Biography Lutz Templin

Lutz “Stumpie” Templin was tenor saxophonist who had led one of the best German swing bands before the WWII. While no Nazi himself, he had nonetheless taken full advantage of the opportunities that opened under the Nazi regime. As early as 1935, what would become the nucleus of the Lutz Templin Orchestra ousted its Jewish leader, James Kok, in order to secure a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

By the autumn of 1939, Templin’s reputation as a sax player and his links to the Nazis were strong enough for the Propaganda Ministry to turn to him when it took the decision to begin piping musical propaganda to British troops in the form of Charlie and his Orchestra, of which Templin was the band leader.

Straight after the war he was working for the U.S. Army and touring extensively in southern Germany. He later developed his own music publishing business in Hamburg and worked in A&R for Polydor.

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