Singer-songwriters Christian Kuhnert, Gerulf Pannach and Wolf Biermann with the writer Jürgen Fuchs (L to R) in August 1977 in West Berlin. Biermann had been in the West since November 1976; the East German leadership had expatriated him following a concert in Cologne. Among others, these three men protested his expulsion. They were arrested, and likewise expatriated and expelled to West Berlin.

Actress Eva-Maria Hagen, also known as the "Brigitte Bardot of the East," was Biermann's partner from 1965 to 1972. Even after their separation, she continued to support him and protested against his expatriation. She was dismissed from her theater contract without notice and likewise expatriated in 1977. Together with her daughter Nina, she moved to West Germany.

Singer Nina Hagen (daughter of Eva-Maria Hagen) had wanted to become an actress in East Germany, but her application for admission to acting school was rejected without reason. East German rulers considered her to be politically unreliable. In 1978, one year after moving to the West, her LP entitled "Nina Hagen Band" was released (cover above). It remains a feminist classic of German punk rock.

Jurek Becker, writer and screenwriter, also protested Biermann's expatriation. The author of the novel "Jacob the Liar" was expelled from the East German Communist Party and moved to West Germany in 1977. There, his screenplays for the TV series "Liebling Kreuzberg" (roughly "Beloved Kreuzberg") made him famous. The leading actor in the series was Manfred Krug, likewise from East Germany.

In 1949, at age 12, Manfred Krug moved with his father from West to East Germany. He first trained to be a steel smelter, then an actor. He played a rebellious brigade leader in the film "Trace of Stones," which was promptly pulled from cinemas. In 1976, after protesting Biermann's expatriation, Krug was partially banned from acting work. He applied to leave the country and got approval in 1977.

Berlin-based singer-songwriter Bettina Wegner came into conflict with East German state powers even before her opposition to Biermann's expatriation. She had already been in custody for "anti-state agitation" after protesting the Russian tanks that rolled into Prague in 1968. Due to her support of Biermann, she was banned from working in East Germany and moved to the West in 1983.

Reiner Kunze's prose work, the "The Wonderful Years," was published in West Germany in 1976. The East German writer and translator sharply criticized the communist state. Kunze was expelled from the East German Writers' Association and was threatened with imprisonment. His application to leave the country was granted, and in 1977 he moved with his family to West Germany.

Writer and poet Sarah Kirsch was one of the first signatories of the appeal against the Biermann's expatriation. She was expelled from the SED, the East German Communist Party, and the Writers' Union. Since this ultimately translated into a ban on her profession, she left the GDR with her son in 1977.

In the East German TV series "The Invisible Visor," Armin Müller-Stahl played a James Bond-esque East German agent. But following his opposition to Biermann's expatriation, he was barely offered any acting roles. In 1980, his application to leave the country was approved and he moved to West Berlin. He became one of the few stars to succeed in both East and West Germany, and even in Hollywood.

At the age of 16, Wolf Biermann left the town where he grew up, Hamburg in West Germany, and emigrated to East Germany, where he first lived in a boarding school. He hoped to live out the ideals transmitted by his mother, an active member of the Communist Party. He would quickly come into conflict with the authorities — and remained disobedient. "I always went a little too far," he says.

East German dissidents could expect work bans, and they were spied upon and arrested. The chemist Robert Havemann (pictured in his East Berlin apartment in 1972 with Wolf Biermann, right) was one of the leaders of the protest movement. The Stasi, East Germany's secret police, monitored everything he did, and discussions took on conspiratorial tones. Biermann had a son with his daughter, Sibylle.

The suppression of East German dissidents worsened in the mid-70s. More and more artists applied to travel abroad, but their applications were usually rejected. The Stasi arrested singers Christian Kunert (left), Gerulf Pannach (second from left) and author Jürgen Fuchs (right). In August 1977, Biermann's friends were released from prison and deported to West Germany.

In the sold-out Sporthalle in Cologne, Wolf Biermann gave a concert on November 13, 1976, the first one in West Germany since 1965. The East German government had forbidden his performances years ago, blacklisting him for criticizing the "system ruled by political bureaucrats." Fans acclaimed him in Cologne.

East German authorities stripped Biermann of his citizenship in November 1976, sending him into exile in West Germany. His friend, author Günter Wallraff, first hosted him in his apartment in Cologne, where he had to start anew. Instead of being constantly followed by Stasi spies, Biermann was trailed by reporters from the German tabloid "Bild." It was a difficult period for him.

East German actors, such as Armin Mueller-Stahl (pictured) and Manfred Krug, who were until then well positioned in East Germany, signed a petition to the authorities in November 1976: "We are protesting against the expatriation of Wolfgang Biermann and plead for this decision to be reconsidered." Honecker retaliated by banning these artists from performing and working. They left for West Germany.

Friends, acquaintances, authors, journalists, artists and other colleagues: Everyone who had been in contact with Biermann was monitored by the Stasi. The artist Gabriele Stötzer (second from left in this Stasi photo) was imprisoned for a year for "defamation of the state," as she had collected the signatures against the expatriation of Wolf Biermann.

In West Germany, Biermann remained a politically active and outspoken artist. In 1983, he protested against the deportation of an opponent of the Turkish regime with Green Party politicians Petra Kelly (behind the police officer) and Lukas Beckmann (center). The police was called to clear the protest and Biermann was arrested.

Eva-Maria Hagen (second from left) was one the most popular actresses of East Germany. After she met and became a couple with the political songwriter in 1965, her career ended abruptly, as she was monitored by the Stasi and banned from performing. In 1977, she decided to flee and followed her partner to West Germany, along with her daughter Nina Hagen (right). This family photo is from 1988.

Biermann didn't mention his Jewish roots very often at the beginning. His father, a Jewish and Communist shipwright, was murdered at the concentration camp in Auschwitz. Biermann would let this painful experience resonate only through his music. He became good friends with the Jewish theater director George Tabori. They are shown here on Tabori's 90th birthday in 2004 at the Berliner Ensemble.

He said he found it somewhat strange, but the former East German dissident was still visibly touched when he was declared an honorary citizen of the reunited city of Berlin in 2007. Next to him on the picture is the city's then-Mayor Klaus Wowereit. In 2008, Biermann was also awarded an honorary doctorate degree from the Humboldt University of Berlin, where he had defended his thesis in 1963.

To this day, Biermann continues to prominently support persecuted political dissidents around the world. There's more than artistic solidarity that binds him with the author in exile Liao Yiwu (right), one of China's most famous poets, who spent several years in prison. In 2010 and 2011, they went on tour together through Germany.

A historical moment: On November 7, 2014, during a memorial ceremony for the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Wolf Biermann performed during a parliamentary session in the German Bundestag. He grabbed the opportunity to slam the "comrades" of the Left party, filmed by TV cameras. Speaker of the house Norbert Lammert reminded Biermann that he was only invited to sing.

The song that Biermann performed that day was personally selected by Norbert Lammert. It is one of his most famous ones, "Du lass dich nicht verhärten, in dieser harten Zeit" (Don't let yourself harden, in this hard time). As outspoken as ever, he described himself as a "dragon slayer," and the Left party politicians as "dragon spawn" and "a miserable remnant of what was fortunately overcome."