Following a resolution by the SED Politburo, the Commercial Coordination (KoKo) department headed by Alexander Schalck-Golodkowski is put under the charge of Günter Mittag and thus under Erich Honecker’s direction.more
3 November
1976
The GDR author Rainer Kunze is thrown out of the GDR Writers’ Association federation after the publication of his novel "Die wunderbaren Jahre" ("The Wonderful Years") by a West German publisher.
16 November
1976
The songwriter Wolf Biermann is expatriated from the GDR during a concert tour of West Germany. Thirteen well-known GDR artists and intellectuals demonstrate their solidarity with Biermann and publish a protest declaration on 17 November.
In the ensuing days, there are several arrests, including that of Jürgen Fuchs. After Biermann’s expatriation, prominent authors, artists and actors leave the GDR, such as Rainer Kunze, Manfred Krug and Armin Müller-Stahl.
Wolf Biermann at a press conference in Cologne after being expatriated from the GDR, 19 November 1976 (Photo: The Federal Government, Photographer: Lothar Schaack)
RIAS recording of the press conference with Wolf Biermann after his expulsion from the GDR, 19 November 1976 (in German) (Source: Archiv Deutschlandradio, Broadcast: Rundschau am Mittag)
RIAS report on the declaration by GDR intellectuals of 17 November 1976 protesting at the expulsion of Wolf Biermann, 19 November 1976 (in German) (Source: Archiv Deutschlandradio, Broadcast: Rundschau am Mittag, Reporter: Peter Kohagen)
The GDR regime critic Professor Robert Havemann is placed under house arrest. He is no longer allowed to leave his house in the Grünheide district of Berlin. However, he continues to succeed in creating contact with the outside world and smuggling his writings to the West.