For more than five decades, Wolf Biermann has been primarily known as a songwriter. Encouraged by Hanns Eisler, he began composing and singing his verses as early as the late 1950s. His songs range from rebellious anger to quietly fading melancholy, as Fritz Raddatz once wrote. This collection brings together a selection of songs and poems from fifty years, particularly those that have played a key role in Biermann's life - such as the song "Ermutigung," which became the unofficial anthem of political prisoners in East Germany, satirical songs like the "Stasi Ballad" or "I've Had Enough!", as well as the "Ballad of the Prussian Icarus," written just before his expulsion and first sung at the legendary concert in Cologne in 1976. The "Ballad of the Corrupted Elders," about the SED Politburo, was sung by Biermann on December 1, 1989, in Leipzig.