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Diether Dehm

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Diether Dehm
MdB a.D.
Dehm in 2014
Member of the Bundestag
for Lower Saxony
(Hesse; 1994)
In office
17 October 2005 – 26 October 2021
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded byVictor Perli
In office
16 August 1994 – 10 November 1994
Preceded byBarbara Weiler
Succeeded bymulti-member district
Personal details
Born
Jörg-Diether Wilhelm Dehm-Desoi

(1950-04-03) 3 April 1950 (age 74)
Frankfurt am Main, West Germany (now Germany)
Political partyThe Left (2007–)
Other political
affiliations		Party of Democratic Socialism (1998–2007)
Social Democratic Party (1966–1998)
Alma materGoethe University Frankfurt
Occupation
  • Politician
  • Record producer
  • singer-songwriter
  • Businessman
  • Author
WebsiteOfficial website

Diether Dehm (full name Jörg-Diether Wilhelm Dehm-Desoi;[1] born 3 April 1950) is a German singer-songwriter, music producer and left-wing politician. He was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the PDS, and the Left Party.

Early life and education

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Dehm was born in Frankfurt on 3 April 1950.[2] His father Otto Dehm was a mechanic, and played football for FSV Frankfurt, and his mother Inge (née Schulz) was a clerk.[3] He studied remedial education, graduating in 1972,[3] and receiving a doctorate in 1975.[4]

Career as songwriter and music producer

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Dehm performed as a singer-songwriter in the 1960s under the pseudonym Lerryn, a portmanteau of his nickname, Larry, and Lenin.[4] He won an award at the Internationale Essener Songtage [de], a seminal arts festival held in 1968.[5] In 1971, he founded Lieder im Park ('Songs in the Park'), a summer festival showcasing singer-songwriters, and organised Rock gegen rechts ('Rock Against the Right Wing') events.[6]

Dehm produced, wrote and played on Dutch folk rock band Bots's album Aufstehn ('Stand Up').[7] Included on the album is "Sieben Tage lang", the German version of Bots's best-known song, "Zeven Dagen Lang" ('Seven Days Long'); the translation was done by Dehm and Günter Wallraff.[8] Dehm, using the pseudonym N. Heirell, collaborated with Klaus Lage to write the song "1000 und 1 Nacht (Zoom!)" [de] ('1000 and 1 Night'),[9][10] which reached number five on the German singles charts in September 1984.[11]

In 1988, Dehm wrote a new party anthem for the SPD, titled "Das weiche Wasser bricht den Stein".[12][13]

In the 1990s, Dehm wrote the screenplay for the musical film Die Eisprinzessin, starring Katharina Witt;[14][15] Dehm had been Witt's manager for a time.[16]

Stasi activities

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In 1970–1971, Dehm was recruited by the East German Stasi secret service, and both he and his wife Christa Desoi became unofficial collaborators (IMs). Dehm used the codename Willy. His most notable work for the Stasi came in 1976, after dissident East German songwriter Wolf Biermann was exiled while in West Germany. Dehm became Biermann's manager, and reported on Biermann's activities.[4] According to Stasi files, Dehm also reported on, among other subjects, activities of the SPD and certain West German artists, and goings-on at the University of Frankfurt.[10] In 1996, a court ruled that it was legal to refer to Dehm as a Stasi informer.[4]

Political career

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Dehm was a member of the SPD from 1966 to 1998, serving as a member of the Bundestag for a short time in 1994.[2] He became a member of the PDS in 1998, and was elected one of its deputy chairs in 1999.[17] He won re-election to that position twice,[10] but lost when he ran for a fourth term in 2003.[18]

From 2004 to 2010, Dehm was state chairman for Lower Saxony in the Left Party.[10] He has been a Left Party member of the Bundestag since 2005.[2] Since 2010, he has chaired the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Linke Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer, a Left Party group representing entrepreneurs,[19] and has advocated on behalf of businesspeople.[10]

Controversies

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In 2016, it was revealed that Dehm had hired former Red Army Faction terrorist Christian Klar to perform work on his website. His employment of Klar was disclosed when Dehm attempted to obtain clearance for him to work inside the Bundestag building.[20][21]

References

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  1. ^ "Elected candidates 'D' – The Federal Returning Officer". bundeswahlleiter.de. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "Deutscher Bundestag – Dr. Diether Dehm". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Diether Dehm – Munzinger Biographie". munzinger.de. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Adams, Jefferson (1 September 2009). Historical Dictionary of German Intelligence. Scarecrow Press. p. 77. ISBN 9780810863200.
  5. ^ Laqua, Daniel (1 October 2018). "Rocking Against the Right: Political Activism and Popular Music in West Germany, 1979–1980". History Workshop Journal. 86: 160–183. doi:10.1093/hwj/dby020. ISSN 1363-3554.
  6. ^ PLATEN, HEIDE (18 February 2008). "Ein linker Paradiesvogel". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). p. 2. ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Bots Muziek – Aufstehn" (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Bots – Sieben Tage lang – hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  9. ^ "Klaus Lage Band – 1000 Und 1 Nacht (Zoom!)" (in German). discogs. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  10. ^ a b c d e Lang, Jürgen P. "Jürgen P. Lang: Biographisches Porträt – Diether Dehm". Jahrbuch Extremismus & Demokratie.
  11. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts – Offizielle Deutsche Charts". offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  12. ^ Robb, David (2007). Protest Song in East and West Germany Since the 1960s. Camden House. ISBN 978-1-57113-281-9.
  13. ^ "PARTEIEN : Laut und falsch - DER SPIEGEL 19/1988". Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  14. ^ Schmidt, Klaus M.; Schmidt, Ingrid (12 December 2016). Lexikon Literaturverfilmungen: Verzeichnis deutschsprachiger Filme 1945–2000 (in German). Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-476-02727-6.
  15. ^ Online, FOCUS. "Das bunte Netzwerk des Diether Dehm" (in German). Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  16. ^ NDR. "Diether Dehm – ein Stasi-Spitzel?" (in German). Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  17. ^ Bundestag, Germany (2008). Amtliches Handbuch des Deutschen Bundestages (in German). Neue Darmstädter Verlagsanstalt.
  18. ^ "Bisky wieder PDS-Chef" (in German). Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  19. ^ "Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Linke Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer" (in German). Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  20. ^ "Left politico tries to get ex-RAF member Bundestag ID". Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com). 22 February 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  21. ^ SPIEGEL, DER. "Christian Klar: Diether Dehm verteidigt Beschäftigung des Ex-RAF-Terroristen – DER SPIEGEL – Politik" (in German). Retrieved 23 January 2020.
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