GDR songwriter Dieter Schneider dies at 86

The songwriter Dieter Schneider, who became famous in GDR times, is dead. The 86-year-old died on Friday in a hospital in the capital from the late effects of polio, his family announced on Saturday. According to the statement, Schneider wrote more than 3,000 song lyrics during his career, including for GDR hit stars such as Frank Schöbel ("Looky, Looky"), Inka Bause ("Spielverderber"), who was born in Leipzig and made a name for herself nationwide with the RTL couples show "Bauer sucht Frau."

In addition, Schneider had been, among other things, television editor of the GDR entertainment program "Ein Kessel Buntes," his family added. For more than six decades, his passion had been entertainment music on television and radio. "He gladly championed the next generation of artists," the statement said. The in born songwriter had become part of the German-German schlager history.