Bertolt Brecht
1898 - 1956

Bertolt Brecht was a German playwright and poet.

He first studied medicine. After working in a military hospital during World War I he snapped and was done with his study of medicine as well as war in general; so he became a pacifist.

A Marxist, Bertolt needed to get off the Nazi's radar. In 1933 he fled to Scandinavia. From 1941 until 1947 he lived in the United States; 1948 in Switzerland. In 1949 he moved back to Germany, not to Bavaria where he was born, but to East Berlin this time. East Berlin was part of the Soviet occupation zone.

About Bert's work:
He wrote his Threepenny Opera in 1928. The book, that is. Remember Mac the Knife? Exactly. You could watch the piece in NY from April 20 until June 11, 2006. Aren't we glad. Mercifully, Studio 54 didn't admit children under 4 years into the theater.

Here you can listen to some of Bertolt Brecht's songs for free.