Anna German

Anna German was a Polish and Russian-language singer. She was born in Urgench, a city with a population of 22,000 in northwestern Uzbekistan in Central Asia, then Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. Her mother, Irma Martens, was the descendant of Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonites invited to Russia by Catherine II. Her accountant father, Eugen (Eugeniusz) Hörmann (in Russian, Герман), was also of a German-Russian pastor family and born during travel in Łódź (Czarist Russian Empire) now Poland. Eugen Hörmann's father, Anna's grandfather, Friedrich Hörmann, who had studied theology at Łódź, was in 1929 incarcerated in Gulag Plesetsk by Communists for being a priest, where he died. In 1937, during the NKVD's anti-German operation, Eugen Hörmann was arrested in Urgench on false charges of spying, and executed (officially, sentenced to ten years in prison). Thereafter, Anna and her mother and grandmother survived in the Kemerovo Region of Siberia, as well as in Tashkent, and later in the Kyrgyz and Kazakh SSRs.

Anna German plaque in Wrocław

In 1946, her mother (who had married Herman Gerner, a Ludowe Wojsko Polskie soldier) was able to take the family to Silesia, first Nowa Ruda and then Wrocław in 1949.

Anna quickly learned Polish and several other languages and grew up hiding her family heritage. She graduated from the Geological Institute of Wroclaw University. During her university years, she began her music career at the Kalambur theater. Anna finally became successful when she won the 1964 II Festival of Polish Songs in Opole with her song "Tańczące Eurydyki". One year later, she won first prize in the international song contest in Sopot.

Anna performed in the Marché international de l'édition musicale in Cannes, as well as on the stages of Belgium, Germany, United States, Canada and Australia.

She also sang in Russian, English, Italian, Spanish, Latin, German and Mongolian.[3] In 2001, six of her Polish albums were reissued on CDs. In recent years, many compilation albums of her songs have also been released in both Russia and Poland.

In December 1966, German in Milan signed a contract with a small firm CDI to release the records, thus becoming the first performer from behind the "iron curtain", which was recorded in Italy. In Italy, Anna German has performed at the Sanremo Music Festival, starred in a television show, a recorded programme with the singer Domenico Modugno, performed at the festival of Neapolitan songs in Sorrento and received the award "Oscar della simpatia".

On 27 August 1967, while in Italy, on the road between Forlì and Milan, Anna German was involved in a severe car accident. At high speed, the car driven by the impresario of the singer crashed into a concrete fence. Anna was thrown from the car through the windshield. She suffered multiple fractures, internal injuries. The results of the investigation revealed that the driver of the car – her manager Renato Serio – fell asleep at the wheel. He escaped with a fracture of the hand and feet.

After the accident, German had not regained consciousness. After the plaster was taken off, the singer still lay in a hospital bed for half a year. Then it took her a few months to relearn to sit and walk.

Earlier in the 1960s, she released the autobiographical book "Come Back to Sorrento?"("Wróć do Sorrento?"), dedicated to the Italian period of her career. The book's circulation was 30,000 copies.

On 23 March 1972, she married Zbigniew Tucholski. Their son, Zbigniew, was born on 27 November 1975. In the last years of her life, she composed some church songs. Before she died of osteosarcoma at 46 in 1982, she joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[4] German was buried at Warsaw Evangelical cemetery.

Anna loved to cook oriental dishes. Her favorite foods were boiled potatoes with herring, pickles, pies with cabbage, black tea with lemon, and oatmeal cookies. She did not consume alcohol.

Anna German's star on the Walk of Fame in Opole

• The main street in Urgench, Uzbekistan, the birthplace of Anna German, bears her name.
• The asteroid 2519 Y discovered in 1975 by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova was named in honour of Anna German.
• The amphitheatre in Zielona Góra, Poland, has been named in Anna German's memory.
• In 2002, the Tańczące Eurydyki Song Festival aimed at popularizing the musical legacy of Anna German and Polish popular music was launched.
• The Anna German Musical High School in Białystok bears the name of the singer.
• In 2012, a commemorative plaque was unveiled in Wrocław at the entrance to the house where Anna German used to live.
• In 2012, a Russian biographical mini-series (co-produced with Poland, Ukraine and Croatia) about the life of Anna German was filmed.
• A star on the Moscow Walk of Fame honouring Anna German was unveiled.
• Several streets in Polish cities including Warsaw and Rzeszów were named in remembrance of the singer.
• In 2013, a star on the Walk of Fame of the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole devoted to Anna German was unveiled.

• 1974 Nagrabiecki Jan: Anna German. 1974
• Aleksander Zygariov: Anna German. 1988
• Aleksander Zygariov: Anna German. 1998 (reissue)
• Mariola Pryzwan: Wspomnienia o Annie German. 1999
• Adriana Polak: Człowieczy los. Wspomnienia o Annie German. 2000
• Artur Hörmann: Die unbekannte Anna German. 2003 (The book was written by the uncle of Anna and brother her father Eugene Herman)
• Mariola Pryzwan: Tańcząca Eurydyka. Wspomnienia o Annie German. 2008
• Ivan Ilichev: Анна Герман – Гори, гори, моя звезда!. 2010
• Jordan Naoum: Anna German. 2011 ISBN 6138327977
• Mariola Pryzwan: Anna German o sobie. 2012
• Ivan Ilichev: Мы долгое эхо (We long echo). 2012
• Mariola Pryzwan: Tańcząca Eurydyka. Anna German we wspomnieniach. 2013
• Marzena Baranowska: German. Osobisty album Anny German. 2013
• Ivan Ilichev: Анна Герман. Белый ангел песни (White angel of the song). 2013
• German. Śpiewający anioł. Super album. 2013
• Ivan Ilichev: Эхо любви (Echoes of love). 2013
• Volga Yerafeyenka: Anna German. „Uśmiechaj się”. 2014
• Irma Martens-Berner: Człowieczy los. Wspomnienia matki Anny German. 2014, ISBN 978-83-7295-299-8 (Consultants books: son A. German, Dr. Zbigniew I. Tucholsky and her husband, engineer Zbigniew A. Tucholsky)
• Ivan Ilichev: Анна Герман. Сто воспоминаний о великой певице (Anna German. A hundred memories of great singer). 2016

• 1970 „Wróć do Sorrento?...” (Come Back to Sorrento?...)
• Bajka o skrzydlatym szpaku (The tale of the winged Starling). The book is written by Anna to her son
• 1988 «Вернись в Сорренто?...» translated from Polish into Russian by R. Bello
• 2002 „Wróć do Sorrento?...” reissue
• 2012 „Wróć do Sorrento?...” reissue

• 1966: Marynarka to męska przygoda (documentary) – ensemble cast
• 1970: Landscape After the Battle (Krajobraz po bitwie)
• 1970: Prom – singing
• 1970: Balladyna (TV show) – singing
• 1970: Wyspy szczęśliwe. Śpiewa Anna German (short film)
• 1977: Sudba (film) – singing Echo Miłości
• 2012: Anna German (Russian TV series) – singing (her songs have been used in the series)

• Polish music
• Ewa Demarczyk
• Violetta Villas
• Grzegorz Turnau
• List of Poles

Media related to Anna German at Wikimedia Commons

• Anna German at IMDb
• Anna German discography at Discogs
• Web-site Anna German
• Brief biography and links to discs by Anna German
• Facebook page dedicated to Anna German
• Anna German- Website

title=Poland in the Eurovision Song Contest