Hanns Eisler

Johannes Eisler (1898-1962) was born in Leipzig, though his intellectual family moved to Vienna when he was young. After being wounded several times while serving Austria-Hungary in World War I, he developed socialistic sympathies and moved into the circle of Bertolt Brecht. When the Nazis took power, he went into exile and lived an itinerant existence until settling permanently in America. In 1948, he was deported from the country for his left-wing politics despite the support of famous fellow composers. He spent the rest of his life in East Germany, where he wrote the national anthem and suffered from depression and poor health.