# Gerhard Gundermann
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{{hatnote group|{{redirect|Gundermann}}{{distinguish|Gunderman, New South Wales}}}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Gerhard Gundermann
| image = Gerhard Gundermann.jpg
| caption = Gundermann in 1994
| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name = Gerhard Rüdiger Gundermann
| alias = Gundermann
| birth_place = [Weimar](/source/Weimar), [Bezirk Erfurt](/source/Bezirk_Erfurt), [East Germany](/source/East_Germany)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1955|02|21}}
| death_place = [Spreetal](/source/Spreetal), [Germany](/source/Germany)
| death_date = {{death date and age|1998|06|21|1955|02|21}}
| origin = [Hoyerswerda](/source/Hoyerswerda), [East Germany](/source/East_Germany)
| instrument = Guitar
| genre = {{flatlist|
* Rock
* [folk](/source/Folk_music)
}}
| occupation = [Bucket-wheel excavator](/source/Bucket-wheel_excavator) operator, [joiner](/source/joiner)
| years_active = 1986–1998
| label = [SPV](/source/SPV_GmbH)
| associated_acts = Gundermann & Seilschaft
| website = {{URL|http://members.aol.com/seilschaft/index2.htm}}
| past_members =
}}
'''Gerhard Rüdiger Gundermann''', who generally performed as simply '''Gundermann''' (February 21, 1955 – June 21, 1998), was a German singer-songwriter and rock musician. A skilled [excavator](/source/Bucket-wheel_excavator) operator, his musical career began in the former [East Germany](/source/East_Germany), where he became known for his clever, often melancholic lyrics imbued with social commentary. After [German reunification](/source/German_reunification), he became especially popular among former East Germans who felt alienated and marginalized in the reunited country.
== Career ==
Born in [Weimar](/source/Weimar), Gundermann moved with his family to [Hoyerswerda](/source/Hoyerswerda) in 1967. After completing his secondary education, he studied for a year at the [military academy](/source/Nationale_Volksarmee) in [Löbau](/source/L%C3%B6bau), but was expelled in 1975, after which he was forced to seek work in the coal mining area of the [Spreetal](/source/Spreetal) (in today's [Saxony](/source/Saxony)). In 1976 he began evening school, and was recruited by the East German domestic intelligence service, the [Stasi](/source/Stasi), as [unofficial collaborator](/source/unofficial_collaborator) (codename "Grigori"). In 1977 he applied to join the ruling party, the [SED](/source/Socialist_Unity_Party_of_Germany), but was asked to leave the following year (after uttering contrary opinions), although this was reduced to a "strong rebuke" after he appealed. In 1983 he married Conny. The following year he was again expelled from the party and also from the Stasi.
Gundermann's first appearances as a singer-songwriter came in 1986, and a year later he won the grand prize and a recording contract in the East German national song contest. His first LP ''Männer, Frauen und Maschinen'' (Men, Women, and Machines) appeared in 1988, but in contrast to his solo acoustic performances it was a rock record album with a backing band, with uptempo numbers like "Halte durch" ("Hang in there!"). It included a song of praise for his hometown Hoyerswerda, "Hoy Woy."
After the [Fall of the Wall](/source/Fall_of_the_Wall), Gundermann ran unsuccessfully for a parliamentary seat in the [Volkskammer](/source/Volkskammer) in the March 1990 elections as a candidate for the leftist alliance ''Aktionsbündnis Vereinigte Linke''.
Gundermann lived an ascetic lifestyle, eschewing alcohol,[{{cite magazine|language=de|url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-7925922.html|title=Sänger ohne Schutzengel|date=June 29, 1998|magazine=[Der Spiegel](/source/Der_Spiegel)|accessdate=May 20, 2016}}] drugs, and smoking,[{{Cite web |url=https://www.klatsch-tratsch.de/dpa/andreas-dresen-verfilmt-leben-von-ddr-saenger-gerhard-gundermann-323926/ |title=Andreas Dresen verfilmt Leben von DDR-Sänger Gerhard Gundermann - klatsch-tratsch.de |access-date=March 3, 2020 |archive-date=March 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303224020/https://www.klatsch-tratsch.de/dpa/andreas-dresen-verfilmt-leben-von-ddr-saenger-gerhard-gundermann-323926/ |url-status=dead }}] and was a committed vegetarian.