Introduction
Gerda Herrmann (born on June 30, 1931 in Cannstatt) is a German composer and poet. She has been living in Botnang since the 1960s und has so far written almost 400 songs, setting to music both her own and other authors' lyrics. Many of her songs have been performed at 12 benefit concerts (as of 2019).
Life and Work
Gerda Herrmann received her first piano lessons in 1941. Her father was an association auditor. After he was denounced to authorities, he was drafted into the German army and fell in 1944 as a soldier. In 1984, Gerda Herrmann wrote her first composition titled "Elegie".
"Composing" is too high a level, I put texts to music.
— Gerda Herrmann
So far, many of Herrmann's songs have been performed at 12 benefit concerts in favor of various societies and organisations. The first concert took place in 1991 at Schloss Solitude.
She is delightful and charming, I love her stories and her songs (...). She is a wonderful soul, I love her and her passion for music, her optimism, her hopes for a better world and seeing the potential of music to heal and touch lives.
On June 29, 2019, the documentary film The Songwriter of Botnang by Alexander Tuschinski had its world premiere at Delphi Arthaus Kino in Stuttgart. It addresses Herrmann's life and oeuvre. The following year, the film had its US premiere screening in competition at Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival and was additionally screened in competition at Berlin Independent Film Festival.
Encouraging creative writing by young people
Since 2003, Gerda Herrman has been a founding member as well as deputy chairwoman of the Förderkreis Kreatives Schreiben und Musik, which publishes anthologies featuring texts by young people. The first anthology was published already before founding of the society, using parts of the proceeds from a benefit concert that showcased some of Herrmann's songs in the white hall of the New Palace in Stuttgart in 1999.The anthologies have been accepted to be recorded in the archive for children's texts of Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg and contain texts of different genres and styles. In 2010, a poem by Ingeborg Wenger from the anthology "ÜberBrücken" was displayed as part of the program "Lyrik Unterwegs" inside metro trains in Stuttgart. Herrmann has set several poems from these anthologies to music.
Further commitments
My credo is to neither lose courage nor humor!
— Gerda Herrmann
Additionally, Herrmann committed for Amnesty International and was a founding member of Group 49.