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Günter Discher (* 20 March 1925 in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel; † 9 September 2012 in Hamburg) was a Swing music lover and Gramophone record-collector, and was called "the oldest Jazz-DJ in Germany".

Biography

When he listened to the first Swing music albums by the great US artists (such as Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, and Louis Armstrong) in his youth, Günter was thrilled. He and his friends loved the records.

But soon the Nazi "Reichskulturkammer ("Reich Chamber of Culture") proscribed swing music as "un-German" and "degenerate". After the start of World War II the music was even declared "enemy music". Even though often claimed otherwise, Swing music was not officially made illegal, but the members of the Swing Kids were observed and persecuted by the Gestapo.

So the records disappeared again from the shelves of the record shops. But Günter Discher still got hold of what are rare collectibles today: a friend of him was a soldier stationed in Denmark. In comparison, there the range of records was heavenly. The soldier sent the sought-after LP's to Germany. The packets were labelled as "Heerespost" (army mail), and therefore could cross the border without being opened by customs.

Günter Discher distributed the records among clubs and acquaintances in Hamburg – St. Pauli. Even then, his collection was already about 400 gramophone records.

In 1942, he was denounced to the Gestapo and arrested. Until the end of the war, he was sent to the Moringen concentration camp for young people. The reason given was that he "endangers, according to the evidence of the state police, proven by his behavior, the existence and security of the people and state, in that he brings substantial unrest into the population by his subversive and harmful activities".

As a result of the detention, his health was affected and he had to undergo several operations.

Günter Discher lived in Hamburg and became a well-known swing music expert. He owned a huge archive of about 10.000 CD's and 25.000 LP's of swing music.[6]

He had his own CD edition at the label Ceraton. For the "Günter Discher Edition", many well-known, but also lesser known and rare pieces of music from his collection were sound restored and published. In his eye-witness interviews he talks about the specialties of the different artists. He also talked about his love of swing music and his youth, in eye-witness lectures at memorial sites and (music) universities.

In addition, Discher was believed to be the oldest DJ in Germany. He played a great variety of swing and jazz, appealing to all audiences, and also appeared together with the second great swing DJ Swingin' Swanee all over Germany.

In 2006, he established his own podcast[4] on his website "Hotkoffer", where he presented Swing music of the 1930s and 40s, which made him, by his own account, the oldest podcaster in Germany.

In 2000, he was awarded the Biermann-Ratjen-Medaille by the City of Hamburg for his outstanding contributions to the culture of Hamburg.[4]

Günter Discher died aged 87 during his sleep, after playing swing music as a DJ in an old people's home the previous evening.[4]

Quotes

"For us kids back then swing music was a certain way of life, swing music meant unlimited freedom. We were looking for a rockin' thing" "You may start dancing now, but please refrain from destroying the furniture"

External links

• Günter Discher's Website
• Meldung zum Tod von Günter Discher auf Ceraton
• Häftlingsbiografie von Günter Discher
• Biographie Günter Dischers im Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit
• Interview with Discher in German on Youtube
• Günter Discher : Mit Swing-Musik gegen die Nazis
• Swingjugend the real swing kids
• Obituary
• The real swing kids part 2
• G. Discher mentioned in The Arts in Nazi Germany: Continuity, Conformity, Change by Jonathan Huener and Francis R. Nicosia