Back in September I wrote about “Lippi-Bekenntnisse”, the autobiography of the German singer and television presenter Wolfgang Lippert.

Well now you can read a sample of the book on-line, all you have to do is “Like” the author’s Facebook page.

Click here to go to Wolfgang Lippert’s Facebook page

Once you have clicked on “Like”, or “Gefällt mir”, the sample text (called “Leseprobe” in German) will be in the “Willkommen” tab.

And if you like what you read, then please use one of the links below to buy the book on-line – yes, it’s even available in the UK through Amazon!

Buy “Lippi-Bekenntnisse” at Amazon.de

Buy “Lippi-Bekenntnisse” at Amazon.co.uk

The “GDR Pack” is a collection of 6 transcripts, each in their own PDF file. The pack is a ZIP file containing the 6 PDFs and is available from the AllThingsGerman Download Store.

The transcripts in this pack are:

• Tag der Deutschen Einheit
• Die DDR
• FDJ
• SED
• Solidaritätszuschlag
• Stasi

To find out more, visit the AllThingsGerman Download Store.

It is now 15 years ago that I made my first trip into what used to be East Berlin.  I was there to solve a problem with a computer belonging to someone who I have been in contact with ever since and recently visited at the Störtebeker Festspiele on the island Rügen – singer and television presenter Wolfgang Lippert.

I had only been living in Germany for a year and although I was aware of the significance of whose computer I was looking at in terms of how important the customer was for my employer, only recently have I discovered the significance of the person behind it for the former East Germany’s show business industry.  This I have to thank to his autobiography Lippi-Bekenntnisse.

Rather than being just another autobiography of a German celebrity, Lippi-Bekenntnisse gives an inside look into the way that the entertainment business worked in the GDR from someone who was part of it in quite a unique way.  Reading it made me realise how little I know about that part of Germany’s history. (more…)