-prawda.de
personal data
SURNAME Holwas, Günter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Holly
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German blues musician and GDR opponent
DATE OF BIRTH May 12, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH May 11, 2014
Place of death Tauperlitz